24-02-2022

New Documentaries from SFP Munk Studio on VOD

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    WARSAW: Four new documentaries produced by SFP Munk Studio as part of the First Documentary programme are available on VOD on DAfilms, a curated platform specialising in original documentary cinema.
    The award-winning animated documentary We Have One Heart by Katarzyna Warzecha was based on the story of the Gdańsk artist and musician Adam Witkowski, who, after the death of his mother, found letters written many years ago by his Polish parents and Kurdish living in Iraq. This gave Adam a chance to learn more about his father, whom he had never met personally. The combination of animation and archival materials set the tone for this extraordinary journey in time, providing an insight into the emotions connecting lovers from distant corners of the world and allowing them to discover a long-hidden family secret. The production on behalf of the Polish Filmmakers Association’s Munk Studio was carried out by Ewa Jastrzębska and Jerzy Kapuściński. The executive producer of the film is Silver Frame. The  film received support from the West Pomeranian Film Fund and the City of Gdańsk.
    Pawlina Carlucci Sforza's The Fear / Wielki strach is a shocking testimony to the events that took place in Podkarpacie just after World War II. It was a time when people deported to forced labor in Germany returned to their homeland. They did not expect them to be excellent prey for local bandits. Thrown off the train, robbed and murdered, they increased the number of victims of the war. The inhabitants of nearby towns knew about what was going on in the forest. They were silent because, as they say, "they lived under fear". The conversation in front of the camera is not only a story about history, but also an attempt to combat the fear and guilt that choke successive generations. Ewa Jastrzębska and Jerzy Kapuściński were responsible for the production on behalf of the Polish Filmmakers Association’s Munk Studio. The executive producer and coproducer of The Fear is Agresywna Banda (Alessandro Leone). The film was also coproduced by Rentcam, New Wave Film and Akjos Media.
    Raisa by Dorota Migas-Mazur breaks the patterns of stories about emigrants and their Polish fate. Social and political processes remain only the background of the story. The director focuses on an individual, on a specific man and his story. Raisa is, above all, a penetrating portrait of a woman and mother who are determined to fight for dignity and independence. By deciding to flee Chechnya, Raisa managed to break out of the violent system. She tells the Polish teacher about the rules of her home country and what has happened to her. At the same time, he is fighting another fight - for a new, better life for himself and his children. The executive producer and coproducer of the film is Wajda Studio. Ewa Jastrzębska and Jerzy Kapuściński were responsible for the production on behalf of the Polish Filmmakers Association’s Munk Studio. The executive producers were Wojciech Marczewski and Karolina Mróz.
    Dad You've Never Had by Dominika Łapka is told with sensitivity and delicacy, the story of a complicated relationship between a daughter and a father who once rejected her. Years later, the man invites an adult girl to his world. He tries to answer her questions and tear down the wall of silence that separates them. Father and daughter bend over the letters they have written to each other over the years. There is an uneasy confrontation between the heroes. Ewa Jastrzębska and Jerzy Kapuściński were responsible for the production on behalf of the SFP Munk Studio. The film was coproduced by Image Studio Lech Mikulski, Furia Film Karolina Galuba and Gdynia Film Center.
    DAfilms entered the Polish market in 2020 with a local domain www.dafilms.pl. The platform was created as a result of a partnership of 7 European documentary film festivals, which include Polish, among others Millennium Docs Against Gravity. Thanks to this, it offers a unique catalogue of original films and allows access to over 2,000 documents for a small fee. The platform already presented a choice of the Polish Filmmakers Association’s Munk Studio First Documentary productions in 2021, when 11 Polish documentaries were made available to international audiences on-line.