Mišo Suchý

Slovak director Marek Kuboš has not shot a film in 13 years. His first film ever – a student exercise at film school – was a self-portrait. The circle is closed, the source of creativity has seemingly dried up. All that is left to do in the last self-portrait is to clean up after oneself, to recapitulate one’s successes and failures, and to bid farewell to one’s protagonists. This introspective meta-documentary is not so much a study of a creative crisis as it is a self-therapeutic process and an attempt at offering a comprehensive profile of the filmmaker at a time of unstable certainties. Appearing in the role of Kuboš’s consultants are essentially all leading Slovak documentary filmmakers.

An intimate meditation on exile and home, Prysia’s Garden portrays the quiet life of aging Ukrainian refugee Prysia through the detailed photographic lens of first-generation Ukrainian-American Lida Suchy. By confronting Prysia’s story, Lida reflects upon her own roots, looking to understand what makes a new place a home.

When I first arrived in America, (from my native Slovakia), I neither spoke nor understood a word of English and I soon found myself in the position of a mute creature. Perhaps it was this experience of muteness that inspired me to make a film about America from the perspective of a creature that neither speaks nor understands this country’s language or ways. Dogs can’t speak, but they can tell a lot about the society in which they live. About Dogs and People is an account of my journey across America to explore its’ canine culture. The film is made in the form of an essay: it uses authentic footage, but presents the material in a subjective way. Derived from my experience with non-verbal communication, the film “speaks” through imagery, using the vocabulary of archetypal gesture, tone, melody and rhythm.

Giving Voice is a musical documentary about a community choir in Central New York that uses singing as a tool to foster broad social inclusiveness and community building.

An ocean stood between Baba and her grandson, so she did the only thing she could: she became a whale and swam to him.

A film about homes on both sides of an ocean.

An intimate meditation on exile and home, Prysia’s Garden portrays the quiet life of aging Ukrainian refugee Prysia through the detailed photographic lens of first-generation Ukrainian-American Lida Suchy. By confronting Prysia’s story, Lida reflects upon her own roots, looking to understand what makes a new place a home.

When I first arrived in America, (from my native Slovakia), I neither spoke nor understood a word of English and I soon found myself in the position of a mute creature. Perhaps it was this experience of muteness that inspired me to make a film about America from the perspective of a creature that neither speaks nor understands this country’s language or ways. Dogs can’t speak, but they can tell a lot about the society in which they live. About Dogs and People is an account of my journey across America to explore its’ canine culture. The film is made in the form of an essay: it uses authentic footage, but presents the material in a subjective way. Derived from my experience with non-verbal communication, the film “speaks” through imagery, using the vocabulary of archetypal gesture, tone, melody and rhythm.

When I first arrived in America, (from my native Slovakia), I neither spoke nor understood a word of English and I soon found myself in the position of a mute creature. Perhaps it was this experience of muteness that inspired me to make a film about America from the perspective of a creature that neither speaks nor understands this country’s language or ways. Dogs can’t speak, but they can tell a lot about the society in which they live. About Dogs and People is an account of my journey across America to explore its’ canine culture. The film is made in the form of an essay: it uses authentic footage, but presents the material in a subjective way. Derived from my experience with non-verbal communication, the film “speaks” through imagery, using the vocabulary of archetypal gesture, tone, melody and rhythm.

Giving Voice is a musical documentary about a community choir in Central New York that uses singing as a tool to foster broad social inclusiveness and community building.

Giving Voice is a musical documentary about a community choir in Central New York that uses singing as a tool to foster broad social inclusiveness and community building.

An ocean stood between Baba and her grandson, so she did the only thing she could: she became a whale and swam to him.

An ocean stood between Baba and her grandson, so she did the only thing she could: she became a whale and swam to him.

A film about homes on both sides of an ocean.

A film about homes on both sides of an ocean.

Vignettes of life in the village Kryvorivnya in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, where once the novel "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" was written and later filmed and where, to this day, the passage of time has its own pace.

Vignettes of life in the village Kryvorivnya in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, where once the novel "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" was written and later filmed and where, to this day, the passage of time has its own pace.

A love letter told through still photographs

A love letter told through still photographs

What is “Slovakia”? How to explain the notion of “Slovakia” of the past 20 years to an unknown stranger, a visitor from another planet? What is the genetic makeup or the software for “Slovakia”? How to use it? How does it change? Slovakia 2.0 is a film about twenty years of independent Slovakia as seen from the perspective of ten film directors. It is composed of ten 10-minute films of different genres ranging from drama, through animation and documentaries, to experimental film. The ten recognised film directors who offer an answer to what is Slovakia include a wide range of generations, views and genres, namely Juraj Herz, Martin Šulík, Peter Kerekes, Zuzana Liová, Mišo Suchý, Ondrej Rudavský, Iveta Grófová, Peter Krištúfek, Viera Čákanyová, and Miro Jelok.

What is “Slovakia”? How to explain the notion of “Slovakia” of the past 20 years to an unknown stranger, a visitor from another planet? What is the genetic makeup or the software for “Slovakia”? How to use it? How does it change? Slovakia 2.0 is a film about twenty years of independent Slovakia as seen from the perspective of ten film directors. It is composed of ten 10-minute films of different genres ranging from drama, through animation and documentaries, to experimental film. The ten recognised film directors who offer an answer to what is Slovakia include a wide range of generations, views and genres, namely Juraj Herz, Martin Šulík, Peter Kerekes, Zuzana Liová, Mišo Suchý, Ondrej Rudavský, Iveta Grófová, Peter Krištúfek, Viera Čákanyová, and Miro Jelok.