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.

1930-03-13 | sk

Touching the Void

The true story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates' disastrous and nearly-fatal mountain climb of 6,344m Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.

2003-09-05 | en

Venerdì Santo - Bronte

2021-04-01 | it

The Last Shaman

James, giving himself 12 months before he has "a license to kill himself," sets off to the Amazon rainforest with hopes of finding a shaman who can save his life.

2017-05-12 | en

Ten vánoční čas

Folk carols from Wallachia played by Beskydy music... In 1992, to make the Christmas atmosphere more pleasant, Ostrava's creators prepared a musical programme in which a number of well-known carols will be performed by the Rožnov gajdoš, the Beskydská muzika brass band and the children's ensemble Zvoneček from the Pod Skalkou Primary School in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm. The programme will also feature several well-known personalities who will talk about what Christmas means to them: the actor Josef Kobr, the director of the Wallachian Open Air Museum PhDr. Jaroslav Štika, the Olympic winner Vítězslav Mácha, the former Polish Consul General Jerzy Kronhold and the businessman Peter Kominek.

1992-01-01 | cs

Q'eros: The Shape of Survival

Exploration of the way of life of the Q’eros Indians of Peru, who have lived in the Andes for more than 3,000 years.

1979-03-14 | en

The Robber Bridegroom

In a small Southern town, a plantation owner is duped into thinking a thief is a kind stranger. To repay the stranger for stopping a robbery, the plantation owner invites him to his home to meet his daughter.

1980-06-01 | en

En avant guinguette !

2025-06-24 | fr

River of Gold

Narrated by Academy Award winners Sissy Spacek and Herbie Hancock, River of Gold is the disturbing account of a clandestine journey into Peru's Amazon rainforest to uncover the savage unraveling of pristine jungle. What will be the fate of this critical region of priceless biodiversity as these extraordinarily beautiful forests are turned into a hellish wasteland?

2016-03-26 | en

Shiver

Toyoda Toshiaki went to Sado Island and filmed musician Koshiro Hino and Kodo, the local Taiko Performing Arts Ensemble, while they performed music composed especially for Shiver.

2021-02-05 | ja

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.

1941-01-01 | cs

Beyond Tradition – The Power of Yodelling and Yoiking

What is tradition? This is the question posed by yodeller and food researcher Meinrad Koch from Canton Appenzell. In search of an answer, he embarks on a journey.

2023-10-11 | de

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.

1979-01-01 | en

La Madonna in cielo, la "matre" in terra

An anthropological research on the survival of the supernatural in traditional culture. Shot in different locations in southern Italy, the documentary focuses on the link between the cult of the Madonna and ancient rites related to female fertility.

2006-01-01 | it

Ailano, la tradizione

The religious traditions of a town in the province of Caserta, Italy.

2005-01-01 | it

The Shaman & Ayahuasca: Journeys to Sacred Realms

Filmed in the jungles of Peru, shaman Don Jose Campos introduces the practices and benefits of Ayahuasca, the psychoactive plant brew that has been used for healing and visionary journeys by Amazonian shamans for at least a thousand years.

2010-01-01 | en

Comitiva Esperança

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Piesne Liptova

1954-01-01 | sk

Regilaul - Songs of the Ancient Sea

On the shores of the Gulf of Finland, the ancient Finno-Ugric peoples originated a singing tradition of mysterious power called the Regilaul. These songs are the roots of Estonia’s renowned singing culture. Based on the continuous repetition of eight-syllable verses, they produce a haunting sound able to connect the fleeting present with the eternal circle of life. Against the stunning setting of modern Estonia, this film explores how Regi songs still fire the imagination today, weaving together people and nature through song.

2011-11-24 | de

Christmas Wafer

Lovely overview of traditional Slovak Christmas.

1977-12-24 | sk