INTERVIEW WITH JAKUB STOŻEK – DIRECTOR OF THE FILM “W. SISTER'S BEAUTY SALON”

27.05.2014

Interviewed by Magdalena Ciesielska, Jakub Stożek talks about his latest documentary film - "W. Sisters Beauty Salon" – which is presented at 54th Krakow Film Festival.

Magdalena Ciesielska: In your film place and characters are remarkable. The beauty salon for people suffering from cancer is not common after all. According to my information it is the only place like this in Poland. How did you find it?

Jakub Stożek: I have found out about the beauty salon „Aura” in Szczecin from the article published in „Polityka” magazine. After a few days I called the salon to talk with the owner – Joanna Wiszniewska and after a few minutes I realised that she is an open-minded and spontaneous person. Later, when we were talking longer via Skype, I presented her my concept for the film.

Did she agree to make a film straightaway?

She did like the idea and she offered me to come to Szczecin in order to see the salon and meet the clients. I went there without a camera. I have spent couple of days in Szczecin and I also met there Jola - Joanna's sister. I was surprised when it was Joanna who offered me to come again – this time with camera and the crew in order to go straight into the action. It is not common to meet such an openness especially during the beginning of shooting and with such a delicate topic.

What has inspired you to make film about this kind of story? What did you want to show?

I did not find attractive making a story about fighting against a severe disease, as I have seen such stories many times. What I liked was the possibility of telling a story about the illness from the unique perspective of beauty parlour, which serves as something like confiding room. One the one hand we can see human's suffering and fear of death, but on the other hand, there is a beauty salon which is a temple of beauty where women want to be coddled and glamorised. The clash of these two realities at one place – sacrum of severe illness and profanum of painted nails gave – in my opinion – the potential for making an interesting material without signs of pathos.

Some concerns and doubts may arise during making a film about such a difficult subject. How was in your case?

I do not believe in „difficult subjects”. There are only well and badly-told stories. From the director's perspective, the most important thing is to have the concept for presenting particular story and to put it into an interesting form. I was only concerned about how the salon was going to work during the shooting. I was afraid that the clients would be embarrassed in front of the camera and the film crew, that we would just frighten them and the salon would go empty. As a result, the workers would be put into trouble, because at the end it is their workplace and the source of income. Information that the film crew is working in the salon spreads within the hospital community very quickly and collective fear of the camera could result with unpleasant consequences for us. Fortunately, my fears proved groundless, because clients stayed completely calm with camera, sometimes even, it made them laugh, which was a very comfortable situation for us.

It is truly surprising – the openness of the clients. You must have enjoyed a great level of their trust.

It is Joanna and Jola – in other words: the W. sisters and the main characters of the film who are taking credit for the trust that we had. They were in front of the camera, supporting the film from the beginning and they were encouraging the clients to cooperate – for instance during the shooting they were able to involve their clients in conversation so much, that the clients were forgetting about the camera. In order not to overwhelm anybody, we were working in a very small crew. Before we started shooting, I told them only about the general idea for the film. Some of the clients were ready to sit in front of the camera immediately, other needed more time to make a decision. I can count on my fingers the amount of women who refused to take part in the film.

There are scenes in the movie which are very intimate and emotional. Did you experience the situations where you decided to turn off the camera or maybe one of the clients asked for that?

There was no such moment in which I would decide to turn off the camera. I left the
control over where the intimacy line need to be drawn to my characters. I will never forget the
scene, when for the first time during the time we were filming one of the clients took her wig
off. I did not expect that because I thought that the scene was going to be about cosmetic treatment for the nails. At one point, while Jola was talking to this women about her haircut, she sat in front of the mirror and asked if Jola could check if her hair was growing back. Jola tentatively asked if the women knew, that she would have to take off the wig. Without hesitating, the women said: „Go ahead, I am not ashamed of anything”. Behind the camera we froze, and none from the crew could get a word out until the client left the saloon.

How did the main characters react to the film?

When the film was made, I sent it to them to Szczecin so I was not present while they were watching it. I never ask my characters to judge the film in which they are performing because I know how hard it is. I am still in touch with Joanna and Jola, we have stayed in warm relations, so I hope that I do not haunt them in their nightmares and they did not evaluate our cooperation badly.