REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS WITH THE DICRECTORS OF POLISH DOCS AT HOT DOCS
In the programme of this year's edition of the International Documentary Film Festival "Hot Docs" in Canada, there are three Polish documentary films: "End of the World" by Monika Pawluczuk, "The Place" by Julia Popławska and "The Queen of Silence" by Agnieszka Zwiefka. We would like to invite you to read the reviews of the films and interviews with filmmakers.
For the film "End of the World" the screening at Hot Docs it is a world première. "The End of the World" is an intimate, art house documentary film, in which a couple of stories meet during one night. During this one night, similar to many others, people in a big city, tormented by loneliness, want to talk to someone. Some people call - often unnecessarily - the ambulance, others come for therapy at night, and yet others call the radio, where the host asks about the end of the world - what it means to each of us. They talk about tragic, painful matters, and sometimes petty, even funny ones. What is noticeable and moving is their great need for conversation, being heard out, the need to be together with someone. The radio is the motif which unites this night world - we hear it in the ambulance, in the taxi which carries the patient for the therapy, in the city monitoring, where we see the city night life on tens of screens. The radio is a bracket uniting the film and the source of the most important questions.
In his review Daniel Stopa writes: The title of the film by Pawluczuk is tricky. At the first moment, it brings to mind the whole mass of catastrophic films with eye-catching special effects, but only a brief time spent watching "The End of the World" fully represents the atmosphere of the entire film - the mood of meditation, subtle immersion in the inner lives of the protagonists, as well as in ourselves.
The full text of the review is on our website. We would also like to invite you to read the interview with Monika Pawluczuk.
"The Queen of Silence" is a film telling the story of deaf and mute girl, 10 year-old Denisa, who lives on an illegal gypsy encampment, but also the story of the place itself, threatened with eviction. Like other children on the encampment, Denisa has never been to school, she can neither read nor write, and lives in extremely difficult conditions, without running water and without constant access to electricity. In addition, she is also laughed at by her peers, who call her "the deaf one" or "the silly one," rarely using her name. However, Denisa lives in her own world. Since she found a box with Bollywood films among the rubbish, she finds escape from the everyday reality in them. The girl spends all her days watching Bollywood choreography and tries to imitate it. Because Denisa never learnt to speak, dance is her only language. Only by dancing she can give vent to her anger, show sadness or joy. In the film, two layers - the documentary, strictly observational one, and the musical one, inspired by Bollywood, smoothly intertwine with one another, creating one, consistent story.
In a sense, "The Queen of Silence" shows the power of cinema, too. Thanks to camera and film tools, Denisa can make her dreams come true and communicate with the world. The human element is important in all this. It is thanks to the selfless help of the doctor that Denisa starts to hear, to get to know the world and to experience it in a totally new, fuller way. Also thanks to the director, who decided to be closer to the protagonist rather than to "great" matters, the internal world of the girl can speak to us, and we can see it. – this is what Daniel Stopa writes about the film. We would like to invite you to read the full review of the film.
"The Place" by Julia Popławska documents everyday life in the workplace which is located in the highest place in Poland, where night observation of the surrounding world incessantly goes on. The employers of "the Place" suspended out of time and space, are unshakeably on their posts, in spite of any adversity and surprising situations.
Touching this world by image and sound - this is how Popławska comes closer to her protagonists. Just like they do, she faces the beautiful space, which is impossible to describe, and directs her camera at it and tries to bring closer to us at least a part of this extraordinary space.
Interview with Julia Popławska and the review of her film are already available on the website of PolishDocs.
Polish-English project "You have to be there" by Magdalena Szymków will participate in the pitching at the Hot Docs Forum. The selection panel, consisting of: Michael Gries (ZDF), Ben Braun (Submarine), and Brigid O’Shea (DOK Leipzig), chose 19 projects from around the world to participate in the pitching. Hot Docs Forum is held on April 29 and 30.
Initiated in 1993 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary film festival on the American continent. It takes place every year in spring, and film screenings are accompanied by international film market and industry conferences. This year's edition, the 22nd one, begins on April 23 and lasts until May 3. During this edition, 210 films from 45 countries, chosen from among 2435 films submitted to selection, will be shown. At the festival, there will be 47 world premières and 55 international premières.
The full programme of the festival is available on the Festival's website.