While narrating Waszyński’s escape from demons and dybbuks, Niewiera and Rosołowski created a very touching and elegant film. They achieved this thanks to the tenderness with which they presented the private life of the character, but also with the help of the film’s layers. Apart from conversations with some witnesses of Waszyński’s life and some elements from his films, The Prince and The Dybbuk includes excerpts from films and chronicles from the epoch, including works by Man Ray, Andrzej Munk, and Bohdan Poręba, which help in placing Waszyński's story in certain geographical contexts. Thanks to them, the viewers are able to experience the adventure along with the main character, following him from the Jewish shtetl to palaces in Italy and the movie sets of blockbuster productions, starring, among others, Sophia Loren, Claudia Cardinale, and Audrey Hepburn.
In 2018 this film received a joint award with Love Express: The Disappearance of Walerian Borowczyk for the best film about music and art at the 15th Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival.
The Prince and The Dybbuk. Script and dir. Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosołowski. Photo: Piotr Rosołowski. Montage: Andrzej Dąbrowski. Production: Małgorzata Zacharko, Matthias Miegel, Ann Carolin Renninger. Poland, Germany 2017.
Originally written in Polish by Bartosz Staszczyszyn, translated by Karolina Mroczkowska, July 2018