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HIDDEN

POLISH TITLE: UKRYTE

Hidden is an intimate, multi-layered film essay about fear—an emotion that permeates the body and mind, disrupts everyday rhythms, and, when suppressed, can have destructive effects. How do I feel then? Responding to this seemingly simple question, the protagonists share personal experiences of this primal emotion, often passed down through generations. Through the sounds of breath, heartbeat, and subtle disturbances, fear becomes a sensory presence with its own rhythm and melody. Hypnotic sound and image create an immersive experience that allows emotions to be felt.

Drawing on polyphonic voices, archival footage from the Educational Film Studio in Lodz, and original staged imagery, Hidden explores the biological roots and bodily memory of fear, revealing how individual experiences gain a collective dimension.

 

GENRE:
documentary
COUNTRY:
Polska
RUNNING TIME:
22'
YEAR:
COLOUR:
black and white
DIRECTING:
Monika Kotecka
SCRIPT:
Monika Kotecka, Beata Bartecka
DOP:
Monika Kotecka
EDITOR:
Mateusz Romaszkan
MUSIC:
Aleksandra Kotecka
SOUND:
Franciszek Kozłowski
PRODUCTION:
Marta Szymanowska
COPRODUCTION:
Wytwórnia Filmów Oświatowych, Gdański Fundusz Filmowy, EC1 Łódź – Miasto Kultury, Kijora Film, ABATOR

Monika Kotecka »

Cinematographer, director, and photographer. Graduate of Photography at the European Photography Academy in Warsaw and of Cinematography at the Lodz Film School. Her films have been presented at such festivals as Cannes, Berlinale, Sundance, BFI London, Visions du Réel, and IDFA. She has worked with various types of video art, from music videos and commercials to feature films, both in Polish and international projects. Over the years, she has developed her own style of visual storytelling, particularly in documentary, focusing on intimate observation of the subject—a prominent feature of her visual language. Her short film Volte, awarded at Hot Docs 2017, nominated for the Silver Eye Award at the East Silver Market, and screened at over 50 festivals around the world, is currently part of the Op-Docs collection on The New York Times platform and was the first Polish documentary to be nominated for the American Cinema Eye Honors Award.

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