Joanna was chosen as the best short documentary and received the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau Grand Jury Prix Award. The received awards open the way for the film to apply for an Academy Award.
The film, which was released by Wajda Studio, has won dozens of awards at festivals in Warsaw, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Leipzig, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The documentary also received a Special Award at the Makedox Festival in Skopje, Macedonia.
A documentary about a Headscarf
Joanna tells a story of Joanna Sałyga, who ran the Headscarf blog, on which she would describe the last years of her life. The cancer-stricken woman had struggled for over two years to beat the disease – her blog was where she could give account of the struggle. She wrote about her family, the joy of life, love and fear. The blog got quite an audience in Poland – it was both moving and encouraging.
JOANNA - trailer for the documentary by Aneta Kopacz, by Piotr Mendelowski from Wajda Studio on Vimeo.
This inspired Aneta Kopacz to make a documentary:
I was incredibly lucky to have spent several months with such sensitive, beautiful people – so full of life. I wanted to show this period of time in their lives – so significant for them; I wanted to show the emotions I felt from day one – since I met Joanna and her family. The film tackles the most simple yet the most important things in life, adds the director.
Joanna is considered one of the most touching Polish documentaries of recent years.
The excellent, pastel-toned cinematography of Łukasz Żal – who also shot Paweł Pawlikowski’s Ida – and Jan A.P. Kaczmarek’s score create a story about coming to terms with death and being able to stay optimistic.
Watch trailer for Joanna at Ninateka.
More info available at the Palm Springs International Shortfest Website.
sources: PISF, own materials: BS.
Translated by: Kasia Dolato