(WFDiF) DOCUMENTARY AND FEATURE FILM STUDIOS

DOCUMENTARY AND FEATURE FILM STUDIOS
presents:
Screening series of “young” Polish theatre drama.
The project is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
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materials for download
ftp: ftp2.wfdif.pl
login: teatroteka
password: teatroteka123$
TEATROTEKA
TEATROTEKA is an art and education project of the Documentary and Feature Film Studios.
TEATROTEKA is a new stage in thinking about filming theatre, both in the artistic and production
contexts. Films created by young, often debuting artists, with the support of technology and film
making infrastructure, allow for the production of interesting, innovative works. And from the start,
the project is inspired by the desire for wide distribution and broad access to completed works.
The idea of the project is to use the potential of movie-making technology to film the most worthy
achievements of “young” Polish drama theatre. Contemporary plays are texts often written in the
postdramatic form, dissimilar in their stylization and convention from classic drama.
During the last fifteen years, a new generation of authors writing for theatre has emerged in Poland.
They have created their own, original language, depiction, and have enriched contemporary drama
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with issues concerning young people and with their own way of perceiving the environment which
surrounds us. “Young” Polish dramaturgy deserves to be propagated, to be introduced to a wider
audience – and this is the main goal of the project.
TEATROTEKA is also an area for young and mid-generation directors who despite sometimes having
meaningful accomplishments and education in the field, haven’t had an opportunity to create their
own original audiovisual work. The project, filmed with the participation of specialists associated
with WFDiF is meant to facilitate that.
Works presented at the Gdynia Film Festival this year will constitute the first part of the series
entitled TEATROTEKA.
(WFDiF) DOCUMENTARY AND FEATURE FILM STUDIOS
PRODUCER OF TEATROTEKA
Documentary and Feature Film Studios (WFDiF) in Warsaw is the largest national film producer in
Poland.
WFDIF is a modern technological center providing comprehensive postproduction sound and image
processing services. WFDiF owns state of the art studios comprised of film laboratories,
postproduction sound studios, including an S1 Studio with world-renowned certifications by THX and
Dolby Digital as well as image reconstruction facilities.
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Among the latest WFDiF feature film productions is Rose directed by Wojciech Smarzowski and
recognized by the Polish Film Academy as film of the year and awarded a total of seven EAGLE
statuettes. Rose was also awarded GRAND PRIX at the International Warsaw Film Festival, the
Audience Award at the same festival as well as the Journalists’ Award at the Gdynia Film Festival.
In recent years WFDiF has also produced pictures like General Nil directed by Ryszard Bugajski, In the
Name of the Devil - a new film by Barbara Sass, presented at the Moscow Film Festival, The Rite of
Passage 1947 by Janusz Majewski - winner of the Special Jury Award at the Gdynia Film Festival as
well as the Audience Award at the REGIOFUN International Festival or the highly acclaimed and
awarded the Golden Lions at the 35th Gdynia Film Festival Little Rose directed by Jan Kidawa-Błoński,
and the highly praised both nationally and abroad debuts of: Mall girls by Katarzyna Rosłaniec and
The Girl from the Wardrobe by Bodo Kox.
The latest WFDiF productions are directors’ debuts: Waterline by Michał Otłowski and Sophie Seeks 7
by Weronika Migoń.
Documentary and Feature Film Studios in Warsaw is also the originator of ventures in the area of
education and propagation of knowledge about film. Some of the newest educational projects
undertaken by WFDiF include: screenwriting workshops called Screenplay Company, the educational
space called Movie Set and the Teatroteka project.
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VALENTINA ( Walentyna )
Valentina is a lens in which so many stories come together.
She is the soviet mother-goddess or perhaps the Mother of God.
SYNOPSIS:
An actress and a women’s choir. One of the most famous women of the 20th century, about
whom we know practically nothing, and a nameless collective symbolizing all the female
cosmonauts groomed to be Valentina's backups, and forever overshadowed by her. A play and a
concert. A documentary and a fiction.
Tereshkova was a textile-worker whom Khrushchev picked to be the first woman in space. After
getting back to Earth, she shone with a virtually divine light, becoming one of the Soviet Union's
greatest and best-known celebrities. While athletes, scientists and artists all enjoyed their share
of prestige, it was cosmonauts who were the true heroes and stars.
After 1989, Tereshkova stopped giving interviews, and has not spoken to the media since.
