Peter Solan, director of Before Tonight Is Over, passed away

Peter Solan (1929 - 2013), director of the significant Slovak classics The Boxer and Death or Before Tonight Is Over, passed away September 21, 2013 early morning following a short illness. The obsequies will take place on Friday, September 27, 2013 at 13:00, at the Bratislava crematorium. Director Martin Šulík will pay his respects on behalf of the filmmakers, and script-editor Dagmar Ditrichová, daughter of scriptwriter Tibor Vichta, a close collaborator of Peter Solan, will say her goodbye on behalf of the family and close friends. The ceremony will be open to public.

Peter Solan, born in Banská Bystrica, studied direction as a first-generation FAMU graduate (1955). He began as a documentarist and in 1959 debuted in features with the first Slovak detective story The Man Who Never Returned. He gained international recognition with the concentration camp drama The Boxer and Death (1962), subsequently joining the ranks of 1960s New Wave filmmakers. This influence is most tangible in Before Tonight Is Over (1965) and in the triptych Dialogues 20-40-60 (1968). His regular co-writers included dramatist Peter Karvaš (The Barnabáš Kos Case, 1964; The Master Didn’t Ask for Anything, 1970) and screenwriter Tibor Vichta (Face in the Window, 1963; Before Tonight Is Over, 1965). During the normalisation era Solan had to transfer to Short Film Studios. He was allowed to return to feature and TV work in the 1980s.

Several of Solan's films were released on DVD. In July, the 48th Karlovy Vary IFF presented Before Tonight Is Over in a World Premiere in a digitally restored version from DCP.

published: 23.09.2013
updated: 26.09.2013