Documentary and Animated film in the Slamdance program
The full-length film program of the Slamdance festival includes Marek Kozakiewicz’s documentary “Silent Love”, co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. It is a subtle and tender story about the strength of the family, about taking on new roles and redefining old ones; that having the courage to love, we must face our fears. In turn, among the short animations is “Hierophania” (dir. Maria Nitek). The films will be presented to guests of the American festival of independent cinema between January 20 and 26, 2023.
Slamdance is one of the world’s largest independent film festivals, which has been organized since 1995 in Park City, Utah. The first edition was created thanks to a group of filmmakers whose productions did not make it to the Sundance festival program. The unrealized need to present their films to a wider audience gave them the drive to organize their own event, whose motto is “from filmmakers for filmmakers” to this day. This year’s festival will take place on site on January 20-26, 2023. in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, and from January 23 to 29 also online.
The film “Silent Love” had its world premiere at the Visions du Reel festival in Nyon (Switzerland). The picture, which is a Polish-German co-production, was also included in the program of the Canadian Hot Docs festival and IDFA in Amsterdam. At the German DOK Leipzig, it received the MDR Film Prize for Best Film from Eastern Europe.
Plot
After the death of her mother, 35-year-old Agnieszka decides to take care of her teenage brother Miłosz. She begins to act as both his mother and father. She has to prove to the court and officials that he is suitable as a legal guardian for his brother. However, there is something she hides – her long-term relationship with Maja. Before the eyes of the viewers, a new, unconventional family is being built in the conservative surroundings of a small Polish village.
Marek Kozakiewicz is the film’s director, cinematographer and sound operator. Agata Cierniak and Anna Garncarczyk are responsible for editing, and Bartosz Bludau is responsible for the music. The producer is Koi Studio, and the co-producers are: Tondowski Films, Lekko Films, MDR and Arte.
“Hierophany”
The nothingness breaks to let something out. Vibrating creatures emerge from the dark, tarry mass: sexless, looped and lonely in repetitive, aimless movements. Everything changes when one of them finds something else in themselves. The Creature pulls out a red ball, which immediately begins to grow in size, change shape, and mesmerize them all. Organisms join together in an ecstatic, ritual dance: thanks to the idea, a community is created. The creatures lose themselves and are absorbed into the abyss of a substance that is similar in color to volcanic lava. From the cultivated vaginal-shaped object, a new life is born, different from what existed before: colorful, diverse, sexual.
The film presents a symbolic hierophany – the manifestation of holiness in the world, described by the historian and philosopher of religion Mircea Eliade. The author Maria Nitek presents a dreamlike vision on the border of reality, sleep and psychedelic sensations, using the language of intense colors and pulsating shapes. At the same time, the animation is an expression of fascination with the work of cultural anthropologists and the life of traditional societies and, on the other hand, the world of simple organisms, viewed as if under a laboratory microscope. Thus, the traditional opposition between culture and nature is undermined. “Hierophany” is a fantasy about the beginning – of the world? human? myth? religion? culture? It is a journey to an imaginary world that does not require a clear interpretation.