Valentina is an idea to unshackle her story through the use of a unique form of theatre combining an
actress and a choir of women roughly Tereshkova's age on one stage. It is an opportunity to tell a
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story which never before had the chance to be told. The production includes excerpts of Valentina
Tereshkova's original memoirs, and transcripts of interviews with Soviet cosmonauts taken from
Maciej Drygas' documentary Weightless.
Wojciech Faruga - about the production :
Valentina is a lens in which so many stories come together. She is the Soviet mother-goddess or
perhaps Mother of God, who received hundreds of thousands of letters asking for such things as
admission to university, a good job, a dacha, a voucher to buy a car, an operation at the
government clinic, an apartment, medicine from abroad, a business trip to the GDR, a largefamily subsidy, a special-issue suit, and a Valentina Vladimirovna museum.
Starring: JULIA KIJOWSKA (Valentina), IRENA WÓJCIK (Tanya), BARBARA SZCZECIŃSKA (Irina) and
“HARFA” WARSAW WOMENS’ CHOIR and others.
production manager: PAWEŁ MANTORSKI, composition of songs: ZUZANNA FALKOWSKA
sound: MICHAŁ ROBACZEWSKI, TOMASZ WIECZOREK editing: MACIEJ SZYDŁOWSKI
scenography and costumes: AGATA SKWARCZYŃSKA
lead editor: KRZYSZTOF DOMAGALIK artistic supervisor: MACIEJ WOJTYSZKO
director of photography: AREK TOMIAK P.S.C. producer: WŁODZIMIERZ NIDERHAUS
idea and screenplay: JULIA KIJOWSKA, WOJCIECH FARUGA director: WOJCIECH FARUGA
length: 54 min 53 sec / format: 16:9 (HD) / sound: 5.1. (TV)
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WOJCIECH FARUGA / SCREENPLAY CO-AUTHOR / DIRECTOR
Studied at the Directing Department of the Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theatre Academy in Warsaw and
at the Institute of Philosophy of the University of Warsaw. Assisted Anna Augustynowicz with work
on the play Miarka za Miarkę at Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw. As part of the ODKRYTE/ZAKRYTE
project with Teatr Dramatyczny in Warsaw, produced the performance Prince Potyomkin. Schmidt’s
Seven Dreams of the Revolution based on the drama by Tadeusz Miciński. Co-wrote the script for
events during the WYŁĄCZ SYSTEM (Turn off the system) action (2010-2014) organized by History
Meeting House. Co-author of the project and producer of one of the episodes of the theatre series
XIX>XXI , opening the Copernicus Science Center. In addition, co-created the winning design for the
Katyń Museum as well as a number of other museum exhibits around Poland.
Wrote the screenplays and directed plays like Carson City and San Fernando Valley - performed
numerous times at international theatre festivals. The above-mentioned performances were
produced under the auspices of the collective theatre 52°43'N19°42'E PROJECT. Wrote the screeplay
for and produced the performance of Tefał Lab (TV Lab) which in 2012 won First Prize at the Off
Stream Stage Song Contest in Wrocław. That year, he also directed at the Teatr Polski in Bydgoszcz
theatre the play Wszyscy święci (All saints), is in addition, the co-author, with Jarosław Jakubowski, of
the screenplay of the play which was awarded at the Pre-premiere Festival (script award) in the same
year. In 2013, the premiere of the Betlejem polskie (Polish Bethlehem) was performed on the stage of
the Teatr Dramatyczny theatre in Wałbrzych, Wojciech Fagura was the director and playwright. The
performance qualified for the final selection of the All-Poland Polish Play Performance Competition
and got group honorable mention. He has also directed performances of W środku słońca gromadzi
się popiół(Ashes gather in the center of the sun) based on the script by Artur Pałyga at the Narodowy
Stary Teatr in Cracow and Trędowata(Leper) – a melodrama at the Teatr Polski in Bydgoszcz.
Since February, 2012 Wojciech Faruga is artistic director of the KORCZAK International Childrens’
and Youth Theatre Festival and in 2014 he was the artistic director of the ASSITEJ World Congress.
JULIA KIJOWSKA / SCREENPLAY CO-AUTHOR / LEADING ROLE PERFORMER
Graduate of the Warsaw Theatre Academy (2005). From 2006 to 2012 worked with Teatr
Dramatyczny in Warsaw, since 2013 with Teatr Ateneum in Warsaw. Her movie debut was in The
Offsiders by Kasia Afamik.
