Film Programme
The Lovers
documentary
Poland, 2009, 51'11''
Director: Rafał Skalski
Producer: Jerzy Dzięgielewski, Aleksander Kutela, Anna Skonieczna
Director of photography: Jakub Giza
Writer: Rafał Skalski
Composer: Michał Marecki
Editor: Marek Skrzecz
Synopsis: A captivating documentary about love, friendship and sexuality of the disabled from Rafał Skalski. Disability remains a taboo in Poland. Many avoid interactions with the disabled as they are uncertain how to behave in their company. In reality, however, the differently-abled share the same dreams, desires, needs and aspiration as everybody else. Characters portrayed in this documentary are people who despite their limitations celebrate life at its best. Instead of avoiding daily problems, they find courage to challenge them. Characters don’t consider themselves different or inferior. They openly invite the audience to explore the intimate world of their male-female relationships.
Director: Rafał Skalski
A film director and a script writer. He was born in 1985 in Warsaw. Currently he is finishing studies at the Film Directing Department of the Lodz Film School. Before film school he was directing short independent movies. In 2005 he made "Little Wisdom", a documentary film study, and "A Train for Two", a fiction film study. He has worked as a second director on Jarosław Sztandera's film "Luxus" and collaborated with Stanisław Różewicz on "Gdzie zabawki tamtych lat". In 2007 he made a documentary debut with "52 percent", which was a part of the second edition of the "Russia - Poland. New gaze" project. The film has received many awards including the Golden Hobby Horse - the Grand Prix of the Krakow Film Festival National Competition and the main award of the best short film in Pamplona. Skalski has won the scholarship of the Minister of Culture and Higher Education