A poetic documentary story, mainly using pictures with scarcely any colours (which are the more effective in the otherwise gloomy surroundings), tells of a felt factory for valenki. The whole technical process – from the “bathing” of the wool fibres in water, to the cutting of the boot shape from the prepared material – is depicted in the form of a trance-like visual sequence, accompanied by the sound of working machines. The close-ups of the workers are like counterpoint. Everything around them is steaming with heat. The valenki factory in Smilovichi in Belarus has been operating since 1929.
About the artist
Victor Asliuk was born in 1961, is a film director and scriptwriter. He is a laureate of more than 30 prestigious European film festival awards, including the Europe-2002 award for the best European documentary film of the year. He is a member of the European Film Academy.
Earth (2012)
Wooden People (2011)
Andrei (2010)
Island Belarus (2010)
Robinsons of Mantsinsaari (2009)
Waltz (2008)
The Lake (2004)
Tears of the Prodigal Son (1994)
