Adam Holoubek (top left), Justin Rozanski - ROZI (top right), S. L. Feemster (bottom middle) (source: Courtesy of Adam Holoubek)
Adam Holoubek, a Bratislava native, is a poet, filmmaker, and senior sales manager in the fashion industry. He moved to Boston at the age of 11 with his mother and went on to study fashion and marketing at university. After moving to New York City ten years ago to work in fashion, he started producing films and poetry. His latest project, LENS-MUSE, a collaboration with interdisciplinary artist S. L Feemster and sound engineer ROZI, examines humanity’s relationship with technology.
The Slovak Spectator (TSS): What led you to pursue filmmaking and spoken word in NYC?
Adam Holoubek (AH): Filmmaking has always been in the background. Since I was 7, I watched a lot of films with my dad and this had a big influence on me. At the age of 12, I started watching a lot of Hitchcock and James Bond films which later led to science fiction including Metropolis, La Jetée, and Blade Runner.
Over the years, I explored a lot of different film genres in order to better understand the possibilities of cinematic language. The New York Film Academy helped me to improve my skills in cinematography, lighting, as well as scriptwriting.
Poetry is something that closely followed my interest in film. My mom says I started writing poetry from an early age. Once I moved to New York, I discovered the spoken word scene organically. There were three to four poetry venues happening on a weekly basis including “The Inspired Word”, “Bowery Poetry Club”, and “Nuyorican Poets Café” among others. I also began reading and sharing my own poetry, which eventually culminated in an abstract collection of works titled Spoken Word Transcendence published in 2018.
My filmmaking is also experimental, consisting mostly of poetry films. I’m now working with other professional directors and cinematographers in New York City on bigger budget productions and more narrative work.
TSS: How connected are you to Bratislava and Slovak culture? Do you return often?
