Ayka 2018
A young Asian immigrant worker in Moscow tried to track down her baby, whom she abandoned at the hospital.
A young Asian immigrant worker in Moscow tried to track down her baby, whom she abandoned at the hospital.
When adults are ineffectual, children have to grow up quickly. Ola is 14 and she takes care of her dysfunctional father, autistic brother and a mother who lives apart from them and is mainly heard the phone. Most of all she wants to reunite a family that simply doesn’t work — like a defective TV set. She lives in the hope of bringing her mother back home. Her 13 year old brother Nikodem’s Holy Communion is a pretext for the family to meet up. Ola is entirely responsible for preparing the perfect family celebration. “Communion” reveals the beauty of the rejected, the strength of the weak and the need for change when change seems impossible. This crash course in growing up teaches us that failure is not final. Especially when love is in question.
Janusz, a self-confident 60-year old, an incredibly active person and an accomplished diver, suffers a stroke which leaves him paralyzed. Rehabilitation and assistance of his partner Asia help him regain mobility and improve his functions. He is still struggling with speech and the only person who understands what he says is Asia who interprets him for the world. What keeps Janusz going and motivates to carry on is his big dream - he would like to dive again, despite major hazard for his health and life. His goal is to travel to beautiful but perilous Blue Hole in Dahab, Egypt which poses a challenge even to fit divers.
Shortly before his death, Marek Edelman (1919-2009), former commander of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943) against the Nazi occupation, wonders about several basic themes of human existence in relation to the Shoah: how was it possible to enjoy love, tenderness, passion and lust while the whole world was crumbling and burning around.
A documentary celebrating the work of Walerian Borowczyk, a director of unparalleled sensitivity, revered in the 1970s, who was later labeled as a maker of erotic movies.
An unknown real story of a Haitian vodou priest, Amon Frémon, who visited the People’s Republic of Poland in 1980. A metaphysical view on time of socialism through the eyes of a stranger form a different culture.