Jakub, by the Czech filmmaker Jana Sevikova, presents an extensive ethnographical-sociological study of the life of the Ruthenians, filmed in the Maramuresh mountains in the north of Romania and in the former Sudetenland in Western Bohemia. The film was made over a period of five years during the time of both totalitarian regimes and was completed in 1992 after the revolution. Jakub Popovich is the primary character whose story provides the link between 1947, when the film begins, and the present. Scientists at the Ethnographic-Folklore Institute, a part of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague acted as collaborators in the making of this film. The film has received international attention from filmmakers for it’s unique structure and cinematic quality as well from educators and research scientists for it’s content.
Born in Prague, Czech Republic in 1953. She graduated in documentary filmmaking from Prague’s Film Academy (FAMU) with Piemule (1984), the first part of the Ruthenian trilogy that captures the unique lives and customs of people unknown to most of the world. Jakub (1991) is a revealing study of Rutherenians who live in remote mountains. The last film of the trilogy, Old Believers (2001) documents a strongly religious community where time seems to stand still. She has made a number of other films too, most recently The Rite of Spring (2002) about the acclaimed Butoh artist and performer Min Tanaka, or Gyumri (2008) – shot in Armenia in the course of three years, this documentary tells a powerful story of families whose lives were heavily affected by the earthquake in 1988. From the very beginning of her film career Sevcikova has worked independently, receiving financial assistance from the State Fund of the Czech Republic for the Support and Development of Czech Cinematography and the… read more
Excellent documentary. Full of humanism. Great soundtrack. Beautiful and gloomy.
