ETNOFILM Čadaca is Slovakia’s oldest festival. Its first edition was held in 1980, when creators making films about folk culture met for the first time in the town of Čadca. The festival is inextricably linked with such prominent figures of Slovak artistic, scientific, and cultural life like Martin Slivka, Peter Maráky, Oskar Elschek, Svetozár Švehlák, Milan Leščák, Dušan Hanák, Rudolf Gerát, Daniel Luther, Štefan Vraštiak, Boris Hochel, Peter Mihálik, Miroslav Ruttkay Dauko, Martin Meša, and many others.
This year’s programme has included a film by Zuzanna Solakiewicz. The documentary was honoured with the Marian Veselsky Award for Best Soundtrack.
With beautiful photography and, according to the jury’s justification, also with a beautiful soundtrack, this is a story about a contemporary village and its unusual residents, who are divided by a considerable age gap but united by a strong attachment to folk culture. The Soil is a juicy documentary and its rhythm is set by nature and regularly changing landscapes. Its creators are able to see the beauty of the non-obvious aspects of rural life and are not afraid of strong juxtapositions in editing. The film’s music is just as important as its imagery, accompanying the protagonists during key events in their lives and helping them deal with the emotions that accompany them.
A complete lists of awarded films is available here.