KONKURS POLSKICH FILMÓW FABULARNYCH
Beyond Words
Pomiędzy słowami 2017 85 min.
Beyond Words

After working for many years in Holland, acclaimed director Urszula Antoniak describes, to some extent, her personal experience after leaving Poland. She’s most at home when the topic of her film deals with issues she’s kept in her heart for many years. In the black and white film Beyond Words, these are issues connected with the frame of mind of a European emigrant. It’s about how easy it is to assimilate, but also to give up your own culture and dissolve into someone else’s. This is the exactly the case for Michael, a lawyer from Berlin, nearly 30, who’s essentially no different from Franz, his slightly older boss and friend. But then one Friday morning Michael stops speaking German and becomes a Pole again—Michał. His life changes the moment he meets his estranged father for the first time. Stanisław steps into his life more like a symbol than a real father. At the same time, he is Michael’s last link to Poland—a country he has severed all ties with. The weekend the men spend together will leave an emotional mark on Michał and allow him to understand just how much he actually feels like a stranger. Color plays an important role in Antoniak’s film, emphasizing the difficulties in the parent-child relationship so beautifully rendered by Jakub Gierszał and Andrzej Chyra.

Urszula Antoniak
Director
Director

Urszula Antoniak

Screenplay

Urszula Antoniak

Pictures

Lennert Hillege

Cast

Jakub Gierszał, Andrzej Chyra, Christian Löber, Justyna Wasilewska, Matthew Burton

Language event
polski
Color
color
Prize
Gdynia FF – Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Warsaw IFF – Ecumenical Jury Award
Projection list