11 documentary film projects at DOC LAB START

The following projects have been selected to Do DOC LAB START:

Divine!
directed by Barbara Białowąs and Katarzyna Trzaska; produced by Katarzyna Trzaska; Zygizaga

Chciałbym ci powiedzieć wszystko (I would like to tell you everything)
directed by Zvika Portnoy; produced by Maria Krauss, Joanna Plesnar; Plesnar & Krauss Films

Diagnoza (Diagnosis)
directed by Ewa Podgórska; produced by Małgorzata Wabińska; Entertain Studio

Gdzie jesteś Tereso O.? (Where are you, Teresa O.?)
 directed by Arkadiusz Bartosiak; Paweł Biniek; Medion Art Studio

Nauka chodzenia (Learning how to walk)
directed by Marcin Kopeć; produced by Dawid Janicki; SHIPsBOY

New Blood
directed by Paweł Ziemilski; produced by Łukasz Długołęcki; NUR

Pan Jan i jego 40 dziewczyn (Mr Jan and his 40 girls)
directed by Jacob Dammas; produced by Jacob Dammas; GRANIZA

Takie małe miasteczko Batory (Such a small town "Batory")
directed by Anna Dejczer, produced by Anna Dejczer GRIFILM

Treliński liebestod
directed by Kuba Mikurda; produced by Danuta Gęgotek, Katarzyna Siniarska; CoLab Pictures

Wiatr (Wind)
directed by Michał Bielawski; produced byMaciej Kubicki; Telemark

Wyprzedzając Billa (Better than Bill)
directed by Paulina Gawęcka, produced by Tomasz Gaj; Workshop
 

The consultants of the first session in Warsaw include leading Polish film-makers:  Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz, Paweł Łoziński, Wojciech Staroń, Bartek Konopka, as well as Leena Pasanen – the director of the most important documentary film festival in Germany, DOK Leipzig, Izabela Łopuch – the production manager at HBO Poland and representatives of the company TRAILER AND MORE. DOC LAB POLAND is supported by great partners – most of all, the most important documentary film event in Poland:  Krakow Film Festival. DOK Leipzig  – the most important documentary film festival in Germany – offered its close co-operation. Its director participated in the pre-selection of the projects and will also participate as a consultant during the sessions in Krakow. DOC LAB POLAND was granted the patronage of the European Documentary Network, and its director Paul Pauwels will also be the programme’s consultant.  The directors of industry sections also offered their support, namely, Brigid O’Shea (DOK Leipzig) oraz Adriek van Nieuwenhuyzen (IDFA Amsterdam – one of the most important documentary film festivals in the world). The programme is organised by Władysław Ślesicki Film Foundation.

Within the frames of DOC LAB POLAND, we unite the following elements in one coherent programme:

– workshops dedicated to the development of documentary film projects and their communicative strategy,
– individual consultations for projects at the stage of development and editing.
– presenting projects in the development and editing stage to co-production partners, festivals, television channels and to the first "test" audience,
– co-production and distribution market, individual meetings, networking.

The most important idea behind DOC LAB POLAND is to give support to film-makers and producers of Polish documentary films by making their projects in such a way that not only are interesting films created, but they also reach the audience and have a chance for a wide distribution. As a result of the programme, each participant will get a chance to develop the project, or will get support during finishing the project (content-related consultations, but also in the range of promotion and distribution). Each participant will receive assistance in preparing film trailer and in preparing the strategy of producing, financing and communicating his film. Each will have a chance to gain a producer or a co-producer (which translates into gaining additional financing) or to present the film to potential buyers and festival selectors, which will enhance international chances of the produced films.

The long-term aim of the project is to increase the opportunities of Polish documentary film in the world – as far as co-production is concerned as well as promotion and distribution and support for documentary projects (particularly the feature-length ones) which have a chance to appear on the large screen, and creating a friendly climate for such productions in Poland.

Adam Ślesicki, Katarzyna Ślesicka, the directors of DOC LAB POLAND programme
 

Short summaries of the projects
 

DIVINE!

A portrait of three courageous and talented young women artists, graduates of the academy of fine arts – faced with lack of money, extreme opinions about their creative works, serious diseases and lack of understanding from the close ones, the women are suspended between the fabulous fiction of their art, the pursuit of unbounded freedom and the greyness and limitations of everyday existence.

CHCIAŁBYM CI POWIEDZIEC WSZYSTKO

Three recidivists want to find the answer to the essential question: Can they consider themselves fathers even though they were not present with their children when they were growing up?           
DIAGNOZA

The first in the world psychoanalyst of cities comes to a shrinking city in Poland. He invites  the city’s inhabitants to his couch. They will have a chance to express their deepest yearnings and desires.

GDZIE JESTEŚ TERESO O.?

It is a film about a former pornography star and producer, Teresa Orłowski. About an atypical, unusual and strong woman, who in spite of the political system and morals of Poland in 1980s, but in harmony with herself, decided to achieve something in her life.

NAUKA CHODZENIA

The main protagonist of the film, Piotr, is a former member of Warsaw mafia, who after being released from prison, decides to try and change himself for the better. We watch the protagonist, who takes his first steps into normal society, struggling with his weaknesses but at the same time glorifying his gangster past.

NEW BLOOD

"New Blood" is a love story from 1980, which made 400 people from a small town in the north of Poland emigrate to Iceland.

PAN JAN I JEGO 40 DZIEWCZYN

A portrait of the only one in Poland – and unique on the international stage – wind instrument orchestra consisting only of women, whose 40 young girls are taught on the rough attic of a historic school in Szczecin by 75-year-old, peculiar conductor Mr. Jan Skroś.

TAKIE MAŁE MIASTECZKO BATORY

300 people.  70 professions.  One crew. Town on a ship. A legendary ship. Will the crew of the legendary Polish transatlantic liner ‘TSS Stefan BatorY’ manage to meet in the last cruise together after many years!?? Will they play their old, familiar roles?

TRELIŃSKI LIEBESTOD

The film shows a hypnotising portrait of the visionary opera director, Mariusz Treliński. During the preparations for the great premiere in Metropolitan Opera in New York, Treliński takes us for an exciting voyage into the extraordinary world of opera, delving into its hidden language and uncovering what opera can tell about ourselves.

WIATR

Halny (a foehn wind) is the most unpredictable, though at the same time, the most repetitive element of life in Podhale.  Its coming is preceded by nervousness, increase in the number of heart diseases and aggression. Eve
ry few months, the wind reminds humankind what is its place in confrontation with the powers of nature. "Wiatr" is a documentary story about change and encounter with the power of nature. From the choir moved by the wind emerge the portraits of the people living in the mountains, exceptional places and various ideas about how to live.

WYPRZEDZAJĄC BILLA

Computers changed our life. And this is a story about a man who changed the lives of computers. He was called neither Bill nor Steve, his name was Jacek. At the turn of 1960s and 1970s, engineer Jacek Karpiński constructed one of the first personal computers in the world, 10 years ahead of his own times.