ZUZANA: MUSIC IS LIFE is the dark and triumphant story told by Zuzana Ruzickova, 90, and how she became a world-famous harpsichordist and interpreter of Bach under the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, after surviving three concentration camps during her teenage years.  Zuzana’s story is remarkable not just because she returned to Czechoslovakia after the war to fulfill her childhood dream of a career in music; but also in how she navigated political and religious persecution while becoming a tour-de-force in concerts and competitions around the world. As she recounts a life of hope and fear, the little-known story of Czechoslovakia emerges, from the promise of 1930s democracy to the Nazi invasion, followed by the grinding brutality of forty years of communist rule. 

FILMMAKERS STATEMENT: When we embarked on the production in 2013, we never dreamed that the film would transform from a journey through history, to a chilling, cautionary tale, as democracy is increasingly under threat in the West. Full Frame Film Festival wrote, "Zuzana Ruzickova’s story transcends the personal, in a deeply affecting look at the redemptive power of art during the Czech Republic’s turbulent 20th century."