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God’s Lake

Observational documentary about a Ukrainian family living by the lake. A litemotif of their everyday life is the fear of God.

  • Runtime: 17 min
  • Roles: director and screenwriter
  • Duration of documentary observation: one year
  • Awards: Winner at 8th DOCSDF 2013, Mexico, 2013 (Best International Short Documentary)

I worked on the internal conflict of my characters: between their fear of God and their constant attempts at grasping the beauty of the world He created.

A poetic reflection on how human vision of the world beyond the visible reality influences the daily lives of the film’s characters.

NYC by Diana Aszyk

An intimate look at the everyday life of New Yorkers and the city around them.

  • Runtime: 5 min
  • Roles: director and screenwriter
  • Additional roles: co-cinematographer, editing, production (100 percent of film rights)
  • Duration of documentary observation: 6 months

A documentary reflection on diversity and perception in the context of being overworked.

Using a mobile phone, which has become a key companion for all of us, I tried to show New York and New Yorkers in the moments just before and after their daily work.

Let Me Live

Statements by a (young) married couple before a divorce are superimposed on a special day for their relationship.

  • Rough cut runtime: 40 min
  • Roles: director and screenwriter
  • Additional roles: cinematography, production (100% of film rights)
  • Duration of documentary observation: 5 years
  • Rough cut: available on request, following individual consent by the Protagonist
  • Quality: 4K

For 5 years, I had been involved in documentary observation of a couple, from their engagement to divorce.
In the final version of the film about divorce, I decided to show their last day together as a family, superimposing on these images their statements about their relationship, right after separation, in order to “loop time”, reflecting the mental state of my characters.

The film got to the stage of a rough cut, no sound design and colour grading had been completed.

The male character consented to its publication, which would have enabled further work on the film, however for the female character it proved “too intimate” to be shown to the public.

I provide access to the rough cut only with the individual consent of the character, each time informing her who and why will view it.

F.O.R.E.S.T (L.A.S.)

Documentary observation of the daily struggles of a group of kids from a forest preschool.

  • Rough cut runtime (without the final scenes): 43 min
  • Roles: co-director of the shooting stage (with Sebastian Karaśkiewicz), rough cut author
  • Additional roles: co-producer (50% of film rights)
  • Duration of documentary observation: one year
  • Quality: 4K

My next project was an observational documentary of a group of kids from a forest preschool. The education seemed so modern and novel because it had taken a step… back.

What is the dimension of teaching, in which LEGO bricks are mixed with sticks, closeness with the price one has to pay for it, modern plastic weather suits with nature and long walks in the woods with a straightforward path to traditional school desks?

The material is currently at rough cut stage, I consider it open. I would like to add at the end of the film portraits of the children after several years of implementation in the forest. At the end of the film, I would like to add portraits of the children taken a few years after the shoots in the forest. Most of the content in the final version is to focus on the childhood, less on school, and still less (snapshots) on later stages of the Protagonists’ lives, so that the film could run against the course of human memory.

The structure of this project is to gradually funnel towards the final focus on a single Protagonist from the group.

A PACK

“The Pack” is a subjective take on an interaction between a musher and his pack of dogs, whose bond seems to be proving that fauna and flora can be partners with man. Only a few human words are spoken in it.

It’s a patiently observed cinematic animal study made with a true conviction that a mutually beneficial relationship between humans and the rest of the natural world – without man’s dominance and violence – is still possible. Movie animal study.

  • Runtime (predicted): 60 min
  • Roles: director and screenplay, producer
  • Duration of documentary observation: 3 years
  • Quality: 4K, Atmos audio system
  • Planned completion: May 2024.
  • Goal: to start cooperation with a film agent and/or a distribution agency for the film

The musher shows how to be with dogs on a daily basis as … other animal. The camera follows him when he receives signals from his pack and when he is able to signal back, without words and without forcing animals to communicate on human terms or copying human behavior. In this way not only does he reveal his techniques of communicating with dogs, but he also shares something much deeper: his life wisdom which he acquired from his pack…

Are we able to learn and maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with nature?