
Karel Plicka
1894 - 1987Po horách, po dolách
Karel Plicka
The Matica slovenská (a mostly government-sponsored cultural, academic, and archival institution) employed Karol Plicka (1894-1987) as its ethnographer, who was able to make documentary shorts from about 1926. He obtained funding from the President’s Office in 1928 to produce an hour-long documentary about village life, Through Mountains and Valleys (Po horách, po dolách). It was awarded a Gold Medal at the International Exposition of Photographic Art in Florence and received an Honorable Mention at the International Venice Film Festival in 1932.
Over Mountains, Over Valleys
Pán prezident na Slovensku
Karel Plicka
Edvard Beneš, Václav Nosek
A short reportage from post-war Slovakia. President Edvard Beneš came to Banská Bystrica to celebrate the first anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising. His journey through Central Slovakia was a motivating and celebratory moment for the people and the compatriots from the areas of partisan fighting.
Mr. President in Slovakia
Jaro na Podkarpatské Rusi
Karel Plicka
Karel Plicka was also cinematographer of this short movie. Editor in charge was Alexander Hackenschmied. There is an extraordinary emotional charge, every shot is working on its own, such as photographs, paintings and poetic complement intertitles in this short. From the perspective of nature and the perspective is shifting to the people and their habits, work and clothes. Peculiar documentary shots underscore Ruthenians (men, women and children) who are interested in looking into the camera and the curious "eye" showing off their habits.
Spring in Carpathian Ruthenia
Věčná píseň
Karel Plicka
Karel Beníško
Karol Plicka was an important musician and composer. He recorded folk songs immediately after hearing them in musical notation to preserve them for future generations. Similarly, he records and interprets traditions associated with dance, folk song and local stories that vary from region to region in his film The Eternal Song. The short documentary presents merry-making in Slovak and Czech regions that are changing with the coming modernization and transformation of musical records.
The Eternal Song