Historical and National Background of Slovak Filmmaking

Preceded by Slovak-related shorts, Slovak filmmaking started with the 1921 feature Jánošík (dir. Jaroslav Jerry Siakeľ) funded by the Slovak-American company Tatra Film from Chicago. Subsequent films mostly focused on folklore (including another feature about Jánošík in 1935, dir. Martin Frič) and newsreels until topics concerning World War II and the onset of communism launched a period of increased production, but also struggle with censorship. The Sun in a Net (dir. Štefan Uher, 1962) helped launch the Czechoslovak New Wave (Prague New Wave, Czech New Wave), and The Shop on Main Street (dir. Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos, 1964) became the first Central European film to receive an Oscar. The 1960s also saw socially committed and experimental filmmaking, which was reduced during the following decade of more restrictive censorship. The 1980s brought a enormously popular blockbusters, some of which combined popular appeal with cultivated content, while others foreran the collapse of communism by accommodating pop culture and seeking ticket sales