In the late 1920s , Plicka began using a camera on his travels . He created his first silent films in 1928 ( '' Za Slovenským ludom '' ) and in 1929 ( '' Po horách , po dolách '' ) . The latter received a Gold Medal at the 1st Venice International Film Festival , held in 1932 . In 1932 , he met and befriended the photographer and filmmaker Alexandr Hackenschmied , with whom he co-created the " film poem " '' Zem spieva '' ( The Earth Sings ) , considered a '' magnum opus '' of Czechoslovak documentary film . In the 1930s and 40s , he collaborated as an expert assistant in production of Slovak and Soviet films ( e.g. '' Jánošík '' ( 1935 ) by Martin Frič and films by Ilya Kopalin and Vasily Belyayev ) . In 1938 he founded the courses of photography and cinematography at the '' Škola umeleckých remesiel '' ( School of Applied Arts ) in Bratislava . It was the first attempt at film education in Czechoslovakia . Later , in 1946 , he co-founded the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague ( FAMU ) , of which he became the first dean
1st Venice International Film Festival
1st Venice International Film Festival
Karel Plicka