Pictures of the Old World

Slovakian documentary written and directed by Dusan Hanák.

The feature follows nine people living in the remote and forgotten villages of the Tatra mountains as they struggle with dire poverty and deprivation - a sharp contrast to the communist propaganda of the time which promised citizens a socialist paradise.

Amongst the lives documented are farmers, spiritualists and the elderly who struggle with disabilties and addictions on a daily basis.

Banned by the state upon its initial release, the film was only allowed to surface 16 years later.