The International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance (founded in 1947) has announced this year’s ICTMD Documentary Film or Video Prize, awarded annually to documentary films related to ethnomusicological and ethnochoreological research. Among the award-winning films was the ethnographic film “Hopa lide,” made with (rather than about) Romani musicians from Slovakia and directed by our colleague Petr Nuska.

 

After the film’s presentation at festivals and scholarly conferences, the film will finally be presented to a broader audience through a series of special screenings. Prague audiences can look forward to one of those events on Friday, 29 November, at the Edison Filmhub. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the author and one of the film’s protagonists. The film will be screened with English subtitles, and tickets are available at this website: https://edisonfilmhub.cz/filmy/hopa-lide

Here’s the jury’s statement on the award-winning film:

“The film is devoted to the lives of Romani musicians in Slovakia. The author portrays the pluralities and fluid nature of their musical activities, challenging stereotypes about them, and intimately recounting their musical experiences and quotidian lives. Guided by an innovative use of observational approach, Hopa lide is a collaborative film that breaks conventional moulds for ethnographic inquiry. This film beautifully coalesces into an original and fascinating portrait of musical practices on the move.”