A STRONG POLISH REPRESENTATION AT THE DOKUMENTARIST FESTIVAL
On 7th June, the Dokumentarist festival starts in Istanbul. Polish documentary cinema will be a one of the highlights of the festival programme. In special screenings, the following films will be shown: "Abu Haraz," "Our Curse," "Father and Son" and "Joanna," as well as the Masters from Krakow programme.
2014 is in Turkey the Year of Poland, the reason for which is the 600th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Poland and Turkey. Within the frames of the Year of Poland, in Turkey reviews of Polish films are organised, as well as music concerts and presentations of the latest Polish art, while simultaneously the reconnaissance of Turkish art is organised in Poland.
On this occasion, the documentary film festival Dokumentarist, which takes place in Istanbul from 7th to 12th June, invited Poland as a special guest. The Turkish audience will have a chance to get acquainted with an exceptionally numerous representation of Polish documentary cinematography, present at the festival. In the special screenings, the following films will be shown: "Abu Haraz" by Maciej J. Drygas, "Our Curse" by Tomasz Śliwiński, "Father and Son" by Paweł Łoziński and "Joanna" by Aneta Kopacz.
The eponymous Abu Haraz is a small village located among the deserts of northern Sudan. Building a large dam on the Nile is in conflict with the ancient, natural rhythm of life of the local population. The filmmakers spent many years with the inhabitants of Abu Haraz, observing their urgent attempts to reverse the course of history.
The director of "Our Curse," Tomasz Śliwiński, documents the first months of his family's life after the birth of the child. The boy is ill with a rare, incurable disease, called Ondine's Curse (congenital central hypoventilation syndrome, CCHS). People afflicted with this disease stop breathing during sleep and require life-long use of respirator to support their respiratory functions.
The protagonists of "Father and Son" are two eminent documentary filmmakers, Marcel and Paweł Łozińscy. They set off by car for a trip around Europe. For the father, it is the return to his place of birth, for the son - an attempt to settle the common past. Both try and record this difficult dialogue on the camera.
The documentary film by Aneta Kopacz, "Joanna," depicts fragments from the life of Joanna, her husband Piotr and her son Jaś. Joanna, the protagonist of the film by Aneta Kopacz, relishes every moment in spite of being diagnosed with a serious illness. She promised her five-year-old son that she would do anything to be with him as long as possible. She does not give up.
Apart from the four aforementioned titles, at the festival Dokumentarist the programme Masters from Krakow will be presented, within the frames of which the films by the Polish winners of Krakow Film Festival will be shown. These are:
- "The Musicians" - by Kazimierz Karabasz (Golden Dragon 1961),
- "On A Railway Line" - by Bohdan Kosiński (Golden Hobby-Horse 1971),
- "Primary School" - by Tomasz Zygadło (Golden Dragon 1971),
- „Hair” – by Marek Piwowski (Golden Hobby-Horse 1972),
- "The Hospital" – by Krzysztof Kieślowski (Golden Dragon 1977),
- "Seven Women Of Different Ages" – by Krzysztof Kieślowski (Golden Hobby-Horse 1979), \
- "The Primer" - by Wojciech Wiszniewski (Golden Hobby-Horse 1981),
- "A Few Stories About Man”– by Bohdan Dziworski (Golden Dragon 1983),
- "Anything can happen"– by Marcel Łoziński (Golden Dragon 1995),
- "The Sisters" – by Paweł Łoziński (Golden Hobby-Horse 1999).