Heyke Family Archive

collection Heyke Family Archive
authors Krzysztof Heyke
starring Grażyna Paczkowska; Jerzy Wódkowski
length 12'05
country Poland
year 1985
format S8 mm
color black and white
signature PAFD 0007 001
description

A short fiction film which Krzysztof Heyke made at the film and photography outdoor place in Puck. It was run by Władysław Wasilewski from the Film School in Łódź and it was organized by Grażyna Paczkowska from the Old Town Culture Centre in Warsaw. The latter, together with Jerzy Wódkowski, was cast in the film. The painting, entitled “A Sub-Biblical Tale”, was made in a chapel at the cemetery in Puck. The short film tells the story of a man and a woman who find shelter in an abandoned chapel in a cemetery. The first shots show a man who reorganizes the space of the chapel: he moves the catafalque, takes decorative candlesticks and a crucifix, removes frames and paintings from the walls, and takes a flag with the IHS monogram. Then, he moves the church pew, paints a white line on the floor through the middle of the nave to the front door. He chases a hen away from the chapel. Through the open door, the woman enters and brings a chair and a wooden cabinet inside, on which she puts her modest belongings: a painting and a bag from which white balls fall out. The couple sits down at the table. A group of believers enters the chapel. The woman gets up from the table and starts dancing. After a while, the man joins her. They dance together. The short film ends with a view of the chapel and clouds flowing over it. The plot of the short film, as its author recalls, was a distant reference to the problem of homelessness, which in the period of the People’s Republic of Poland was a marginal issue. An important element of the short film was the soundtrack, which, unfortunately, has not survived.

(MB)

keywords short film  church  religion  dance  sacred objects  homelessness  film school  plot 
source of funding Ministry of Culture and National Heritage