Duration (in minutes): 46 minutes
Country(ies) of filming: Romania
Country of production: Czech Republic
Year of Production: 2001
Directors: Jana Ševčíková
Time of Showing: Friday 9th of June 2023, 9:00-10:45
Watch trailer

Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Arna Novaka 1, Room C34

The screening will be followed by a discussion with Jana Ševčíková and Galina Šustová

A documentary which was filmed over a period of five years describing the spiritual roots of the inhabitants of a forsaken Romanian village in the Danubian basin. As descendants of Russian emigrants of a minority faith who settled in the area during the 17th century, they were able to preserve not only their original beliefs but also their language. Despite various changes in the villagers’ lives, time seems to have frozen the “natural” inflections of birth, marriage and death. The protagonists are bound by their strict religious faith, both imprisoned and exalted by the cyclical rhythm of religious festivals and daily rituals. These are, at the same time, a natural part of life in the village and give an inner sense to the most ordinary of tasks. Jaromír Kačer’s black-and-white camera creates a smooth composition highlighting the primeval spiritual gestures which transform the inhabitants’ daily grind into a symbolic deliberation on the transience of time.

About the filmaker

With films that reflect on life in contemporary Eastern Europe, Czech filmmaker Jana Ševčíková has distinguished herself as a practitioner of poetic documentary. A graduate of the Prague Film Academy, her thesis film, Piemule (1984), offers a frank examination of Czech émigrés in Romania during the final years of Ceausecu‘s totaltitarian regime. She has produced films independently, such as Jakub (1992), and received state funding from the Czech Ministry of Culture. Her films have been shown at festivals in Berlin, Strasbourg, Karlovy Vary and Cracow. Praised throughout Europe, Ševčíková‘s intimately crafted works challenge the distanced conventions of ethnographic filmmaking.