BIOGRAPHY
MARTIN SKALSKY
Martin is a composer and filmmaker with Swiss and Czech origin. He is a vocalist, musician and composer, looking back at 20 years of experience in the national and international music industry. His works include - amongst others - the award winning feature "The Sandman" by Peter Luisi / "The forgotten" by Daria Onyshenko, world premiere at Warsaw Film Festival 2019 / the Oscar nominated live action short film "Ala Kachuu" by Maria Brendle.
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His extensive works as a composer include feature films, documentaries, theatre, televison, art projects in which he showes his dedication towards each project he embarks on. He has a strong dramaturgical focus in his works, namely in scoring music for films, stylistically ranging from minimal contemporary to orchestral in a versatile range of musical expression. The ultimate goal for Martin is always to find a genuinely common language with the directors he works with to create a unique musical landscape to fit each project dramaturgically on its highest level possible.
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Martin founded Zurich based film production company Buzzinho Codestar Productions, directing and co-producing amongst others his feature length documentary "Cody - the dog days are over", premiering at Zurich Film Festival 2019. Ever since he is - alongside his work as a film composer - persuing highly visual story telling as a director and producer.
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Since 2022, Martin also signs responsible as head of program directing documentaries for the foundation for professional training in cinema and audiovisual media FOCAL.
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Martin is Member of the European Film Academy.
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"I am very interested in the collaborative spirit of film making, as a director same as a composer". When composing for films, I emphasize on the dramaturgical structure of a film in a poetic way and resonate to it with my genuine musical voice. Together with the directors I work with, I always aim to create a very unique interaction between the pictorial language, the characters, the dramaturgical elements of the story and all the other ingrediences of the film."
FILMOGRAPHY (subjective selection)
Alles über Martin Suter - ausser die Wahrheit
2022 / Composer
Wie der Wind dreht / As the tide turns
2022 / Director, Producer, Composer
CODY - THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER
2019 / Director, Producer, Composer
The romanian stray dog Cody changes the life of a young family after being adopted to Switzerland. His behaviour makes them start to think about the existential questions in terms of how we as humans treat animals in general.
Are we capable to give animals rights? What would it mean if we’d decided to do so? Would it have an effect on the most crucial topics of our time: environmental responsibility, climate change, etc.? And, what will happen in front of our eyes if Cody and his former stray dog companion Blanche will meet again in London? What will they decide?
ZABUTI - THE FORGOTTEN
2019 / Composer / Directed by Daria Onyshenko
Nina, 30, a Ukrainian language teacher who can't leave the city of Luhansk, occupied by separatists in Eastern Ukraine, is forced to undergo retraining courses for teaching Russian. Andrii, 17, is a student who was orphaned in the aftermath of the war. They cross paths when Nina witnesses Andrii being arrested by the police after hanging the Ukrainian flag from the roof of his school. Nina knows that because they live in a world of injustice and lies Andrii can stay in jail for a long time, and she risks her life to free him. As they gravitate towards each other, they try to remind people in the occupied territories that they deserve a future, too.
DER SANDMANN
2012 / Composer / Directed by Peter Luisi
One fine morning, Benno finds sand in his bed. While he tries to ignore this at first, he soon must realize that he himself is loosing the sand. Day after day the sand increases and soon his time literally starts running short. Finally he is left no choice but to ask Sandra for help, who runs a small coffee shop under his apartment. Although Benno hates her with a passion, he started having dreams of her every night. What could Sandra and the dreams have to do with the sand?
SCHWEIZER HELDEN
2014 / Composer / Directed by Peter Luisi
In order to win the respect of her friends and family, divorced housewife Sabine decides to perform Wilhelm Tell with a group of Asylum seekers in the Swiss mountains.
RESET RESTART
2016 / Composer / Directed by Judith Lichtneckert
In 1976 a three year boy, Bae Suk, along with other South Korean children, landed at Zurich Airport on a no return flight from Seoul. Bae Suk settles with a foster family near Basel and receives a new name, Mischa. Mischa integrates successfully into his new surroundings, but often feels like a stranger. For the next three decades Mischa suppresses all thoughts about his adoption and Korean origin. However at 35 Mischa is gripped with a strong curiosity and desire to fill in the missing gaps of his lost Korean identity. He realizes that there is a lot to find out. With his parents name printed on his adoption papers and the help of the adoption agency he discovers he has a sister who already tried to contact him in 1992. Mischa is now completely intrigued and determined to follow these clues to his past. He quits his job and flat and emigrates to South Korea. A journey into the unknown begins.
RIDER JACK
2015 / Composer / Directed by This Lüscher
RIDER JACK - Jack is afraid of remembering, his father of forgetting.
LE VOYAGEUR
2016 / Composer / Directed by Timo von Gunten
A transcendent journey of a girl and her dead father.