Vera Chytilova (born in 1929 in Ostrava) studied architecture in Brno for two years, then worked as designer, laboratory technician and fashion model.
She started to work in the Barrandov Film Studios in Prague as script and assistant director and then decided to study at the Film Academy (1957 — 62).
She graduated with Strop/Ceiling (1962), the study of a fashion model, a mixture of cinema verite and formalism.

Her first feature O necem jinem / Something different (1963), used parallel narratives combining documentary and fiction to contrast the lives of a gymnast and a housewife.
Sedmikrasky/Daisies (1966) and Ovoce stromu rajskych jime / The Fruit of Paradise (1970) represent Chytilova’s most experimental work. While Daisies features two girls who entertain themselves with a series of irresponsible pranks that culminate in total destruction, The Fruit of Paradise is a beautifully presented allegory on male/female relationships.

As the environment in Czechoslovakia after the Soviet invasion didn’t encourage any kind of unconventional/unorthodox art, Chytilova found herself out of work for 7 years.
Her next project was a feminist comedy Hra o jablko / Apple Game (1976). After this spirited view of the battle of the sexes Chytilova’s next film was a complete change of theme - an uncompromising portrait of contemporary morality on a new housing estate: Panelstory aneb jak se rodi sidliste / Prefabstory (1979).
Apple Game, Prefabstory and Kalamita / Calamity (1981) had their share of problems with the authorities on release; the first for the documentary style of the birth scenes; the second for the unflattering depiction of socialist society and the last because it was perceived by the censors as a parable on the Soviet invasion.
In 1983 Chytilova created a portrait of a middle-aged Don Juan, Faunovo velmi pozdni odpoledne /The Very Late Afternoon of a Faun (1983), collaborating with her co-scripwriter from Daisies Esther Krumbachova.

Theatre proved to be a great inspiration for Chytilova in the ‘80s. In 1987 she directed a film version of the mime play Sasek a kralovna / The Jester and the Queen, then worked with the avant-garde theatre group Sklep (The Cellar) on Kopytem sem, kopytem tam / Tainted Horseplay / A Hoof Here, A Hoof There (1988), a tragicomedy about AIDS.
Apart from these feature films in which she satirised contemporary social problems and the political environment, Chytilova also directed a number of artistic documentaries such as Praha neklidne srdce Evropy / Prague, Restless Heart of Europe (1984), TGM Osvoboditel / Tomas Garrigue Masaryk - Liberator ( 1990) and Vzlety a pady / Flights and Falls (2000).

After the Velvet Revolution of 1989 she became active in political and public life. She now teaches at the Film Academy in Prague.