Martin Slivka - “The Man Who Planted Trees”

Colour, BETA SP
Slovak Republic, 2007, 90 min
IP – International premiere
Section: Documentary Films - Out of Competition

Synopsis

A colourful portrait of one of the most important figures in Slovak cinematography Martin Slivka, comprising recollections from his family, friends and colleagues and richly interwoven with footage from the family archive and excerpts from Slivka’s films.

About the director

Martin Šulík (b. 1962) studied at Bratislava’s Academy of Performing Arts. After several documentary films he debuted with the poetic feature film Tenderness (Neha, 1991), which immediately classed him as one of the most fascinating Slovak directors from the younger generation. He reinforced and developed the lyrical, ironic tone and distinctive visual style of his debut work in the extremely well received films Everything I Like (Všetko, čo mám rád, 1992), The Garden (Záhrada, 1995 – numerous awards, including a Czech Lion for Best Film and Direction), Orbis Pictus (1997) and in the story from the coproduction compilation film Prague Stories (Praha očima…, 1999). He made the film Landscape (Krajinka) in 2000. His most recent feature film is The City of the Sun (Sluneční stát, 2005), screened in the main competition at Karlovy Vary. In 2003 the KV festival’s Czech Film section presented his remarkable documentary about Pavel Juráček The Key for Determining Dwarfs or The Last Journey of Lemuel Gulliver (Klíč k určování trpaslíků aneb Poslední cesta Lemuela Gullivera).