Dušan Hanák

This film is a record of the first Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. It reflects the various ways the festival was given shape by nascent global changes embodied by Perestroika, the Tiananmen Square massacre, and many other contemporaneous events.

A documentary portrait that captures Dušan Hanák in the process of working on a musical-poetic piece consisting of his guitar improvisations and reading personal texts. Through interviews with his former student Marek Šulík and during meetings with various people in iconic places, we learn about the themes and influences that shaped not only his life, but also about the social circumstances that accompanied his creative search and the creation of films. Those realized and not realized.

A tribute to Martin Slivka, one of the most important personalities of Slovak cinematography and culture. He was the creator of Slovak documentary ethnographic film, director, screenwriter, dramaturgist, film theoretician, pedagogue, author and ethnograph, but mainly – exceptional person. This documentary is not only a remembrance of maestro Slivka through words of his close friends and colleagues, but also an attempt to slightly uncover the secret of his rich life and work.

No synopsis available yet.

An epic exploration of the Czechoslovak New Wave cinema of the 1960s and 70s, structured around a series of conversations with one of its most acclaimed exponents - Closely Observed Trains director Jiří Menzel.

Set in 1960s Bratislava, the film follows a cynical, thirty-year-old architect named Andrej who unexpectedly falls deeply in love with Vanda, a free-spirited and spontaneous young woman. However, their burgeoning relationship is quickly strained by his growing possessiveness and desire for a traditional marriage.

Theodora Remundová’s documentary portrait looks at Iva Janžurová’s dramatic and comedic roles in both film and theater, as well as the roles she has played in her family and in social and political life. The director (Janžurová’s daughter) has created a film filled with the truthfulness, sincerity, and capacity for self-reflection of a woman who has devoted her life to acting. The use of clearly staged scenes is combined with an openly acknowledged effort to avoid the kinds of clichés usually found in biographical documentaries to create an organic whole that provides an overview of Janžurová’s pivotal roles while also sharing highly personal and intimate moments from her life. Vít Kořínek (kviff.com)

No synopsis available yet.

Jakub, a dreamer and budding magician, juggles between parcels and services rendered to the villagers. His eyes cross that of the beautiful gypsy Jolanka. Together, they will try to live a first and big love, despite the pressure of their respective communities.

Jakub, a dreamer and budding magician, juggles between parcels and services rendered to the villagers. His eyes cross that of the beautiful gypsy Jolanka. Together, they will try to live a first and big love, despite the pressure of their respective communities.

A traditional Advent mass filmed in a church in the historical town of Spisska Sobota (Northern Slovakia), featuring authentic liturgical texts and songs.

A traditional Advent mass filmed in a church in the historical town of Spisska Sobota (Northern Slovakia), featuring authentic liturgical texts and songs.

A documentary féerie about the problems with tourists from abroad. How foreigners “invade” our homeland. A series of minute observations on life under so-called “real socialism” provokes sparkling ironic and satirical commentary—a broadside against the bankrupt Communist system.

A documentary féerie about the problems with tourists from abroad. How foreigners “invade” our homeland. A series of minute observations on life under so-called “real socialism” provokes sparkling ironic and satirical commentary—a broadside against the bankrupt Communist system.

A raw and telling portrait of a people left behind by the modern world, inspired by the work of photographer Martin Martinček - whose pictures of the inhabitants of the Liptov region in central Slovakia, encompassed by the Tatra mountains, distilled entire lifetimes into luminous and intransient images. Dušan Hanák's continuation of these photographs takes the shape of a poetic visual essay, capturing more comprehensive vignettes of their isolated human experiences.

A raw and telling portrait of a people left behind by the modern world, inspired by the work of photographer Martin Martinček - whose pictures of the inhabitants of the Liptov region in central Slovakia, encompassed by the Tatra mountains, distilled entire lifetimes into luminous and intransient images. Dušan Hanák's continuation of these photographs takes the shape of a poetic visual essay, capturing more comprehensive vignettes of their isolated human experiences.

Dušan Hanák's final film: a bitter documentary about the history of Communism in Czechoslovakia.

Dušan Hanák's final film: a bitter documentary about the history of Communism in Czechoslovakia.

A documentary about the cycle of human life and the eternity of nature.

A documentary about the cycle of human life and the eternity of nature.

Documentary film about apprentice youth about to enter real life.

Documentary film about apprentice youth about to enter real life.

The drama called I Love, You Love was made in 1980 but because of the absurd ideological ban, the film entered cinemas nine years later. Pišta is an unmarried man who works at a freight wagon which carries letters and parcels. Alcohol helps him to overcome his handicap of being short and not good-looking. He wishes he had a woman, but the woman he really wants, ageing Viera who reloads the cargoes, has a soft spot for another man. So, Pišta has nobody and nothing, except for senile mother who sometimes fails to recognize him. The film received Silver Bear for Best Director at the International Film Festival in Berlin.

The drama called I Love, You Love was made in 1980 but because of the absurd ideological ban, the film entered cinemas nine years later. Pišta is an unmarried man who works at a freight wagon which carries letters and parcels. Alcohol helps him to overcome his handicap of being short and not good-looking. He wishes he had a woman, but the woman he really wants, ageing Viera who reloads the cargoes, has a soft spot for another man. So, Pišta has nobody and nothing, except for senile mother who sometimes fails to recognize him. The film received Silver Bear for Best Director at the International Film Festival in Berlin.

A portrait of the master potter Ján Frankovič from Bardejov, from 1970.

A portrait of the master potter Ján Frankovič from Bardejov, from 1970.

This film is a psychological study of a woman who chooses solitude as an escape from the duplicity and emotional barrenness of the men around her.

This film is a psychological study of a woman who chooses solitude as an escape from the duplicity and emotional barrenness of the men around her.

A story of a man threatened by a fatal illness evaluating his life (the number 322 in the film title stands for the diagnosis of one kind of cancer). He understands his illness as a form of punishment for his cruel deeds in the 1950s. In the face of reality and his efforts to cleanse himself he hits a barrier of indifference, lack of interest, and individual and collective selfishness. He has to find his own reconciliation with his illness and his past and present life.

A story of a man threatened by a fatal illness evaluating his life (the number 322 in the film title stands for the diagnosis of one kind of cancer). He understands his illness as a form of punishment for his cruel deeds in the 1950s. In the face of reality and his efforts to cleanse himself he hits a barrier of indifference, lack of interest, and individual and collective selfishness. He has to find his own reconciliation with his illness and his past and present life.

A documentary about the artistic and verbal expressions of mentally ill people.

A documentary about the artistic and verbal expressions of mentally ill people.