Matuszni Family Archive

Antoni Matuszny, who came from the Beskid village of Laliki, was interested in photography since he was a child. As he recalls, he wanted to save the life of his family and the countryside in the 1970s from oblivion. At the age of thirteen, he bought the first camera, and when he was 24 – the camera of the Soviet Quarz 5.

A film made in Cięcina in 1984 during the Christmas holidays. Children are playing in the snow and are sliding down a hill in the courtyard on sacks of hay. Santa Claus, with the help of Paulina, daughter of Antoni and Elżbieta, is distributing presents to the family. Sitting on armchairs in the room are Elżbieta Wojciuch (Paulina’s grandmother), mother Elżbieta and aunt Jadwiga (Elżbieta ‘s sister). Paulina is unwrapping the presents and showing them to the family. Antoni is showing his daughter how the toy scale works. Shots of neighborhood children playing in the snow.  

(KN, AT)