Pictures of the Old World

Dušan Hanák / Czechoslovakia / 1972 / The film already had its Czech Premiere / 64 min.

synopsis

They live in poverty, away from civilization and in their own bubbles. We might call them weirdoes, outcasts, or idealists. Depicted in this kaleidoscopic portrait are nine people living at world's end in remote Tatra villages. However, the series of lyrical, black-and-white images of solitude, backwardness, and old age do not evoke feelings of sadness or compassion, but rather a celebration of resilience, vitality, and a desire for life above all else. Inspired by Slovak artist Martin Martinček's photographic series, the documentary never graced the screens of Czechoslovak cinemas due to its painting an “unflattering” image of Slovakia. 17 years after its completion, it was finally screened both at home and abroad to great critical acclaim.

“In the previous regime, the hardest thing to do was to push through what everyone already knew but were not allowed to talk about. There is a desire for freedom embedded in my films' characters. Maybe that's why my films were banned.” — Dušan Hanák

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Source: http://www.filmsk.sk/cislo/nove-cislo-5-2018/rozhovor

biography

Slovak filmmaker Dušan Hanák (* 1938) studied directing at FAMU and worked in the Studio of Short Films (Studio krátkých filmů) from 1965 and the Bratislava Studio of Live-Action Films (Štúdio hraných filmov Bratislava) from 1968. His films have earned awards at Oberhausen, Montevideo, Mannheim, and many other festivals. Some of them ended up in the vault after the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 by Warsaw Pact troops and the Soviet Union.