Still from "Tommorow Will be Better", photo: Kid Film
Capturing the courage and prejudice-free nature of a child and showing situations which may provoke conflict within the human, Argentinian Lesson, Tomorrow Will be Better and Courage are screened at Vienna's first ever Festival of Central and East European Cinema
The line between fiction and documentary is blurred in the 2011 movie Argentinian Lesson shot by Wojciech Staroń during his family's two year stay in Argentina. Presenting the process of integration through the eyes of his eight year old son, Janek, the award winning film shows how friendship narrows the gap between heterogeneous cultures. Befriending an eleven year old Argentinian girl Marcia, Janek begins to see her world, where children are not exempt from the problems of adults. Janek is indirectly the protagonist of Wojciech Staroń's 1998 motion picture Siberian Lesson which shows his father the filmmaker and his mother a Polish teacher travelling to Siberia to visit the descendants of Poles sent into exiled to Siberia. Siberian Lesson tells the story of how they fell in love. Argentynska Lekcja / Argentinian Lesson was shot on light-sensitive film stock and competes in the Best Documentary Section at Let's CEE.
Still from "Tommorw Will be Better", photo: Kid Film
Children, their undaunted spirit and journeys between countries also appear as the leading theme of Dorota Kędzierzawska's 2010 award winning film Tommorow Will be Better. A moving picture about the escape from Russia of three homeless boys Pietia, Wasia and Liapa who were unlucky and didn't meet anyone on their way who could have helped them. They reach Poland after an exhausting journey only to be deported back to Russia. Despite their heartbreaking fate the children show strength of will and endurance. Their story is a tale of parallel worlds: the hopes and dreams of the children are met with the helplessness of adults. Known for taking on painful and difficult topics about the lonely and marginalised, Dorota Kędzierzawska wrote the screenplay herself,
Apparently this story took place in real life. I don't know if there were two or three boys. I don't know if they were brothers. I don't know if they were running away for the first or second time. All I know is that they wanted to change something in their lives [...]. I know that a lot of us hopes that somewhere out there there is a place where things are different, more beautiful.
Apart from one role, all the characters in the film are played by amateurs and beginners. The Polish-Japanese production Jutro będzie lepiej / Tommorow Will be Better is screened in Vienna as part of the Cinema for Schools Section.
The 2011 feature film Courage, a contemporary psychological thriller has convinced critics to call its director Greg Zgliński Krzysztof Kieslowski's most talented pupil. Depicting rivalry between two brothers Jerzy and Alfred and their monotonous life which is disrupted by a sudden accident. When one day Jerzy defends a woman from a gang of hooligans on a train, Alfred does not rush to his aid. He steps back, intimidated by the unfolding violence while Jerzy gets pushed out of the speeding train. Alfred's cowardice was recorded on a mobile phone and he is accused of contributing to the event. Greg Zgliński explains,
In Courage cowardice takes a very dramatic form, but you can try to figure out why this happened, perhaps even sympathise. I do not excuse Alfred's actions, but whenever I think about it, I tried to imagine which elements of Alfred's past contributed to his lack of response on the train. This is the kind of hero who only discovers who he really is in an extreme situation.
Screenings take place in Vienna's Urania and Appollo Cinemas. Agnieszka Holland's In Darkness opens the first edition of the Let's CEE Film Festival. A new Film Festival, Let's CEE aims to introduce Central and Eastern European Cinema to Viennese audiences. The programme includes over 30 motion pictures from the region.
Screenings:
Agnieszka Holland's In Darkness:
May 29th, 1:30 pm, Kino Urania (in German)
May 31st, 8:30 pm, Apollo Kino (in German)
June 1st, 7pm, Apollo Kino (with English subtitles)
June 2nd 8pm, Apollo Kino (with English subtitles)
June 3rd, 8:30 pm, Apollo Kino (in German)
Greg Zgliński's Courage: (with English subtitles)
May 30th, 8:30 pm, Apollo Kino
Wojciech Staron's Argentinian Lesson: (with German and English subtitles)
May 30th, 5pm, Kino Urania
June 2nd, 3pm, Apollo Kino
Wojciech Staron's Siberian Lesson: (with English subtitles)
May 29th, 3pm, Apollo Kino
June 2nd, 1:30 pm, Apollo Kino
Dorota Kędzierzawska's Tommorow Will be Better: (with German and English subtitles)
May 31st, 2:30 pm, Apollo Kino
Sources: culture.pl, press materials, LET'S CEE Film Festival,
Thumbnail credit: Still from "Argentinian Lesson"
Author: Marta Jazowska