During her studies she worked with Piotr Łazarkiewicz on diploma pieces such as Lombard pod
Apokalipsą (2003) and Generacja (2005, also as assistent director), she also performed in his film
0_1_0 (2008).
In 2012, Julia Kijowska received Best Actress Award at the 53rd International Film Festival in
Thessaloniki for her role as Mary in Miłość(Love) by Sławomir Fabicki. Among the latest in the artist’s
accomplishments, it is worth to mention Agnieszka Holland’s W ciemności (In Darkness), Wojtek
Smarzowski’s Drogówka (Traffic Department) and Pod Mocnym Aniołem (By the Powerful Angel) and
feature series Głęboka Woda (Deep Water) and Bez Tajemnic (No Secrets).
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For her role of Mother in the graduation film Ślub(The Wedding) directed by Waldemar
Śmigasiewicz, the actress was recognized at the 23rd Theatre Schools Festival in Łódź in 2005. For her
role of Elisabeth in the play Wiara nadzieja miłość(Faith Hope Love) she received a debut award in
the All-Poland competition for staging old European works of literature in Warsaw (2006). For playing
Una in the play Blackbird, she received the Warsaw Feliks award and was recognized at the 7th
Contemporary Drama Festival Rzeczywistość przedstawiona(Reality presented)(2007). In 2009, she
received the female role award in the Polish Radio Theatre for her role in the radio plays Walizka and
Woyzeck at the Ninth Polish Radio and Television Theatre Festival "Dwa Teatry" in Sopot. Twice
nominated for the Zbyszek Cybulski Award 2012 for her role of Chaja in Agnieszka Holland’s W
ciemności, (In Darkness), one year later for her role in the aforementioned Miłość by Sławomir
Fabicki.
Next year, we will have the opportunity to watch Julia in Marcin Koszałka’s Czerwony Pająk(Red
Spider) and in Jakub Kolski’s newest film Serce Serduszko i Wyprawa Na Koniec Świata.
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THE SUITCASE ( Walizka )
The suitcase is empty. It’s all in the suitcase.
SYNOPSIS:
Franswa Jackoh is seeking the truth. Guided by the Narrator and the Answering Machine, he walks all
the way from home to the Holocaust Museum, only to recognize his father's last name on a suitcase
from Auschwitz. Yet this is no ordinary stroll, but a journey that leads to regaining memory and
identity. The truth that had been missing from Franswa's life will suddenly strike him with incredible
force. This stunning turn of events will bring back memories, situations and questions that had
remained unanswered for years. His whole life will flash before his eyes: childhood memories,
dreams, encounters, journeys – different stages on his awkward path to self-knowledge. The trip to
the Museum becomes a walk down memory lane, and the places, real or unreal, that Franswa stops
at along the way, make up a mental map woven of doubts, anxieties and hopes related to the
contents of the suitcase, the only memento of his father.
The play's unusual structure and style, the bold and innovative way in which it speaks about the
Holocaust, keep it from lapsing into excessive pathos and sorrow. Franswa Jackoh's story is told by a
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mysterious Narrator who, along with his companion the Answering Machine, follows, empathizes
with, and comments on all the stages in Franswa's journey. The two-track plot and strong narrative
frame give the play, which is based on a true story, an inner energy, with the result being a seemingly
light-hearted yet very profound and topical story.
The Suitcase also asks a broader societal question about the remembrance of the Holocaust. It is a
question posed to everyone, lest we hide it away safely and without reflection in some musty
archive.
STARRING: ADAM FERENCY (Franswa Jackoh/Pantofelnik) KRZYSZTOF GLOBISZ (Narrator)
HALINA ŁABONARSKA (Guide) MARTA KRÓL (answering machine/Żaklin)
ŁUKASZ LEWANDOWSKI (Poet)
production manager: PAWEŁ MANTORSKI, sound: MICHAŁ ROBACZEWSKI, TOMASZ WIECZOREK
scenography: EWA GDOWIOK costumes: ELŻBIETA RADKE music: Piotr Łabonarski
editing: Jakub Motylewski lead editor: KRZYSZTOF DOMAGALIK
artistic supervisor: MACIEJ WOJTYSZKO director of photography: Witold Płóciennik P.S.C.
