Chisinau (Moldova)

Workshop:  21.08 - 07.09.2013 

Tutors: Maciej Drygas, Andrzej Musial, Rafal Listopad

Partners: MilleniuM" Training and Development Institute, Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts, The Embassy of the Republic of  Poland in Chisinau, Polish Institute in Bucharest, Moldova Slavic University in Chisinau, International Documentary Film Festival CRONOGRAF

Workshops took place in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova from 21 August-7 September 2013. We were guests of the Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts from which most of the workshops’ participants came, specifically: students of directing, cinematography and editing. Students from other degree courses also took part, from: economics, law. There were also graduates, for example a journalist, who initially intended to write a report about the project “Chisinau from Dawn to Dusk” and a businesswoman, who – thanks to her amazing knowledge of local reality – turned out to be an irreplaceable source of films subjects. The leader of the Polish tutors was Maciej Drygas, accompanied by Andrzej Musiał and Rafał Listopad. On the production side the Polish group consisted of editor, Monika Sirojc; production manager Victoria Ogneva and Marcin Ściegliński, cinematographer. The workshops’ host was Vlad Druck, the manager of the Multimedia Department at the Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts. The project coordinator on the Moldavian side was Vitalie Cirhana, the director of the NGO MilleniuM Training and Development Institute. Chisinau is a peaceful city, lacking a wild nightlife or busy commercial streets. Neither is there the ostentatious luxury often seen in the capitals of Eastern Europe. Nonetheless, many interesting things take place here, although usually out of sight, among ordinary people. It’s a paradise for documentary makers on the hunt for subjects! So, thanks to the personal acquaintances of the workshops’ participants we’ll be able to see the life of a large family and a hairdresser’s salon in an ordinary flat in a housing block. We’ll get to know the interesting personalities of a shop assistant from a small shop and a bus conductor. We’ll hear what they talk about with their customers. It may turn out that emigration is the dominant subject, because Moldovans travel to find work in many European countries and have to leave their families, so economic migration is a typical experience for this society today. The camera shows emotional moments close-up as buses pull out of the bus station in Chișinău. There will also be more light-hearted episodes, for example tasting the famous Moldovan wines in a well-stocked cellar. The entire film will be enriched by music written by one of the workshops’ participants.