54. KFF – REVIEWS OF THE FILMS IN POLISH COMPETITION

We present you reviews of two documentaries taking part in the national competition at 54th Krakow Film Festival: “Werka” by Pawłeł Łoziński and “6 Degrees” by Bartosz Dombrowski.

„Werka”, dir. Paweł Łoziński

One of the scenes from Paweł Łoziński’s film „Werka”: a woman drinking coffee or tea from a mug with an inscription on it: Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this (Ps 37,5).

Main character’s everyday life is filled with chores: working in the match factory, housekeeping, taking care of disabled girl – Werka. It requires a lot of hard work, but she carries on with no complaining or asking for anything. She thanks God for every single day, accepts her reality. Her perseverance and modesty, typical of that quiet heroes that usually nobody notices, allow her to keep going.

Luckily, Łoziński looks out for that kind of people in the crowd. He finds their world interesting, beautiful and genuine. In filmmaking he faces reality, accepts it excactly as it is – like the main protagonist. Obviously, it’s challenging, impossible to do without sympathy, patience and good will. But the prize is extraordinary – an intvitation to the human life. It’s hardly possible to find it in run-of-the-mill sensational documentaries.

The film is saying something extremely important: human being becomes fulfilled in relationships with other people. Contact with a disabled child brings out the best in her carer. Furthermore, it works both ways – the woman’s attention and tenderness give Werka a chance to see and experience more (beautiful scene in which blind and deaf girl touches rough tree bark). But this unusual relationship affects everyone – not only the director but also us, the audience. We are given a unique opportunity to be a part of it.

Daniel Stopa

„6 Degrees”, dir. Bartosz Dombrowski

“Six degrees of separation” is a theory based on the Hungurian writter’s - Frigyes Karinthy - novel called Chains. Controvercial idea describes connections between people all over the world – face-to-face relationship is one degree of “affinity”. Thesis: all the people are connected to each other by those six degrees.

Bartosz Dombrowski, director who was born in Greece, brought up in Germany and educated in film school in Poland, uses this theory to tell a story about eight different human beings. At the very beginning the crew declares their will to prove the theory, but the numbers are not really the most important. There is a bit of uncertainty in the film – is it possible to get all the way from randomly selected girl from Warsaw to the Mexican farmer whose coordinates were chosen by chance? Every person has to point one of his or her friends who may have necessary connections. This is the true experiment – nobody knows the end.

On the other hand, the film presents so absorbing portrayals of all eight people participating in the experiment that the main aim becomes much less important. In every part we meet somebody else – his or her problems, thoughts, priorities. What amazes the most is that distance between authors and protagonists was shortened so easily and quickly (all the journey took just a couple of months). Every single part of the “chain” is a true, intimate story. Sylvia Kalicinski, American of Polish origin, telling abut her tough childhood, Martyna Załoga, rock singer, with her destabilized life, Guillermo Sesma, worker on a presidental campaign in Mexico, comparing his job and things he finds really important in his life.
Authors don’t batten on their protagonists. They pay tribute to them by illustrating all the stories - camerawork is as important part of the film as them. Destabilization of Maryna Załoga’s life - her quandaries, concerts, parties, fights – was emphasized by editing with a lot of short takes, like in a video clip. The mexican priests part is filled with contemplative long takes.

In spite of it there is a common denominator for all the protagonists. All their stories together create a completely new quality - a kind of truth about life than can’t be uttered, but can be shown. We are watching people from all over the world and there is a strange feeling that everyting, except for place of residence, is common. Perhaps Bartosz Dombrowski asks about the essence, some substance which is present in every human being. “People have something what Church calls soul. A kind of waves that we all feel. You meet a woman, see her first time in your life, but for some reason you don’t like her. It’s this feeling in your belly. Sometimes you see a girl or a guy and you just like them. Or there are girls that become friends for their whole lifes. Meeting of minds. We consist of two parts: physical and metaphysical. Everything is dual: day and night, man and woman, good and evil, black and white.” – lectures one of the protagonists to his family.

“Six degees” is a complete work. Film was produced by European department of HBO and Otter Film and East Pictures companies. On the East Pictures website we can find questions that filmmakers ask: “do people become closer to each other in the era of the Internet? Does the global village theory really work? Are we so preoccupied with our own issues that we do not notice people around us? Do we care about our friendships? Do we have a moment to stop and think what happens to people who used to be close to us?”

Bartosz Dombrowski is going to work on his feature film debut. We can take “6 Dregrees” as a guarantee for his success. Hopefully, he still has a lot to say.

Michał Kucharczyk