Jana Částková

A look at the legendary Czech sound designer and his profession. Editor and documentary filmmaker Adéla Špaljová has her father Ivo Špalj talk about his life, career, and working methods. Over the course of his long life, sound designer Ivo Špalj (*1940) has collaborated on hundreds of films and become a mentor for at least one generation of men and women behind the mixing board. This gentle documentary also shows “Engi” (as he is known to his colleagues) again working with Jan Švankmajer, whose films he has lent their typical, dense, and sophisticated sound mix.

The fates of a young couple in love, an old lady tending to a flower on her windowsill, a successful runner, and a one-legged beggar on a street corner gradually intertwine in the presence of a relentless wind, which, like human footsteps, can be seen as a metaphor for the tireless cycle of life.