World Between Us

Will Marie from a small town in the Czech Republic succeed by fulfilling her lifetime dream to conquer New York as a still photographer?

Marie Tomanová travelled from Mikulov to the USA as an au pair, and today she shoots campaigns for fashion brands such as Nike, Instagram, or for the fashion magazines such as Vogue CS. However, her name is better known abroad than in her native country, which provided few opportunities for the young painter. Paradoxically, it was only in New York, far from home, that she was able to grow up and find herself - a transition greatly supported by Marie’s partner in professional and personal life, art historian Thomas Beachdel. Tomanová touches the world in a different way, with a rush of positive emotions, an immediate connection, acting as a medium through which the energy of the portrait-sitter passes. Directed by fellow Czech expatriate Marie Dvořáková, a Student Academy Award winner, the film is both a tender portrait of friendship and a reflection on ambition, identity, and the search for home. Through the story of the two Maries, World Between Us explores the fragile space between worlds, showing that home is not always a place but a feeling of connection, belonging, and self-discovery.

Marie Dvořáková, Czech Republic, Slovakia 2024, 90 min, English subtitles

Marie Dvořáková was born in Jablonec nad Nisou, and after studying directing at FAMU, she went on to study for a master's degree at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She now lives and works in the USA. Her short film Who's Who in Mycology (2016), for which she won a student Oscar in Hollywood, opened the door to a big world for her.

The screening is an accompanying event to the exhibition Pixels and Poetics: Sudek, Funke, and the Influence of New Technologies on the Development of Photography, presented at the Vitrínka and Bouda Galleries and in the public space outside the Czech Embassy, running from 20 January to 13 March 2026.