I graduated from the Faculty of Science of J. E. Purkyně University in Brno, majoring in chemistry-physics. During my studies I co-founded a film club and became one of its lecturers. In 1965 I joined the then Czechoslovak Film Institute (now the Národní filmový archiv) as a technician. My task was to create the Technical Department, which is now the Film Collections Department.
Through a scientific approach to film collections, I established rules for their preservation and restoration. In 1969, I started a general inventory, during which all film materials were brought from various unsuitable objects and inspected. Between 1969 and 1974, I was involved in research on mould and bacteria on film material and in restoring the processes of tinting and toning.
In 1992, I became the director of the Czechoslovak Film Institute, which I transformed into the Národní filmový archiv. Currently, my main work at the NFA is preparing for the move of colour film materials to the new depository.
I contributed to the fact that in 2005 UNESCO declared 27 October World Audiovisual Heritage Day. For a number of years I held high positions in the International Federation of Film Archives FIAF.