DIAGNOSIS, a film about the subconscious of a city, directed by Ewa Podgórska, has been selected to the Competition during one of the biggest and most prestigious documentary film festivals in the world IDFA. The producer of the film is Małgorzata Wabińska (Entertain Pictures).

A full-length documentary DIAGNOSIS directed by Ewa Podgórska has qualified to the IDFA Competition for FIRST APPEARANCE.  The film is a full-length debut of both the Director and the Producer. Also the Cinematographer and Editors make their debut in the film.

DIAGNOSIS is a journey into the depths of subconscious of a city formed by human beings. The inhabitants of the city undergo the sessions on the couch. Unlocked by questions, e.g. what kind of animal is the city? they begin their journey into the depths of their own feelings and emotions towards the place where they live. The city itself is
a starting point but, over time, conversations get more and more intimate. The scenes from life, reminiscences and highly emotional moments interlace with the subjectively perceived shots of the city. They are blending together, complementing and interacting with each other. The fears of the film characters, their desires and unfinished affairs become a common fate.

The making of the film took almost six years. At the stage of project development the film was awarded a honorable mention as part of the Doc Lab Poland programme during the Krakow Film Festival. In 2016 it was presented as one of 12 most remarkable projects from Central and Eastern Europe at the Docu Talents from the East in Karlovy Vary. Last year parts of the movie were presented in the work in progress section of the Festival de Cannes (New Horizons’ Polish Days Goes to Cannes).

The film producer is a Łódź-based company Entertain Pictures. The film is made in co-production with EC 1 Łódź – the City of Culture, and a post-production company Fixafilm. The partners of the film are Atlas Sztuki, Municipal Center of Culture and the Polish Institute in Paris. The film is co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.

Simultanously with the film a musical project THE CITY has been carried out,
a composition inspired by the sounds of a city, blending elements of sound design, chamber and electronic music, as well as musique concrète. The authors of the composition are Marcin Lenarczyk and Bartłomiej Tyciński (one of the founders of the Mitch&Mitch group). The project is funded with support of the City of Łódź.

BIO

Director – Ewa Podgórska // debut

She graduated from the National Film School in Łódź as well as University of Łódź, majoring in film theory (MA Degree). She also graduated from DOK PRO, a documentary program at Wajda School. Her debut, THE CHICKEN AND THE EGG, a 26-miute documentary about difficult relations between a mother and a daughter, had its world premiere on Film de Femmes Festival in Paris. Simultaneously, she has published articles in the most important film magazines in Poland. She is an author of articles about working methods of prominent documentary movies directors.

Producer – Małgorzata Wabińska // debut

She graduated from the National Film School in Łódź (MA Degree – Film & TV Production), a Program for Creative Producers at Wajda School and Marketing Strategies at Warsaw School of Economics (SGH). A graduate of EAVE Marketing program and a one-year program for producers EURODOC. She has experience as a Production Manager, Sound-Postproduction Coordinator and Producer. She was one of the creators of a cross-media project about the first postwar feature films studio in Poland. She’s a member of the Polish Filmmakers Association and the Section of Young Producers in Poland.

Cinematographer – Marek Kozakiewicz // debut

Polish cinematographer based in Warsaw. His fiction and documentary films were shown on festivals all over the world. He graduated in Cinematography at the National Film School in Lodz (PWSFTviT) and in Film Studies at the University of Lodz. He is the director of photography of the film THE UGLIEST CAR that had it’s world premiere at the 2017 IDFA Competition for Mid-Length Documentary and was awarded "The best Polish Film of 2017" on the 57th KRAKÓW FILM FESTIVAL. He also works in theatres as a video artist and light designer. He collaborates with acclaimed theatre and opera directors and designs light and video in the most important theatres in Poland (including the National Theatre in Warsaw).

Editors - Piasek&Wójcik //debut

Bartłomiej Piasek and Piotr Wojcik graduated from Film Editing at the National Film School in Łódź. They have been working as an editing team since 2015. Editors of a dozen fiction short films and documentaries. They were awarded for the editing of the short fiction film ‘Time to go’ at the Koszalin Debut Film Festival 2017. The film was also nominated for Palme d’Or in the short films competition at the Festival de Cannes in 2017. Piotr Wójcik received the Minister of Culture scholarship for outstanding artistic achievements in 2016.

Sound design – Marcin Lenarczyk

A composer, musician, and sound editor, he edited sound in such movies as a documentary KOMUNIA directed by Anna Zamecka, winner of the European Film Award in 2017. The author of a sound installation that was part of the "Hotel Polonia. The Afterlife of Buildings" project, awarded a GOLDEN LION at the 11. International Architecture Exhibition in Venice. Took part in POLISH SOUNDSCAPES, the first sound exhibition of Polish artists dealing with field recording. In 2016 nominated to the Polish Film Academy Award for the best sound to the THE LURE movie.