CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS

Cultural Backgrounds series is an original idea for the screening of films that describe specific cultural climate and social phenomena characteristic for a certain part of the world, regardless of whether the director used a form of documentary, feature or animation. The films in Cultural Backgrounds are a peculiar reaction to those phenomena in cinema, allowing us to look at the matters of people from other cultural circles through their own eyes, and not through the perspective of the Western culture.

screening curator: Andrzej Rusin

August Sky, dir. Jasmin Tenucci (Brazil) 2021, 16’, 15+
A glance at Brazil at a time of great social and mental changes. The atmosphere of uncertainty is intensified by information about great fires in the Amazonian forest. Pregnant Lucia, however, has to face problems that are even closer to her surroundings. Film presented at e.g. Cannes IFF.

Moonless, dir. Haniye Bahrami (Iran) 2021, 14’, 15+
Against the religious traditions in their village, a widowed mother secretly takes her son to the dentist. This decision will expose her to a violent reaction from the local community. Will she be able to take care of the well-being of her children? Polish premiere.

Further and Further Away, dir. Polen Ly (Cambodia) 2022, 24’, 15+
Indigenous Bunong siblings spend one last day in their rural village before moving to the capital city Cambodia. While the older brother is excited for the view of a more prosperous life, the sister senses a quiet desire to return to their long-gone village that was lost to the development of a nearby hydroelectric dam a few years earlier. Film presented at e.g. Berlinale IFF. Polish premiere.

Guest House, dir. Emad Gharahi (Iran) 2021, 16’, 15+
We observe a range of human types bothered by their daily affairs through the photographer’s lens. But is there more to that story?

Trumpets in the Sky, dir. Rakan Mayasi (France) 2021, 15’, 15+
Boushra is one of the Syrian potato-picking girls in Lebanon. One day, she returns from a long day of work in the field only to learn that today her childhood will come to an end. Film awarded at Rio de Janeiro ISFF and TIFF.

Aparat, dir. Hasan Najmabadi (Iran) 2021, 17’, 14+
Six teenage boys in a remote village decide to work hard in order to raise the money they need to rent a projector from a local trader to see their favorite movies. Polish premiere.

After the screening, we invite you to join a discussion with the show’s curator.