Students of our School participated in three special screenings of films included in the jubilee, 20th edition of Millennium Docs Against Gravity. After each screening, they met with the filmmakers. The meetings were hosted by school’s professor Monika Talarczyk and two students of the Film and Television Directing Department of our School - Varvara Zarytska and Giovanni Pierangeli.

The jubilee 20th edition of Millennium Docs Against Gravity, the largest Polish film festival, runs from 12 to 21, May in cinemas in eight Polish cities (Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdynia, Poznań, Katowice, Łódź, Bydgoszcz and Lublin) and from 23, May to 4, June online at mdag.pl.

What films did we see at the Lodz Film School?

HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE dir. David France, 2012, USA

The story of a community's resistance against an institution of power which cuts itself off from its citizens and condemns them to death. Millions of people suffered or died during the AIDS epidemic at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. Two organizations, ACT UP and TAG, are strongly urging LGBT+ people and the entire American society to fight for care for the sick, research into new drugs and stop the plague. David France's film is an attempt to visualize the actions of activists of that period based on video recordings and interviews with the main activists. What matters in the film is the reconstruction of the past which recreates one of the most important pages in the history of the LGBT+ movement and remembers those who have passed away.

The meeting with the director of the film, David France, was hosted by Giovanni Pierangeli, a student of the Department of Film and Television Directing at our School.

APOLONIA, APOLONIA dir. Lea Glob, 2022, Denmark/Poland/France

Danish director Lea Glob met Apolonia Sokol for the first time in 2009. The artist grew out of the underground theatre in Paris, leading a life characteristic of the local bohemians, while trying to break through in the art world. Over the following years, the director re-established contact with the heroine from time to time, building an unusual bond with her. For a long time, Apolonia tried to be successful as a painter, although this task turned out to be extremely difficult. Among other things, she had to face unequal treatment of women and men, which also affected one of the founders of the feminist group Femen, Oksana Shachko with whom Apolonia was friends and lived for several years. Will the heroine finally get the recognition she deserves?

After the screening, the meeting with the director Lea Glob, protagonist of the film Apolonia Sokol, and the camera operator, Magdalena Bojdo, our cinematography graduate, was hosted by Monika Talarczyk.

WE WILL NOT FADE AWAY dir. Alisa Kovalenko, 2023, Poland/Ukraine

The film follows five Ukrainian teenagers growing up in small towns in the coal mining district. Like their peers around the world, they struggle with boredom and numerous frustrations related to the search for their own identity and way of life. However, these five are in the Donbass, where the war has been going on for years. Not only has the region been economically ravaged, but there is constant fighting in the distance - and sometimes quite close by. Young people struggle with reality, trying to find themselves through drawing, photography, music, and above all - friendship. They rebel, let themselves be carried away by adventure, daringly venture into minefields and coal shafts, play in dilapidated houses, trying to make the most of the last golden hours of childhood. As they dream of running away, an unexpected proposal appears. They can visit Nepal and hike through the foothills of the Himalayas. They train hard to make their dreams come true. They document their efforts in video diaries. As the situation in Ukraine deteriorates, a full-scale Russian invasion threatens. Will the hopes and plans of these young people come true?

The meeting with the director of the film was hosted by Varvara Zarytska, our directing student.