Za slovenským ľudom

AWAKE is a short experimental documentary about a liminal moment in the calendar - midwinter - observed by the inhabitants of a small rural village in England. A time outside time, magic is everywhere and anything is possible. Bearing witness to this turning point, the inhabitants gather for a wassail - a centuries old thanksgiving ritual in which folk gather to honour the slow return of the sun and bless the apple trees whose fruit are essential to the village ecosystem, not least the crumbles, juice and cider that sustains them throughout the year.

Two young men relate stories about mystic and historic locations of the Carabobo state in Venezuela. They question the beliefs that revolve around the prevailing figures, while they ponder about the meaning of faith and symbols.

Z Karviné do Carnegie Hall

The film presents a parade of customs, music, songs and dances of the Slovak people in four seasons, based on a theatre play by I. Teren and K.L. Zachar from the first years after the liberation.

"If it Won’t Hold Water, it Surely Won’t Hold a Goat" is an intimate meditation on the subversive nature of goats and their effect on the people who spend time with them. Centered on the story of the legendary Goat Man - a nomadic figure who spent most of his life walking the roads of Georgia with a wagon pulled by a herd of goats - this experimental documentary weaves together an interview with a goat farmer, footage of the daily rituals Johnson enacted with her own herd, and a poem about the Goat Man’s experimental and spectacular life.

A collection of seven little stories about Niger and its Sahara desert from the illustrated book by Hideko Fukuda & Masanori Inui.

May Day! is a feature-length documentary which follows Oxford's thousand-year old tradition of May Morning, the largest celebration of its kind, regularly attracting over 15,000 people each year. It is a collage-like portrait of the tradition, attempting to find out how the celebration has survived the separation between the land and its people, what the pagan festival means thousands of years after its inception, and how it shapes and contributes to our nation's sense of self.

Rozprávkár

Jarmila Šuláková – královna lidové písně

A folklóre film about a Strakonice ensemble performing folk songs and dances from Prácheňsko under the baton of the local teacher Josef Režný, a passionate collector of folk literature and songs. The movie draws attention to the cultural importance of the region as the land of Strakonice bagpipers and the birthplace of František Ladislav Čelakovský.

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

Valašský soubor Jasenka

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.

Previanti

From the sexy, savage Cornish May Day rites of Alan Lomax's Oss Oss Wee Oss, to Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane's footage of ferociously fought traditional football; from children's games in London's bombed East End to intricate sword and step dances, this collection of poetic documentaries, long unseen television reports and rare silent film footage reveals just how powerful and enduring the folk traditions of Great Britain have always been. The silent films feature innovative fiddle and melodeon accompaniments by contemporary folk musicians.

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.

Jízda králů

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

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.

Ľudoví umelci