Nrov Ntawm Poland

A documentary presenting Radziszewski's meeting with Ryszard Kisiel, a personality behind the first East-Central European gay-zine, Filo and 're-discovered' by the director. The backdrop of the film is Kisiel's hitherto hidden archive, consisting of dozens of color slides, documenting photo shoots organized by Kisiel and his friends in a private apartment. The photos taken in 1985 and 1986 may be considered a direct reaction to the Polish anti-gay militia campaign ('Hiacynt'), during which the Secret Police collected information about homosexuals in Poland using them later for blackmail.

Circumstances trigger concoction of desire and guilt, when secrets from past overcast Daniel's existence. He travels through his nightmares to introspect his sexuality. Daniel's survival turns into a mirage, as he finds himself muddled between homosexuality and pedophilia.

At first glance, it seems that Square lives in a chaotic and endlessly changing geometry. But the systems in which he functions are constantly repeated, introduce a daily routine, hypnotize without allowing any movement. Once, a new element sneaks into the pattern, which for a moment will allow Square to view reality from a different angle.

Olaf is 25 years old and lives with his mom and grandmother in a tenement house in the Kazimierz district in Krakow. Their home is actually quite dilapidated. Yet the young man dreams that the house in Brzozowa Street is the centre of the universe. The unique narrative is enhanced by a surreal impression of living in an abandoned house. Olaf notices metaphysical consequences of living in the vicinity of a square shaped like the “eye of god”: “There are moments when my mind transcends time and space” he says.

Polish artist Artur Zmijewski asked a group of visually impaired people to paint the world as they see it. Some of the volunteers were congenitally disabled; others became blind in their lifetime. In the film they draw self-portraits and landscapes, occasionally asking the artist for instructions or giving verbal explanation for their decisions. Their paintings are clumsy and abstract. It is however not the resulting works but the process of making them that is at the core of the film.