THE WORLD PREMIERE OF "DAD WENT FISHING" BY GRZEGORZ PACEK

31.05.2012

Agnieszka Południak talked to Grzegorz Pacek about his most recent film.

 Juan von Tonder, native-born Africaner, the protagonist of the most recent film by Grzegorz Pacek, is introduced to the viewer as a calm man, who is the head of an orphanage for African children in a forgotten part of South Africa, Pomfret. However, his history, which is slowly unveiled before the viewers, turns out to be much more complicated. Warm-hearted and devoted to the orphans, through his work he wants to gain some kind of redemption; however, the turbulent past still makes itself felt. All the time, the man returns to the traumatic events which happened several years ago, he tries again to come in contact with his family, to find the long-lost daughter.

The camera accompanies his every step, but it is not a cold look of the filmmaker, but an attempt at understanding the man, who abandoned comfortable life and decided to devote himself to missionary work. The director tells us a story of an amazing conversion of the protagonist, who found himself, but also lost himself a little bit in religion (the scene in which we see Juan carried away while singing religious songs).

All the time we wonder about the motivation of the protagonist, does he want only to come to terms with his past, or does the problem have some hidden depths? Nearly twenty years ago, the apartheid was abolished in South Africa; does the protagonist, brought up in the spirit of domination of the white people, try to wash away this disgrace, just like in the novel by J.M. Coetzee? It is impossible to get rid of these thoughts while watching the film by Grzegorz Pacek, though this issue is not directly discussed.

 

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How did you discover the story of Juan?

 

Grzegorz Pacek: It all began with the article by Wojciech Jagielski about Pomfret in the Republic of the South Africa, ex-military base, inhabited by Angolans, by ex-soldiers. Initially, I planned to make a film about the children of these soldiers - Portuguese-speaking inhabitants of the Republic of South Africa, at the same time not the citizens of this country, whose fathers served the white government. After Nelson Madela came to power, they became an unwelcome and unwanted community. This subject seemed to me a good way of illustrating the post-colonial remains of what the whites did in the Black Africa. I made records in Pomfret, but only after six years did I manage to find the funds for the film-making. When I returned to the village after such a long time, my fears were confirmed - everything had changed, and the old protagonists, whom I knew earlier, were simply not there. I had to think up the entire film anew. Luckily, during the first days we - me and the cameraman, Bogumił Godfrejów, met two extremely interesting people. The first of them was Andreas, dressed like an American Rap star, an African youth, and the second was Juan von Tonder, the only one white man in the village, the headmaster of the orphanage. For a long time I thought that this film would have two protagonists.

 

How long did the shooting of the film take?

 

G. P.: According to the initial assumption, we were to go to Pomfret three times and spend there a month on each of our visits. Unfortunately, it turned out to be impossible in the Polish production conditions. Finally, we managed to travel there twice, and mainly thanks to the fact that at one time TVP Kultura joined the team of co-producers, up to then consisting primarily of my friends. Anyway, it was during the second trip when it became clear to me that Juan would be the protagonist of the film.

 

Did Juan agree to tell his story at once?

 

G. P.: Juan was very open and extremely friendly to us from the very beginning. I think it was caused by his inner need to share his life with someone. It is no wonder if we take into account the fact that he was the only white person among three thousand Angolans, whose language he did not know - they spoke Portuguese and he - English and Afrikaans - and because of that he felt alienated in this community. We spent two months with him and every day Juan was opening himself more and more until we became - I guess I can hazard saying so - friends.

 

In your film there are relatively few references to the regime of apartheid. Is it made on purpose?

 

G. P.: If I decided to tell the story about Pomfret starting from the fact that there were three guerilla movements fighting for independence, and they fought one another, that Angolans from Pomfret were soldiers who in 1970s. fought first for the liberation of Angola, later under the leadership of the white people from the Republic of the South Africa against the communists in Namibia, and then they were used to fight Nelson Mandela's ANC, it would turn out that it is a reportage about African history. It turned out that the private history of the protagonist is so strong and complicated in itself, that there was no place left in the film for the broader political background.

 

Has Juan seen the film already?

 

G. P.:No, he has not seen the film yet, but some good people informed him that the film has already been shown in Polish Television and he did not fail to tell me this.

 

Finally, please tell us about your next film project.

 

G. P.: It is a project about Ewa Jasiewicz, a young left-wing activist, involved in the "Freedom Palestine" movement, the author of the "Set Fire to Gaza" book, she also took part in the Flotilla of Freedom. Ewa lives in London and she is a daughter of an officer from Anders's Army. I am interested in the clash of the conservative, patriotic tradition of Anders with engaged, modern activist of left-wing and emancipatory movements.No, he has not seen the film yet, but some good people informed him that the film has already been shown in Polish Television and he did not fail to tell me this.

 

Finally, please tell us about your next film project.

 

G. P.: It is a project about Ewa Jasiewicz, a young left-wing activist, involved in the "Freedom Palestine" movement, the author of the "Set Fire to Gaza" book, she also took part in the Flotilla of Freedom. Ewa lives in London and she is a daughter of an officer from Anders's Army. I am interested in the clash of the conservative, patriotic tradition of Anders with engaged, modern activist of left-wing and emancipatory movements.