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THERE ONCE WAS A WAR

POLISH TITLE: BYŁA WOJNA

Rymanów is a small town at the foothills of the Carpathians which, before World War II, was populated by a multicultural community. The war and German occupation destroyed this world for ever. Several young people who come here on holiday are trying to investigate the truth about this tragic period, including its worst moments burdening the Polish conscience. Interviews with local residents are complemented with archival materials and fragments of a private journal from the time of the war.

GENRE:
documentary
COUNTRY:
Poland
RUNNING TIME:
55'
YEAR:
DIRECTING:
Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz
SCRIPT:
Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz
DOP:
Ita Zbroniec-Zajt
EDITOR:
Grażyna Gradoń
PRODUCTION:
Agnieszka Traczewska

Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz »

Director of several dozen documentaries and TV theatre plays who has won numerous awards. She graduated from Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław and from Film Directing at the Faculty of Radio and Television at the University of Silesia. The documentaries "I Am a Man" (1986) and "The Office" (1986) won her renown, in particular the latter one was showered with awards. For years, she has created film portraits of famous Poles, including Leszek Kołakowski, Czesław Miłosz and Jerzy Grotowski. Among her other well-known documentaries were: "Gdańsk Railway Station" (2008) and the biographical documentary "Wiera Gran" (2011). She is a lecturer at the Directing Department of the Film School in Łódź.