Over Mountains, Over Valleys

Tancem ke kořenům

October 2024 •Czech

Shaping Bamboo

January 1979 •English

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.

The Drunkmen’s Marseillaise

August 2024 •Spanish

In the summer of 1961, a group of young Italian anthropologists made a clandestine journey through Spain, in order to record popular songs that supported anti-Franco resistance. As a result of their work, they were prosecuted and their recordings were censored. Sixty years later, and guided by Emilio Jona, aged 92, the last living member of that group of travellers, we recover the unpublished recordings and reconstruct the journey, today, across an emotional and political landscape, regaining historical memories through these songs, as relevant today as they were then.

Venerdì Santo - Bronte

April 2021 •Italian

Traja králi

January 2020 •Slovak

Vinšujem Vám Nový rok hojný

January 1996 •Slovak

A bissele Glik

May 2009 •German

A Frame for A Few Poses

January 1976 •

Six part TV series where Karpo Godina filmed common folk, showing the world of people who have filled their lives with hobbies and skills of their own making. It features gold panners on the river Pek, a shepherdess who plays music on a leaf, a football fan, a potter, and an unusual orchestra.

Staré Valašsko

April 1956 •Czech

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

Bulgaria: Fire Dance Ritual

January 2020 •German

Every year in June, the small Bulgarian village of Balgari celebrates St Constantine with a special ritual. Initiated ‘nestinari’ go into a music-induced trance and dance on bonfires in a display of religious passion.

Taneční zeměpis I. – Z Moskvy do Prahy

January 1948 •Czech

Taneční zeměpis II. – Z Balkánu do Prahy

January 1948 •Czech

Taneční zeměpis III. – Mládež pěti kontinentů

January 1948 •Czech

Valašský soubor Jasenka

January 1953 •Czech

Hrály dudy

January 1954 •Czech

Lidé pod sněhem

January 1948 •Czech

Valašské tance

January 1949 •Czech

Horňácká svatba

January 1946 •Czech

Mi arma

November 2019 •Spanish

A young drag queen from Andalusia exposes the difficulties of adding aspects of her homeland culture to her artistic expression.

The Eternal Song

January 1941 •Czech

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.