Special Events 2001 / Przedwiośnie / Poland 2001
A story of rebellion, love and the confusion of growing up, of the search for meaning and a place in a changing world, based on the famed novel by Polish writer Stefan Żeromski. Prior to the outbreak of war, the protagonist, Cezary Baryka, lives with his parents in the multiracial city of Baku. At the time of his first falling in love, Russian revolutionaries invade the town. His friends and his beloved Armenian girl, Aida, are murdered, and his mother is arrested and dies in a work camp. His father, who returns home secretly, convinces his son to leave for Poland and to look up a family friend when he gets to Warsaw. War breaks out and on the battlefield Cezary saves the life of his friend Hipolit. The young aristocrat later invites him to visit his family estate in Nawloc. But then love enters Cezary’s life once more. His inner voice warns him what he should not do, but it no longer suggests what is most important in life. Only tragic events can lead this young man to the threshold of maturity.
146 min / Black & white, 35 mm
Director Filip Bajon
/ Screenplay Filip Bajon based on the novel by Stefan Zeromski
/ Dir. of Photography Bartek Prokopowicz
/ Music Michal Lorenc
/ Editor Krzysztof Szpetmanski
/ Producer Dariusz Jablonski
/ Production Message Film
/ Cast Mateusz Damiecki, Krystyna Janda, Janusz Gajos, Daniel Olbrychski, Malgorzata Lewinska, Urszula Grabowska, Karolina Gruszka
Filip Bajon (b. 1947, Poland) studied law at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and direction at film school in Łódź. He has been publishing since the seventies: his literary debut was the novel Polar Bears Don’t Like Sunny Weather, and it won the Best First Book Award in 1971. He made his first film, The Return, in 1977. Nine other feature films followed (incl. Aria for an Athlete, Inspection of Crime Scene 1901, The Magnate, Poznań ’56), during which time he also worked for television (e.g. the widely acclaimed six-part series Blank Calling Card). He also directs theatre in Poznań, Krakow and Warsaw, and lectures at film schools in Łódź, Helsinki and Berlin.
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