Martin Štrba, one of Slovakia’s most prominent contemporary cinematographers, will receive the Golden Camera award for outstanding artistic contribution to Slovak cinematography at the 31st edition of the IFF Art Film festival in Košice. In connection with this honor, the festival’s program features several significant Slovak films that Štrba worked on as a cinematographer. One of these is the legendary Slovak film The Garden (1995), which was personally introduced at the IFF Art Film festival by director Martin Šulík and screenwriter Marek Leščák. They spoke with festival spokesperson Juraj Čurný about their memories of making The Garden. Additionally, Martin Štrba will hold a Masterclass titled “Cinematography in Slovak and Czech Film” on June 25 at 1:00 PM in the Kulturpark Alfa Gallery.
What place does The Garden hold in your professional and perhaps personal life?
Martin Šulík: You know, it was my third film, and the first two played with a simple form. I tried to shoot them with as few shots as possible, using the simplest compositions, and the storytelling was straightforward. With The Garden, I decided to try making a film that was a bit livelier and had more humor than the previous ones. When Marek and I started writing it, and later Ondrej Šulaj joined us, we aimed to make the film somewhat entertaining. For example, when we wrote the opening sequence where Jakub arrives at the garden, we decided to shoot it as a slapstick comedy. We loved slapstick, and when the greenhouse falls on the protagonist but doesn’t crush him, leaving him standing—that’s actually a tribute to Harold Lloyd, where a house falls on him but he remains standing. In that sense, it was a film where I was learning to make movies, and I felt I had made something roughly the way I wanted.
Marek Leščák: Martin was my teacher at school, and before that, we had co-written a script where a character named Elena appeared, and she made it into The Garden. For me, it was the first realized film, and we continued working together afterward. It was also an immediate success, which meant a very strong start in life. I’m glad the collaboration continues. It’s curious why this film resonated so much. It was made during a very tumultuous time—there were big political and social changes. When we tried to find a topic to capture that, we realized everything quickly became outdated. Then we talked about a story of a man seeking an escape from the world and redefining relationships and values. I feel that connected with people because they too needed inner escape, calm, and reflection.
How did you decide on casting the roles? Almost all the main actors have legendary characters, and that applies to the supporting roles as well.
Martin Šulík: When we wrote the script, we didn’t have a specific idea of who would play the roles, and we thought about it for quite a while. Interestingly, we didn’t hold auditions but met people. The first cast was Roman Luknár, and for a long time, we couldn’t find the girl to play the Virgin Miracle. When we were writing at Ondrej Šulaj’s place, Zuzana—who was sixteen or seventeen and starting at the School of Applied Arts—was always there. When we were completely at a loss, I asked her, and she said she didn’t mind playing the role. That spontaneity and naturalness she had as an untrained actress turned out to be a great asset. As for the others, I especially like what Ján Melkovič does as Saint Benedict, Stanislav Štepka plays Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Ferko Kovár plays Wittgenstein. For example, in the script, Wittgenstein runs and jumps over a fence, and for that shot, a high jumper stood in as a stunt double, and we helped with a trampoline (laughs). A lot had to be improvised on set. Electronic post-production existed in 1994 but not in Czechoslovakia, so everything in the film was done practically on set. Even the final levitation was done by sheer willpower (laughs). The fall from the ladder was real—all practical effects. We were lucky to have a great crew, and we shot in Myjava, where we stayed for a month. A special community formed among the people involved, with intense dedication. I’d say the lines between professions blurred—everyone cared deeply about the film. Everyone listed in the credits really worked intensely, putting a part of their lives and ideas into it. We had more time then because we were younger. It’s not about the social system but about age. The older you get, the more responsibilities you have, family, but that intensity back then was incredibly strong.
The film is also being screened as part of the festival’s section dedicated to honorary award recipients, in this case the Golden Camera won by Martin Štrba. Martin Štrba was the cinematographer not only for this film but, except for one, for all your feature films. How did your professional—and presumably personal—connection begin?
