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Minimalist documentarian Roberto Minervini says he long ago fell in love with “the physicality of the camera” – a passion so strong, he now demands that his camera operators learn controlled breathing and work out extensively before a shoot can begin.

There’s nothing that bothers him more, he told fans at the Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival, than detecting slight movements of the frame from the cameraperson’s breathing.

And sure, he could have used Steadicams while filming this year’s American Civil War drama, “The Damned.” But that would mean “limiting camera movement” and would add 45 minutes of setup time, besides making the rig too imposing, he says.

Making his first in-person appearance at Ji.hlava, Minervini has fascinated audiences with his perspectives. In 2020, the fest screened his docs “Low Tide” (2012), “Stop the Pounding Heart” (2013) and “The Other Side” (2015), but in that Covid lockdown year, live guests were out of the question.

Released early in 1972, a time when concept albums were regularly being delivered to record stores, The Ballad of Calico checked all the boxes. Narrative storyline with songs sung in the voices of characters? Check. Cover packaging that made it look more like a scrapbook than an album? Check. Accompanying booklet laying out the concept? Check. Symphonic fanfare that opens the album and is reprised at the end? Check. All of it spread over two LPs, just like Tommy and Jesus Chris Superstar? Double check.

The only thing abnormal about it...