Martin Pavol Repka’s childhood is embedded in his debut feature film March to May (Od Marca do Mája). The 83 minute film, set in a Slovak village, is about the personal relationships between a family of five, its story centring around parenthood, adolescence, a teen-ager who skates, and a mother who unexpectedly falls pregnant. The narrative is slight—in this film, the mundane plays a character—but it is winningly sincere, quietly reflective, and boldly naturalistic, and signals to us (March to May was awarded a Special Jury mention at this year’s Karlovy Vary IFF) a young filmmaker to watch.
CaSFFA’s Artistic Director, Alexander Back, spoke with Repka via email about his debut film, which is, proudly, the Opening Night film of our 12th edition.
When reading about your inspiration for March to May, I was surprised by how closely your personal experience is related to the story on screen. Did you expect your debut feature to draw so much inspiration from your own life?
Martin Pavol Repka: I’ve had the original idea for March to May in my head for a very long time. I wanted to make it earlier as one of my short student films, but I realised that the topic is much bigger and deserves to be a feature-length film. So when I was standing in front of the question, what would be my first film, this was the number one option. Having a story that is so personal helped me to overcome all the difficulties that come with making a debut feature.
The film has a slow cinematic style. Are there any filmmakers or films that inspired you?
Martin Pavol Repka: I tried not to watch too many films during the preparations and shooting of March to May, since I’m easily influenced. But there was one film that I could watch over and over again, and that is The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978) by Ermanno Olmi. Besides that, I’m a big fan of slow cinema movement. Kelly Reichardt, Abbas Kiarostami or Nuri Bilge Ceylan are a few of my favorite filmmakers.
There’s a pleasant and peaceful feeling—I’m thinking of those scenes where they’re all sleeping in their beds under the same roof—had you imagined the story having this distinct sense of togetherness and solitude?
Martin Pavol Repka: I’m glad that you had these feelings watching the film! This was something we were aiming for from the very beginning. Since the story is based on my personal memories, one thing I remembered from my childhood was this sense of togetherness and a certain kind of peaceful environment. To put it simply, I’ve had a very happy childhood and growing older I realised that it is, unfortunately, rather an exception. I wanted to capture this atmosphere being as authentic and true to my memories as possible. And that meant also to capture the feeling of solitude within the family. When you live in a functional family, it doesn’t mean you don’t sometimes feel sad or alone. I tried to concentrate and use every filmmaking tool possible to capture both togetherness and solitude within the household.
Martin Pavol Repka
And, there is of course, the melancholy aspect of the story.
Martin Pavol Repka: I’m a very melancholic person and when I make films I try to balance it with humor and liveliness. But I like when there are few scenes or shots that are truly melancholic, because I always feel moved by it. The root in my childhood memories has definitely a huge credit on it.
The film is finely crafted. Was there ever a version of the story longer than the 83-minute final cut?
Martin Pavol Repka: We’ve had one, perhaps an eight minute longer version of the cut and with my editor we felt that the tempo of the film is not really right. So we did some polishing in terms of shortening a few shots, entering certain scenes later or leaving them earlier. It was a really precise process since we did it intuitively and had to re-watch the whole movie after each set of changes. In the end we cut out eight minutes from the film only by shortening a few scenes. And that gave us the final shape to the film.
What is it about the theme of family that interests you as a filmmaker?
Martin Pavol Repka: In this film we observe a family, but I feel like I’m attracted to any form of human cohesion. Or in better words – people who are trying their best to live together. I like to observe those situations in relationships that are moving for me. I think in the end it is the only thing that stays – what we have between each other.
Has your own family seen the film? What did they think of it?
Martin Pavol Repka: Yes, they saw the film at the world premiere in Karlovy Vary IFF. To be honest, I was a bit nervous about how they would receive the film, since so many things are taken over from their real lives. To my surprise, what startled them most was when I added something different to their “character” – for example my middle sister (the one on who is the character of Alžbetka based on) was asking me: “When did I ever want to have a fancy dress?”. But besides that they enjoyed the film very much. I think they were laughing a lot, seeing all their personality traits on screen.
March to May screens at Opening Night, at Classic Cinemas, on Thursday, 10 October.