Directed by Paweł Łoziński, documentary, 100 min, eng subtitles, 16+
Can we meet an entire cross-section of people just by putting the camera in a fixed place? Maybe it’s enough to stop for a moment to get a deeper insight?
The Polish film director Paweł Łoziński believes you can. For him everyone’s story is unique and life surpasses imagination. He spent almost two years on the balcony of his Warsaw apartment, watching people passing by and trying to start a conversation. Conversations about what? Well, about life, this and that. This short feature on a stretch of pavement and people stopping on it creates a universal, interesting and touching story about the world we live in. Similar to Kieślowski’s Talking Heads but in a feature film format, the conversations uncover vivid emotions, thoughts, attitudes, and create a sincere reflection of the human condition.
Łoziński is the author of more than 20 award-winning documentaries. He makes distinct and emotionally charged films that are considered innovative in exploring uncharted spaces within the documentary film genre. In his latest effort, awarded at this year’s Locarno film festival, he invites us to his private balcony which he has transformed into a shooting set, a theatre stage and a confessional, a remarkable transformation of distance into proximity.
The film was part of IDFA's Official Selection and won the Grand Prix in Locarno's Semaine de la Critique 2021.