Who among us hasn’t wanted to be someone else once in their lifetime? Rarely is anyone as successful in such masterly role-changing as Michał Waszyński. lt is exactly this phenomenal talent that has attracted our attention and interest. Our protagonist was an extraordinary persona lity and defied all efforts of others to pigeonhole him. He was a Jew in Kovel, a Pole in Warsaw, and finally a Prince in the elite circles of post-war Europe. At first glance, his case was a brilliant one, rather than tragic. Yet what price did Waszyński pay for his incredible masquerades? Is it possible for somebody to completely cut themselves off from their roots without suffering any consequences of this act?

The times in which Waszynski lived did not allow him to be himself. So when reality becomes unbearable, one begins to live inside one’s own imagination. With the help of cinema he was perfectly successful in pulling off this trick. He rejected his original self and became a unique filmmaker, who not only created monumental films, but also made his own life a masterpiece.

 

Elwira Niewiera – director
Studied acting at the European Theater Institut Berlin and the Academy for Theater Practices Gardzenice (Poland). Her previous documentary film ?Domino Effect (directed together with Piotr Rosolowski) was shown worldwide at more than 50 festivals and won many awards, among them the ?Golden Dove? award at the International Film Festival DOK Leipzig 2014, the “Golden Horn” for the Best Film of the International Competition at 54. Krakow Film Festival. The film had also arthouse cinema distribution in Germany, Poland and Switzerland. Elwira Niewiera is also member of the Polish film Academy.

Piotr Rosolowski – director & cinematographer
Graduated from the Katowice Film School, awarded with a scholarship of the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne. Co-author of ?Rabbit a la Berlin? – Academy Award nominated short documentary film and co-director of documentary film ?Domino Effect? together with Elwira Niewiera. Their new documentary film ?The Prince and the Dybbuk? won the award for the Best Documentary on Cinema at the 74th Venice Film Festival 2017. Piotr works also as director of photography, he was DoP on many awarded feature and short films, among them: ? On the line? dir. Reno Caffi – Academy Award nominated short fiction.

      

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