Born in Prague, she left Czechoslovakia at the time of the Soviet invasion in August 1968 to attend a conference of art students in Austria, then emigrated to Paris, France to study at the Sorbonne. She then lived in the United States and worked as a contributing photographer for Rolling Stone magazine, and subsequently became a film student at the National Film School in England debuting as a film director in 1975 with the critically acclaimed Militia Battlefield. She made films regularly for the BBC arts series Omnibus and Arena, winning many international awards.
She wrote and directed the 1986 drama film Hôtel du Paradis, which was shown out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 1987.
In 2001, Boková was approached by musician Eric Clapton to direct a music video, but ended up filming a feature-length documentary film called Eric Clapton and Friends which covered Clapton's band's rehearsals and preparations for a world tour.
In 2003, the Cinémathèque Française hosted a complete retrospective of Boková's work.
In 2012 Jana Bokova received a Czech award for cultural achievement.
