The cinema of Slovakia encompasses a range of themes and styles
typical of European cinema. Yet there are a certain number of
recurring themes that are visible in the majority of the important
works. These include rural settings, folk traditions, and carnival.
Even in the field of experimental film-making, there is frequently a
celebration of nature and tradition, as for example in Dušan Hanák's
Pictures of the Old World (Obrazy starého sveta, 1972). The same
applies to blockbusters like Juraj Jakubisko's A Thousand-Year Old Bee
(TisÃcroÄ ná vÄ ela, 1983). The percentage of comedies, adventures,
musicals, sci-fi films and similar genres has been low by comparison
to dramas and historical films that used to include a notable subset
of social commentaries on events from the decade or two preceding the
film. One of them, Ján Kadár's and Elmar Klos' The Shop on Main
Street (Obchod na korze, 1965), gave Slovak (as well as Czech and
generally Czechoslovak) filmmaking its first Oscar. Children's films
were a perennial genre from the 1960s through the 1980s produced
mainly as low-budget films by Slovak Television Bratislava. The themes
of recent films have been mostly contemporary.The center of Slovak
filmmaking has been the Koliba studio (whose formal name changed
several times) in Bratislava. Some films conceived at the Barrandov
Studios in Prague have had Slovak themes, actors, directors, and
occasionally language, while Prague-based filmmakers and actors have
sometimes worked in Slovakia. In line with Slovak, Hungarian, and
Czech histories, their past sharing of the Kingdom of Hungary and
Czechoslovakia, there is early overlap between Slovak and Hungarian
film, and later between Slovak and Czech film. Some films are easily
sorted out as one or the other, some films belong meaningfully to more
than one national cinema.Some 350 Slovak feature films have been made
in the history of Slovak cinema. It has produced some notable
cinematic works that have been well received by critics, as well as
some domestic blockbusters. In recent years, Slovak films have often
been made by working (wholly or partly) with foreign production
companies. Joint Slovak and Czech projects have been particularly
common. The Slovak film industry has been dogged by lack of money
intensified by the country's small audience (2.9â€"5.4 million
inhabitants), which translates to the films' limited potential for
primary, domestic revenue.A Slovak-themed drama, Snowdrop from the
Tatras (Sněženka z Tatier, dir. Olaf Larus-Racek, 1919), about a
maturing girl looking for her place in a city appeared within months
of the creation of Czechoslovakia. The first Slovak full-length
feature movie was Jaroslav Siakeľ's JánoÅ¡Ãk of 1921. It placed
Slovak filmmaking among the first ten cinemas in the world to produce
such a film. Other feature films were released early on, but the
absence of a permanent local studio and the competition from the
emerging conglomerate of studios and distributors (AB Studio, later
Barrandov) in nearby Prague proved daunting. An early international
recognition came from the International Venice Film Festival for Karol
Plicka's The Earth Sings (Zem spieva, 1933). Martin FriÄ 's JánoÅ¡Ãk
of 1935 was released internationally, including in Italy and Germany,
and was shown in Slovak-American communities until the 1950s.
typical of European cinema. Yet there are a certain number of
recurring themes that are visible in the majority of the important
works. These include rural settings, folk traditions, and carnival.
Even in the field of experimental film-making, there is frequently a
celebration of nature and tradition, as for example in Dušan Hanák's
Pictures of the Old World (Obrazy starého sveta, 1972). The same
applies to blockbusters like Juraj Jakubisko's A Thousand-Year Old Bee
(TisÃcroÄ ná vÄ ela, 1983). The percentage of comedies, adventures,
musicals, sci-fi films and similar genres has been low by comparison
to dramas and historical films that used to include a notable subset
of social commentaries on events from the decade or two preceding the
film. One of them, Ján Kadár's and Elmar Klos' The Shop on Main
Street (Obchod na korze, 1965), gave Slovak (as well as Czech and
generally Czechoslovak) filmmaking its first Oscar. Children's films
were a perennial genre from the 1960s through the 1980s produced
mainly as low-budget films by Slovak Television Bratislava. The themes
of recent films have been mostly contemporary.The center of Slovak
filmmaking has been the Koliba studio (whose formal name changed
several times) in Bratislava. Some films conceived at the Barrandov
Studios in Prague have had Slovak themes, actors, directors, and
occasionally language, while Prague-based filmmakers and actors have
sometimes worked in Slovakia. In line with Slovak, Hungarian, and
Czech histories, their past sharing of the Kingdom of Hungary and
Czechoslovakia, there is early overlap between Slovak and Hungarian
film, and later between Slovak and Czech film. Some films are easily
sorted out as one or the other, some films belong meaningfully to more
than one national cinema.Some 350 Slovak feature films have been made
in the history of Slovak cinema. It has produced some notable
cinematic works that have been well received by critics, as well as
some domestic blockbusters. In recent years, Slovak films have often
been made by working (wholly or partly) with foreign production
companies. Joint Slovak and Czech projects have been particularly
common. The Slovak film industry has been dogged by lack of money
intensified by the country's small audience (2.9â€"5.4 million
inhabitants), which translates to the films' limited potential for
primary, domestic revenue.A Slovak-themed drama, Snowdrop from the
Tatras (Sněženka z Tatier, dir. Olaf Larus-Racek, 1919), about a
maturing girl looking for her place in a city appeared within months
of the creation of Czechoslovakia. The first Slovak full-length
feature movie was Jaroslav Siakeľ's JánoÅ¡Ãk of 1921. It placed
Slovak filmmaking among the first ten cinemas in the world to produce
such a film. Other feature films were released early on, but the
absence of a permanent local studio and the competition from the
emerging conglomerate of studios and distributors (AB Studio, later
Barrandov) in nearby Prague proved daunting. An early international
recognition came from the International Venice Film Festival for Karol
Plicka's The Earth Sings (Zem spieva, 1933). Martin FriÄ 's JánoÅ¡Ãk
of 1935 was released internationally, including in Italy and Germany,
and was shown in Slovak-American communities until the 1950s.
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