BYDGOSZCZ (Poland)

Presentation:  09.03.2014

Participants: Maciej Drygas, Vita Żelakeviciute, Jacek Bławut, Mirosław Dembiński, Mirosława Dembińska, Maciej Cuske, Marcin Sauter, Remigiusz Zawadzki, Katarzyna Śpioch, Mateusz Werner, Luiza Skrzek, Marcin Ściegliński

The official premiere of Bydgoszcz From Dawn Till Dusk in the Orzeł Cinema was preceded by a screening of films about Chisinau and Yerevan. The tutors: Maciej Drygas, Mateusz Werner, Jacek Bławut and Vita Zelakieviciute fielded questions from the audience. Discussions took place with the packed house concerning what benefits can accrue to Polish culture by teaching documentary filmmaking abroad and whether “film-school” films can rival professional productions in terms of quality. Many questions were also asked about Moldovan and Armenian reality and to what extent the films just watched reflected the authentic lives of the people living there. After the discussion was over, Marzena Matowska, Director of Bydgoszcz Culture Centre, came on stage. As a Bydgoszcz native she stated that in the documentary created by young film students under the supervision of experienced documentary makers she discovered another, usually invisible, but also vibrantly living city full of poetic energy and fascinating individuals.

Subsequently the audience watched trailers of films about Bejing, Tokyo and Kiev, demonstrating the project’s international context.

Then the Bydgoszcz film was screened. The audience reacted to it animatedly, recognising people they knew among the protagonists, commenting on well-known places and applauding various lines delivered by the characters. Following the screening all the filmmakers and tutors came on stage to feature in a group photograph, and the audience’s spontaneous and highly enthusiastic reaction meant that the rest of the event took place in a mood of homely chaos.

Later on, the discussions moved to the corridors and the street, since on the request of people who had been locked out the first time an additional, special screening of Bydgoszcz From Dawn Till Dusk was put on. And once again the cinema filled up with viewers. At the same time film crews from Bydgoszcz local TV and Radio Pik reporters conducted interviews with the tutors and filmmakers. The event continued until late into the night.>