Lux Santa

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.

In Africa there is a fable that explains the creation of the tides. When a hyaena challenged a mudskipper to a drinking contest to decide who should own the shore, the god Mungu tilted the earth so the sea flowed inland, and neither could win.

"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.

Rok na dedine

"Man in Red Bandana" is about Welles Remy Crowther, an extraordinary 9/11 hero. However, how his heroics became known is even more remarkable. Eight months after the disaster, his parents learned about how their son spent his last hour due to an ordinary object ... a red bandana. This revelation dramatically shifts their perspective on their loss. After hearing his remarkable story and how it unfolds, viewers will see how the actions of one man have touched 1,000s. This inspirational segment of the film depicts the unique, diverse and folklore ways that Welles is honored throughout the United States including in art, sports and song. Even President Barack Obama pays homage to this young man in the film. Our uplifting ending culminates in the revelation of a secret about Welles that can only be described as "perfect".

A magic realist fable about invisible elves, financial collapse and the surprising power of belief, told through the story of an Icelandic woman - a real life Lorax who speaks on behalf of nature under threat.

A group of teenagers go out to a den in the woods for a night of drinking, unaware that their behaviour touches on issues of ritual, folklore, mysticism and UFOs.

Mali - Algeria - Libya - Italy. Issa’s escape from West Africa to the European mainland lasted ten years. Everything was supposed to be better here. But when he arrived in Rome, the only thing waiting for the young man was a life of homelessness and unemployment – which meant no money to send home. Drissa and Sekou share a similar fate, waiting in Italian asylum centres for a residence permit. Then there’s Bubu, who, forced to move from job to job, is unable to settle down. And lastly comes Alassane, who lives without identity papers in a state of constant uncertainty in a refugee camp near Rome. They all have one thing in common: after a gruelling odyssey, none of them has found the Italy they were hoping for when they arrived. Disillusioned, they find themselves in a vacuum of waiting, reflecting on the time they live in and the time that lies ahead.

Slovenské ľudové tance

Since ancient times, the Green Man has been one of the most mysterious and menacing of mythical characters. He also has a familiar face as Robin Hood , Jack in the Green and on numerous pub signs. Across the arts from comic strips to classical opera, the Green Man is now making a comeback. Where is he taking us? Writer Sir Kingsley Amis , film director John Boorman , composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle and other leading artists offer their interpretations of the mystery in this Omnibus documentary film from 16th November, 1990.

In a remote area of northern Spain, the wind has a name: Tramuntana. Tramuntana takes what it wants—clothes, trees, boats, and the people of the landscape who live with the endless threat of being carried away by its force. This film is a lyrical portrait of this furious wind, woven from the stories passed down by local villagers.

Daniel Kemény returns twenty years later to the place of his childhood, the village of Pietrapaola in Calabria. In search of lost time, the filmmaker collects musical accounts, brings together their protagonists and gives these memories a new life, thus playing the generous transmitter who helps keep alive the oral history of a world whose popular traditions are dying off.

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

No one could spin a yarn to make a sale like Ray Lum. Twenty years after their initial meeting, Bill Ferris returned home to Mississippi in the early ‘70s with a camera. The result reveals a look back at the colorful rhythms of Ray’s life—at home, at the auction, joking with strangers outside country stores— and provides a glimpse at Southern manhood, friendship and loss. Now nearly Ray’s age when they first filmed, Ferris has become a Grammy Award winning documentarian and renowned folklorist. Using never before seen 16mm footage and new animations, OKAY, MR. RAY is a short documentary film about how even the tallest tales help us keep the memory alive of the ones we love.

In the frigid waters off of Russia’s Bering Strait, Inuit and Chukchi hunters today still seek out the giant sea mammals that have provided their people with food since time immemorial. It is known, that the whale hunting today is controversial and subject to international criticism and regulations. But the Inuit and Chukchi hunt is permitted by international law because of the whaling is the foundation of their culture and their life. The contemporary story of elders Aleksandr and Aleksei blends seamlessly with that of “the woman who gave birth to a whale” and other ancient myths, told here in vivid animation, in this ongoing struggle for survival and preservation of a traditional lifestyle in one of the most remote places on earth.

Echando Raíces

The members of the Ayrudzi troupe travel across various villages of Armenia on horseback and put on folk song and dance concerts and shadow theatre performances for the locals.

This exhaustive documentary attempts to tell the history of Bram Stoker's influential novel Dracula, explaining both the historical antecedents to the story, as well as offering look at Stoker's life in order to help illuminate this enduring horror tale, and exposing some of the myths surrounding vampires that have long been accepted as fact.

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.

Walker takes us on a personal journey into a world of myth and imagination that he learned from his grandmother. He travels from the Moors of Devon and the Highlands of Scotland to the brooding Celtic landscapes of Ireland and the intimate hills of Cape Breton, in his search of this potent “otherworld” of the imagination.