Jurek
Documentary. Year: 2015. 73 minutes.
Rated: Exempt
Polish with English Subtitles.
Director: Paweł Wysoczański
Cinematography: Jacek Kędzierski
Producers: Black and White Productions
Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival, 2015 (Grand Prix) Hory a Mesto
2015 (Cena V4) International Mountaineering FF Teplice nad Metují
2015 (Grand Prix) International Festival of Mountain Films Poprad
2015 (Grand Prix) Tegernsee International Mountain Film Festival
2015 (Special Mention by Jury) Bansko Mountain Film Fest
2015 (1st Runner Up Award) Bilbao Mendi Film Festival
2015 (Best Mountaineering Film) Mountain Film Festival Domzale
Jerzy Kukuczka (1948-1989) was a Polish mountaineer, who was considered to be one of the best high-altitude climbers in history. Ascending fourteen of the world's tallest mountains in less than eight years, he established new mountain routes, in winter and often without oxygen. On 24 October 1989, Jerzy Kukuczka died during the Lhotse expedition. It was the first time he climbed the Himalayas with money, equipment, and fame.
The documentary film by Paweł Wysoczański does not, however, concentrate on the mystery of the Himalayan mountaineer's death. It shows a person who climbs up, higher and higher - literally, but also metaphorically and symbolically. Interviews with family and friends, archives, photographs, recordings, excerpts from television programmes and interviews make up the portrait of the the golden age of Polish mountaineers in 1980s. It is also the image of the times in which they lived - hard and colourful, when idealism was valued more than fame.
Screening with this feature
Super Unit /Superjednostka
presented by Krakow Film Foundation
Documentary. Year: 2014. 20 minutes.
Rated: Exempt
Polish with English Subtitles
Director: Teresa Czepiec
Cinematography: Paweł Dyllus
Producers: Wajda Studio
Special Mention, Go Short International Short Film Festival, 2015
Best Short Documentary, It's All True - International Documentary Film Festival, 2015
Mención Especial, Huesca Film Festival, 2015
Best Creation of Atmosphere, Honorable Mention by ABD-PE/APECI Jury, MOV - II Festival Internacional de Cinema Universitário de Pernambuco, Brazil, 2015
Runner-up Short Documentary, Anchorage International Film Festival, USA, 2015
Best Cinematography, Astra Film Festival, 2015
Is it possible to change people’s lives with an idea? Architect Le Corbusier thought that numbers, measures and plans can do just that. He called his buildings “machines for living”, designed to fulfil all of basic human needs. Superjednostka (Polish for Super Unit) in Katowice, is one of several trials to bring his idea to life in the 20th Century. Up to three thousand people can live on 15 floors of this huge block. The lifts only stop every three floors so the residents must go through a maze of corridors and stairs in order to get to their flats. The main characters of the documentary are people living in Superjednostka and going through important moments of their lives there. This is where their emotions throb, their expectations engender, and their desires come true... or not.
762 flat doors and 762 stories. We are opening only a few of them.
To be screened with Jurek.
