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ART OF DISAPPEARING

POLISH TITLE: SZTUKA ZNIKANIA

An unknown story of a Haitian vodou priest, Amon, who visited the People's Republic of Poland  in 1980 with a group of Haitians invited by the theatre of Jerzy Grotowski. Here, his Polish roots were reborn. His ancestors, Polish legionaries, took part in liberating Haiti from slavery 200 years before. Amon feels that he should pay his debt and do something for his second fatherland so he decides to stay in Poland. All is leading to martial law and Amon tries to change the course of history. He sees that general Jaruzelski is possessed by Baron Samedi - a bad daemon that causes stiffness, eye congestion and the necessity to wear sunglasses. In December 1981 Amon conducts a vodou ceremony to take the spell off the general, free his soul and stop the Soviet tanks... A surprising view on socialism through the eyes of a stranger form a different culture.

TRAILER
GENRE:
documentary
COUNTRY:
Poland
RUNNING TIME:
50'
YEAR:
DIRECTING:
Bartek Konopka, Piotr Rosołowski
SCRIPT:
Bartek Konopka, Piotr Rosołowski
DOP:
Piotr Rosołowski
EDITOR:
Andrzej Dąbrowski
MUSIC:
Maciej Cieślak
PRODUCTION:
Instytut im. Adama Mickiewicza, Otter Films

Bartek Konopka »

Oscar nominated for the “Rabbit a la Berlin” (2009) documentary that was shown at more than 70 festivals, received a dozen prizes and had been sold to 40 countries. His feature fiction debut “Fear of Falling” (2011) premiered at Montreal IFF (awarded at Mannheim, Mumbai, Lecce, Vincennes, Gdynia). Released in cinemas in France, Spain, Iran and  Poland. Author of many documentaries and couple of fictions that gained an international acclaim. Bartek is a graduate of film studies at the Jagiellonian University Krakow and Film Directing at the Silesian University in Katowice. Member of European Film Academy and the Board of Polish Film Institute.

Piotr Rosołowski »

A Polish director, screenwriter, and cinematographer based in Berlin. He graduated from the Katowice Film School and was awarded an Academy of Media Arts scholar- ship in Cologne. Piotr co-directed together with Elwira Niewiera already three successful feature documentaries: "Domino Effect" prized at the Krakow Film Festival and DOK Leipzig, "The Prince and the Dybbuk" awarded with the Lion for Best Documentary on Cinema at the 74th Venice Film Festival, and "The Hamlet Syndrome" honored with Grand Prix Semaine de la critique at the 75th Locarno Film Festival. Piotr also works as a director of photography, he shot many awarded feature and short films, among them: "On the line" dir. Reto Caffi - Academy Award-nominated short fiction, "Rabbit a la Berlin" dir. Bartek Konopka - Academy Award-nominated short documentary, and "Thewall of Shadows" dir. Eliza Kubarska - nominated for the German Camera Award and honored withthe annual prize of the Polish Society of Cinematographers.
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