Solstice

Jan Šípek / Czech Republic / 2025 / World Premiere / 63 min.

synopsis

Jan Šípek documented the unmistakable singer-songwriter and spiritual seeker Oldřich Janota (1949–2024) during the last period of Janota's life. This meant accepting the challenge and approaching Oldřich's song koans with a wholly original film style. The film was made on the day of the winter solstice during one of the very last performances of this great figure of Czech independent culture.

Solstice is presented together with Jaroslav Kořán's Magical Movements in the block Czech Ambient Film. Both films, which we are premiering, are the surprising results of acoustic experimentation on the Czech music scene. At the same time, they significantly transfer the specific features of ambient music to the film medium: hypnotism, a different speed of time, contemplation of the details of the world and its perceived unity.

biography

Jan Šípek (born 1982) studied at the Department of Documentary Film at FAMU. His first feature-length documentary, Souboj s mozkem (Fighting the Brain), received a special mention in the Czech Joy section at the 2009 Ji.hlava IDFF. This was followed by the films Porucha (Malfunction, 2011), Pivní řeči (Beer Talk, 2014) and Tlačítka bdělosti (Buttons of Consciousness, 2015), dedicated to the theme of meditation. In addition to his work as a director, he also works as a cameraman (The Limits of Work, The Limits of Europe, Actress, Jungle/Placht). He has worked in radio and contributes to the cultural biweekly A2.