producer: WŁODZIMIERZ NIDERHAUS playwright: Małgorzata Sikorska-Miszczuk
director: Wawrzyniec Kostrzewski
length: 67 min 16 sec / format: 16:9 (HD) / sound: 5.1. (TV)
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MAŁGORZATA SIKORSKA-MISZCZUK / PLAYWRIGHT
Małgorzata Sikorska-Miszczuk, a playwright and a scriptwriter, graduated from the Departments of
Journalism & Political Science and Gender Studies at Warsaw University, as well as Screenwriting
Studies at The National Film, Television & Theatre School (PWSFTiT) in Łódź.
Author‘s plays include: Loose Screws, Death of the Squirrel-Man, Catherine the Medici, The Mayor,
The Suitcase, The Chocolate-coated Man From Poland, The Lost Czechoslovakia, The Iron Curtain, The
End of the World, Madonna, Bruno Schulz: Messiah, Popiełuszko, Takaja, Sheherezade, Kobro, An
Amazing Journey of Mr Hanger (for children) as well as of the script for a full length animated feature
Tytus, Romek and A'Tomek Among the Thieves of Dreams (2003). She also co-authored The III Furies
(with Magda Fertacz and Sylwia Chutnik), which won second prize at the Bydgoszcz Premiere Festival
(2011). She wrote the scripts for the series Nanny and Mouth to Mouth and (for children) Sesame
Street.
Performances based on her scripts have been directed by Paweł Łysak, Marcin Liber, Jan Klata, Piotr
Kruszczyński, Natalia Korczakowska, Michał Zadara, Anna Trojanowska, Maria Spiss, Dorota Ignatjew,
Julia Wernio, Michał Kotański, Nina Guehlstorff, Katarzyna Kurzeja and presented in Poland and
abroad.
Her plays have been translated into English, German, French, Serbian, Croatian, Czech, Russian,
Romanian, Ukrainian, Swedish, Spanish, Slovak, Hebrew. Readings and performances took place in
Poland and abroad: Germany, Austria, Great Britain, France, Sweden, Czech Republic, Slovak
Republic, Russia, Romania, Belgium, Spain, Mexico and the USA.
Numerous awards include: distinction for Death of the Squirrel-Man during the “Ulrike” competition
(TR Warszawa, 2006) and at the “13th National Contest for the Staging of a Contemporary Polish
Play“ (2007); for The Suitcase she received the 1st Award and Audience Choice Award at
“Metaphors of Reality” competition (2008); radio play based on The Suitcase received grand-prix at
the “Two Theatres – Sopot“ PRiTV Festival (2009); Czech production of The Suitcase received Prix
Bohemia Award (2012); The Suitcase also received 1st prize in the best script (drama) category at the
“15th National Contest for the Staging of a Contemporary Polish Play“ (2009); Loose Screws received
the 2nd Award and Journalists‘ Choice Award at R@aport Festival (2009). Madonna won the
competition of the Szaniawski Theatre in Wałbrzych for a drama inspired by Aleksander Fredro‘s
Revenge (2009); The Mayor reached the final of R@port Theatre Festival in Gdynia (2010) and
Stueckemarkt International Competition in Berlin (2011).
Bruno Schulz: Messiah staged at Schauspielhaus Wien in Vienna was named one of the best
contemporary European plays by the European Theatre Convention (2012).
Popiełuszko won the Gdynia Dramaturgy Award (2012);
The Country Where The Citizens' Hearts Escaped And Left Letters won the Czech Ferdinand Vaněk
Theatre Award (2013).
Radio play The Leaf You Are Living On Is Called Europe But It Is Not Enough To Live won the 2nd
Award in Radio Play Competition of Polish Radio Program II and ZAIKS (Polish Society of Authors and
Composers) (2013).
Her collaborations as a dramaturge with director Marcin Liber include: ID of the Modern Theatre in
Szczecin (2008), Herbert - a Poet's Reconstruction (2008), Oratory - Our Hell (2010), III Furies of the
Modjeska Theatre in Legnica (2011), and Macbeth - the Modern Theatre in Szczecin (2011); with
Andrzej Chyra (as director) – with the performance of Dmitri Shostakovich's opera The Gamblers for
the Baltic Opera (2013).
