Horňácká svatba

Over Mountains, Over Valleys

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.

Spring in Carpathian Ruthenia

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.

Mariovo Wedding

Another very isolated region, Mariovo, appears as a setting of the customs that must be performed before, during and after a wedding for the couple to fully unite.

CALL OF THE JAB

A powerful cultural documentary about a Caribbean father and son who return to Grenada to reclaim ancestral stories. Blending folklore, myth, and underwater visuals, the film preserves Black heritage and reframes the feared Jab Jab as a symbol of resistance and identity.

The Wedding in Monaco

Exclusive footage captures the wedding of American screen star Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco.

Jízda králů

El Cap Wedding

This feature documentary follows a climbing couple and their team as they prepare for a unique wedding ceremony-the first ever performed on a ledge on El Capitan, the most famous mountain in Yosemite National Park.

Shaping Bamboo

For the 'Are'are people of the Solomon Islands, the most valued music is that of the four types of panpipe ensembles. With the exception of slit drums, all musical instruments are made of bamboo; therefore the general word for instruments and the music performed with them is "bamboo" ('au). This film shows the making of panpipes, from the cutting the bamboo in the forest to the making of the final bindings. The most important part of the work consists in shaping each tube to its necessary length. Most 'Are'are panpipe makers measure the length of old instruments before they shape new tubes. Master musician 'Irisipau, surprisingly, takes the measure using his body, and adjusts the final tuning by ear. For the first time we can see here how the instruments and their artificial equiheptatonic scale-seven equidistant degrees in an octave-are practically tuned.

Staré Valašsko

A short film about traditional crafts and culture that can still be found in the Wallachian mountains today.

War Time Weddings

The daughter of famed actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree gets hitched to a military Captain during WWI.

Lux Santa

The millennia-old myth and tradition of St. Lucy's fire told through the eyes of teenagers on the shores of the Ionian Sea.

Osipovův soubor v Praze

Documentary about the concerts of the Russian Osipov ensemble of folk instruments in Czechoslovakia

Fašánek

Legends in Love

Take your seat on the aisle for weddings the world will never forget: the stunningly beautiful Jacqueline Bouvier to the strikingly charismatic John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the shy yet buoyant Lady Diana Spencer to the mischievous yet maturing Prince Charles, Hollywood's queen Grace Kelly bringing a fantasy to life in a glorious Monaco cathedral, and Elizabeth Taylor to a series of handsome beaus, bridal gowns and wedding bouquets. Legends in Love. Stories to behold, stories to be told. With all the enchantment, elegance, excitement - and mystery - that surrounds the lovestyles of the rich and famous.

A bissele Glik

Scottish Myths & Legends

"Scottish Myths & Legends" explores the magic, mystery and sprinkling of mayhem that covers the dramatic landscape of Scotland. From the ancient tales of the Loch Ness Monster to the stories of shape shifting Kelpies, we go on a fascinating journey of discovery to uncover the stories behind the myths and the magnificent Scottish landscape that has inspired these truly legendary legends.

The Eternal Song

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.

Taneční zeměpis III. – Mládež pěti kontinentů

Venerdì Santo - Bronte

Echando Raíces