The documentary „Backstage” in the competition of the SXSW festival
Ada Smyk’s documentary „Backstage” was selected for the South By South West (SXSW) short film competition in Austin, Texas. It will be the international premiere of the image produced in the Munk Studio operating at the Polish Filmmakers Association. The film was co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.
South By South West is – beside of the Sundance Film Festival – one of the most important events of independent cinema in the United States. 14 productions from all over the world were invited to this year’s international competition for the best short documentary. In this group, Ada Smyk’s film was the only representative of Poland.
Another is in the XR Experience Spotlight section, where the Canadian-Polish production „The Choice” (dir. Joanne Popinska) will be presented. It will be its American premiere. This year’s South By South West festival will be held on March 11-21.
The plot and the creators of the document
The title „Backstage” is the back room of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera in Warsaw. The eye of the camera observes the artisans and craftswomen of art studios preparing costumes and sets for one of the season’s most important premieres. The film shows the invisible work of dozens of people who usually remain in the shadow on stage.
„Backstage” was made as part of the „First Document” program supported by the Polish Film Institute. The producers of the film on behalf of the Munk Studio SFP are Ewa Jastrzębska and Jerzy Kapuściński. The KIKA studio was responsible for the executive production. The author of the photos is Tobiasz Czołpiński, while the music is the work of Tomasz Gąssowski. The Polish premiere of „Backstage” took place in June 2021 at the Koszalin Festival of Film Debuts „Młodzi i Film”, where it was awarded with a Jantar for the sound by Sebastian Włodarczyk and Łukasz Świerzawski.
About the director
Ada Smyk, born in 1996 in Lublin, is a director and screenwriter who graduated from the Artes Liberales College and the College of Interdisciplinary Individual Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Warsaw. She worked as an assistant to director Łukasz Ronduda on the film „All our fears”. She is currently attending the Rehearsal Studio at the Wajda School.
„Backstage” is her debut as a director and screenwriter. – Since I was a child, I took part in stage design and dance workshops organized by the National Opera. After class, I sneaked out and wandered through the multi-level labyrinth of dark corridors, warehouses and studios. I met muscular dyers throwing tons of silk, locksmiths bending gigantic steel skeletons with a bang, and modelers silently creating Greek vases from silicone. When you watch young, sleek ballerinas on stage, you can get under the illusion that Opera is a clean, sterile place. Behind the scenes, however, a different, mysterious world opens up: dirty, loud and full of smells… – says Ada Smyk.