The premiere of Kobro directed by Iwona Siekierzyńska in Łódź is planned for November, 2014. The
opera The Magic Mountain (libretto) will premiere at the Malta Festival in 2015.
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WAWRZYNIEC KOSTRZEWSKI / DIRECTOR
Director, graduate of the Directing Department at the Theatre Academy in Warsaw (in 2012 he
produced the first graduation film in the history of the Academy under the tutelage of Maciej
Wojtyszka – the play DNA). Holder of scholarship awarded by the Minister of Culture and National
Heritage. In addition, graduate of the Department of Polish Studies at the University of Warsaw
(specialized in knowledge of literature and cultural animation).
Directed at Teatr Polski in Warsaw (Liberation – Rehearsals), at Teatr Wybrzeże in Gdańsk (musical
performance Brecht’s Chortle); his plays Miracle-worker and the Matter of the Banality of Love may
be seen at the Teatr Dramatyczny in Warsaw. He has worked with Television Theatre as assistant
director in among others: Cessation of Hostilities by Juliusz Machulski, The Secret Collaborator by
Krzysztof Lang, Valley of Nothingness and The Stigmatic by Wojciech Nowak.
Director and screenwriter of the TVP Kultura series Akademia as well as documentary films
concerning the subject of theatre (Irydion – making of for Teatr Polski in Warsaw among others).
Assisted Robert Wilson with the Akropolis/Symptoms project, worked with theatre centers outside
Poland as well including Moomsteatern and the Theatre Academy in Malmo, Sweden.
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ABOVE ( Nad )
„Wherever you are
If you are
Look at me”
SYNOPSIS:
In a realistic setting, we follow the story of Jakub. Convicted of a crime he did not commit, after
twenty years he is released from prison. But can he be free? „Freedom is the absence of secrets”.
Jakub comes to know the identity of the sole witness whose testimony was the basis for his
conviction… A record of family and societal drama is created from conversations and poetic
monologues.
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STARRING: ERYK LUBOS (JAKUB) HENRYK TALAR (OLD MAN) SŁAWOMIRA ŁOZIŃSKA
(MOTHER) KRZYSZTOF STROIŃSKI (FATHER) ANNA TERPIŁOWSKA (PSYCHOLOGIST)
ANDRZEJ BLUMENFELD (PRISON WARDEN) KRZYSZTOF PLEWAKO-SZCZERBIŃSKI (MAN)
production manager: PAWEŁ MANTORSKI, sound: MICHAŁ ROBACZEWSKI, TOMASZ
WIECZOREK scenography: Anna Wunderlich costumes: ELŻBIETA RADKE music:
Tomasz Łuc editing: Jakub Motylewski
lead editor: KRZYSZTOF DOMAGALIK artistic supervisor: MACIEJ WOJTYSZKO
director of photography: Arek Tomiak P.S.C.
producer: WŁODZIMIERZ NIDERHAUS
written and directed by: Mariusz Bieliński
length: 73 min 19 sec / format: 16:9 (HD) / sound: 5.1. (TV)
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MARIUSZ BIELIŃSKI / SCREENPLAY AUTHOR AND DIRECTOR
Born in 1968 in Myszków. Finished the Vocal Actor Studio at the Teatr Muzyczny in Gdynia. Studied
at the Department of Directing Drama at the Academy of Theatre in Warsaw.
Awarded second prize for the screenplay Success in the Polish edition of the Hartley-Merrill
Competition.
The drama Cicho(Quietly) received recognition of the first order in the contemporary play
competition organized by Dialog and Teatr Polski in Wrocław. The play was produced by Television
Theatre.
He won the competition for best drama inspired by the life, thought and work of John Paul II – the
premiere of the play Darkness was performed at the Studio Stage of the National Theatre in Warsaw.
Won first prize at the Interscenario International Screenwriters Festival in Wrocław for the
screenplay Ten.
The Book of Dog won in the radio theatre competition organized by Polish Radio Theatre and Drama
Agency.
For the drama Above he received the Gdynia Drama Award – the most important recognition for
playwrights in the country.
/ photo: pages 2,3,5,6 – Wojciech Radwański, pages 9,10 – Krzysztof Dubiel /
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DOCUMENTARY AND FEATURE FILM STUDIOS
00-724 Warsaw, Poland
Chełmska 21
+48 22 841 26 83 +48 22 841 26 35
wfdif@wfdif.pl
www.wfdif.pl
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