100 years of slovak cinema

Letters, Entries, Themes and Forgotten Films

Siakeľ brothers’ Jánošík (1921), the first milestone of Slovak cinema, will celebrate its 100th anniversary this year. Therefore, Filmotéka, the archive cinema of the Slovak Film Institute and a part of the Cinema Lumière, has planned several programme cycles for 2021 under the heading of 100 years of Slovak film. One of them is Abecedár slovenského filmu (1921 – 2021) (Dictionary of Slovak Film). Contributing entries from A to Z, eighteen authors will examine Slovak cinema from an original point of view. The series of screenings will be introduced by a lecturer and they are set to culminate in 2021 with the publication of an anthology in Slovak and English.

“The impulse came from the Filmotéka’s dramaturges of the Cinema Lumière. In the next programme cycles comprised for the anniversary, a more traditional introduction of the breakthrough periods, filmmakers and films will be presented. Therefore, we outlined Abecedár deliberately in a more open and bold manner. We tried to avoid the ideological layout of previously published History of Slovak Cinematography (Dejiny slovenskej kinematografie), its structure or assessment,” says film theorist Martin Kaňuch, one of the project’s authors.“The selection of themes and ‘encoding’ them into letters and entries was primary. In some cases, we arrived at entries that seem hermetic or surprising at first glance, such as the Sphinx or Xanthippe,” adds Kaňuch. According to him, Abecedár reveals unnoticed connections, phenomena or visual motifs that have been pushed aside or forgotten, and it considers their function in both well-known and overlooked Slovak films from the original point of view of domestic and foreign filmologists. Film historian Jelena Paštéková, who wrote History of Slovak Cinematography with Václav Macek, is also co-author of Abecedár. According to her, it revives the history that is not limited to a single interpretation. “Unlike the great syntagmatic narrative of History of Slovak Cinematography, we focused on new overviews from its repertoire, related to wider cultural contexts. Sometimes a sudden spark helped, but I would characterise the approach, in general, as an intention to uncover the lively places of Slovak culture through changes in rhetoric – the variety of metaphors, metonymies, synecdoches or irony is layered.” Kaňuch and Paštéková prepared annotations for 25 entries and contacted individual authors. Subsequently, the approach towards assigned entries was largely up to them, including the selection of films through which they would present specific concepts. In doing so, they often opted for works that are not familiar to most viewers. “In addition to a subjective view of history, Abecedár can also enrich knowledge: It dares to offer the viewer an opportunity to experience hidden treasures from the archive, ones that have not been examined sufficiently and give them a new chance,” says Jelena Paštéková. Certain foreign projects were among the impulses that prompted the making of Abecedár. “We were inspired by research projects within the frame of a current shift towards ‘the history of cinema without names’ (University of Udine), in this context, for example by Visual Motifs of Cinema, a Spanish and French project of ‘encyclopaedia’ by Jordi Balló and Alain Bergala. The focus is on liveliness and vitality of the visual motif or phenomenon. Its selected aspect ties to remarkable films where it was implemented, leading to famous and unknown directors and their works being placed next to each other. A previously recognised line between the accepted and the rejected is not relevant. The aim is to find the hidden lively places, images, motifs in films without hierarchical ‘preunderstanding,’” explains Martin Kaňuch. According to Jelena Paštéková, the list of entries in the Abecedár is not carved in stone once and for all. “The mosaic of Abecedár’s composition comes as an advantage because it can be updated,” she adds. Kaňuch concludes that it is a playful experiment, allowing an open thinking process that can be further cultivated and deepened. ◀