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The Earth Sings

director: Karol Plicka

original title: Zem spieva

country: Czechoslovakia

year: 1933

running time: 64 min.

synopsis

A cinematic poem with an impressive soundtrack that complements the final sketches of the folk culture of the Slovak nation. With its perfectly constructed dramaturgy, the work is based on the beauty of the natural cycle from the end of winter to the beginning of autumn, symbolized by the sun and the tradition of grape harvests. The aesthetically exceptional visual representation of folklore is complemented by poetic intertitles by the Slovak poet Ján Smrek.

Slovak Film Institute and Slovak institute in Prague are the partners of the section Translucent Being: Karol Plicka.

biography

Karol Plicka (1894–1987) was a famous Slovak-Czech photographer, folklorist, filmmaker and collector of moments, ethnographer, cameraman, director, music scientist and pedagogue, violin virtuoso and professor, co-founder of the Prague FAMU film school (1946), admirer of nature and traditional folk work, and admirer of architecture and folk crafts. Plicka’s films have been awarded at festivals in Italy (Florence, Venice) and his photography books and songbooks are still collectible today. Karol Plicka was a personality who still inspires and motivates enthusiasm for the culture of our ancestors.