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The Land Sings [aka The Earth Sings] Zem spieva / b&w / 64 min. Directed by: Karol Plicka • Story and screenplay: Karol Plicka • Director of photography: Karol Plicka • Music: František Škvor • Editor: Alexander Hackenschmied
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Films
The best known Slovak film of the pre-war period, The Land Sings is essentially a poetic account of Slovak folk culture, composed as a musical and atmospheric experience. Karol Plicka was a musicologist, ethnologist, photographer, and director who played a major role in the creation of Slovak cinema, with a sequence of short films between 1928 – 34 and, above all, The Land Sings, made between 1930 – 33. Filmed without a script, the narrative follows country life through the course of the seasons, from the end of winter through to the grape harvest. The film was edited by
the Czech photographer and avant-garde director, Alexandr Hackenschmied (Alexander Hammid), who was very much interested in audio-visual combination, with a specially composed score by František Škvor. The film also uses inter-titles composed by Slovak poet Ján Smrek. Achieving a poetic level equal to the best work of Robert Flaherty, it is a remarkable film testament to living folk traditions and the integral link to nature that has been revisited in so many Slovak films.