Martin Šulík: Martin and I didn’t study together because he attended FAMU and was part of a group of Slovak photographers called something like the Slovak New Wave. Although he wasn’t a photographer but a cinematographer, when I was preparing to shoot my first film, I wanted someone from that group. Until then, I worked with Alojz Hanúsek, who was the cinematographer for Dušan Hanák’s Pictures of the Old World and later Paper Heads. But I wanted someone closer to my generation, who might capture something different, from a different perspective than what was usual in Slovakia until then. So we met Martin and agreed to shoot in the style of his photography—how he photographed: the connection between people and nature. Many things are done similarly even though the film is in color and Martin’s photos are black and white. We somehow understood each other, partly because we felt many things similarly, but Martin is also different from me. With him, dialogue is possible because he doesn’t always agree with everything or see things my way—each of us has a different view. We’re friends, and that made it a creative solution for me: what Martin offers and how we work together is a pleasant creative collaboration. I realized that if people feel exactly the same, it’s like kicking a ball against a wall—it comes back the way you kicked it. After all these years working together, Martin has worked with many other directors and gained new experiences, using different technologies. In later films, for example, he worked with digital film, like with Vladimír Michálek in Prague, and then we worked together on Klíč k určování trpaslíků (2002). He brought a completely new experience to our collaboration. I don’t do all my films with Martin—documentaries I make with Richard Krivda, and Gypsy (2011) was done with Martin Šec. Working with others is refreshing because it brings new experiences.
Marek Leščák: I would just add that practically after The Garden, Slovak cinematography was, let’s say, decimated, destroyed. Martin was one of those who, if they wanted to realize projects, went to the Czech Republic. He wasn’t the only one; it was a large group of creators seeking opportunities there. But whenever something was done in Slovakia, he naturally collaborated.
Yet you mostly rely on the same collaborators—is that because you already know how you respond to each other and what to expect? Vladimír Godár, and producer Rudolf Biermann as well?
Martin Šulík: Probably yes, but it’s also important that the themes are somehow related. I think each of us has limits, and maybe if I made a different type of film, I’d work with other people. The themes I shoot somehow affect these people. Because we’re friends and live close lives, we experience similar stories, and often the films contain experiences of mine, Marek’s, Dušek’s, and others around us. It’s strange. Sometimes I thought it would be good to change the crew; I tried it a few times—made, say, commercials with another crew—and I realized that when we make a film with Martin Štrba, Fero Lipták, or Katka Holá, the communication works almost without words. We don’t have to explain basic things.
What are you working on now? Together or with others, in terms of screenwriting or directing?
Marek Leščák: We’re preparing a feature film. We’re trying to write the second version of the script and will see what happens.
Martin Šulík: It’s getting harder because we have very little time, and both of us teach at university. Meeting two weeks in a row is a big challenge.
At the start of the film screening, it was mentioned that your students requested The Garden because they wanted to see it, right? Film students are from a different generation. How do they perceive this film?
Marek Leščák: We were curious ourselves. They could have just watched it as a requirement and thought it was a bad idea, but their reactions were very lively, and it seemed to resonate with them. The themes and the language didn’t feel old to them. That surprised us, and the discussion was very engaging. I admit I was a bit worried because it is a thirty-year-old film, but I think it gave them something.
Martin Šulík: It was interesting that many questions were about different film production technology and the social situation when the film was made. The students were mostly from the editing department and were interested in things beyond just the film. Film production has changed completely in thirty years. How a film was made then and how it’s made today is entirely different—the camera, sound, there are many more possibilities. Digital technology has advanced cinematography by democratizing filmmaking. More people today have the chance to make films. For example, when I look at student works submitted for entrance exams, they already have storytelling through images and film deeply in their DNA. Our culture is a visual culture, and they watch a lot of films. So the discussion with young people was also about how the world has changed. They had two “dinosaurs”—I was a complete dinosaur, Marek a young dinosaur—but we could talk about how things have evolved since then.
The 31st IFF ART FILM is made possible thanks to the support of:
Organizer: ART FILM FEST s.r.o.
Co-organizers: Mesto Košice · K13 – Košické kultúrne centrá · Visit Košice · ART FILM FEST, n.o. · LGM, s.r.o. · FORLIVE
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