"KOTAN'S CHILDREN" BY MIROSŁAW DEMBIŃSKI - WORLD PREMIERE AT THE 52ND KRAKOW FILM FESTIVAL!

Today, the 52nd edition of Krakow Film Festival starts. Particularly interesting are the screenings of Polish documentaries, which will compete within the frames of the competitions (documentary and Polish one). One of them is the brand new film by Mirosław Dembiński - "Kotan's Children" which will have its world premiere at the festival today.

 Marek Kotański, the founder of the the therapy centre for the addicted, used to repeat to his charges that " one has to be the champion of the world to get free from the addiction." The protagonists of the documentary by Dembiński are drug addicts, who managed, after years of therapy, to radically change their lives and who are involved with the Monar establishments because they desire to help other addicted people. This year, the tenth anniversary of Kotan's death takes place, and the activity in whose sense he believed and for which he fought is continued by his ex-fosterlings. The inhabitants of the therapy centre in Nowolipsk tell us about their past, mistakes which they committed and their attempts to function anew in the society. They also reminisce about Kotański, the uncompromising therapist, who gave them the helping hand, became the authority figure for them, as well as their friend, and, what is most important, believed in them and trusted them, that they are capable of living a different, valuable life. In the documentary, there are excerpts from meetings, the everyday life of the centre and historical scenes with Kotański's speeches. The entire film includes a musical commentary: the songs by Perfect, Ira, Dżem as well as a hip-hop group established by Monar's fosterlings. The film is a chance to encounter problems which are still ignored in Poland and people whom it is easier to condemn than to see in them people who are the same as we are, or perhaps even more sensitive and stronger. All who doubt the possibility of drug rehabilitation are invited to the screening of "Kotan's Children."

 

Kaja Kajder