Krajewscy Family Archive

The author of the film is Jarosław Krajewski (born in 1952 in Poznań). As a teenager, he received his first camera as a gift from his parents. Since then, he has filmed important events and family life: weddings, holiday trips to the Powidz area, as well as his daughters, Paula and Zuzanna, growing up. Jarosław was interested in journalism. In his youth, he belonged to the Club of Youth Journalists (KDM), later he worked, among others, in the office and the company newspaper in a furniture factory and as a tour guide in Europe. He currently lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Part 1
Swarzędz, 1989. The Krajewski family has Easter breakfast in a new cooperative apartment, assigned to them at the beginning of the year. A shot through the window of blocks of flats in the housing estate. Jarosław’s wife, Alicja, bustles in the kitchen. Przemysław (Alicja’s brother) shows an egg with the names of family members at the camera: Alicja, Paula, Jarosław. The family spends time at the Christmas table. One of the men fools around at the camera. Shots of two men sleeping on a sofa bed. One of the women bustles around the apartment. The family has dinner together.

Part 2
Poznań, 1980. Shots of the interior of the room in the previous apartment of the Krajewski family with a collection of hand-painted ceramics, standing on cabinets and wall units, and numerous books on the shelves. A close-up of the calendar hanging on the wall – February 1980. The daughter of Jarosław and Alicja, Paula, plays with an abacus at the table.

Part 3
Family meeting in the spring of 1977. Jarosław with Alicja and Hanna with her husband, Leszek, “brag” about their children, Paula and Tomek. Among the guests, there is Donata, Alicja and Hania’s cousin. Families walk with children, Alicja leads little Paula, who can’t walk on her own yet, and waves her daughter’s hand at the camera. Leszek and Hania look at Tomek, who sleeps in a stroller. Alicja carries plates of cake. Leszek, Jarosław and Zdzisław (Donata’s husband) fool around at the camera and drink tincture at the outdoor table. The family spends time at the table. Paula sits in a stroller. A man pours tincture into the glasses of the guests.

Part 4
An account of the wedding of Janusz (Jarosław’s friend from high school) and Grażyna. The young couple enters the church. Unexposed material from the inside of the church. The newlyweds leave the church, in front of which guests congratulate them and give them flowers. The guests wait for the arrival of the bride and groom to the wedding hall. Jarosław smokes a cigarette and talks to a man with a camera. The young couple dances in front of the hall. Their guests observe them and sit on benches.

Part 5
Strzałkowo, 1978. An account of the wedding of Grzegorz (Jarosław’s cousin) and Elżbieta. Genre scenes in front of the house. Shots of the bride and groom and their guests. The young couple receive the blessing from their parents. Shots of guests entering the wedding hall and congratulations and wishes in front of the church. Alicja Krajewska talks to one of the men, then kisses her husband, Jarosław. The guests sit in a bus. Alicja says something to her husband, who films her. The parents greet the bride and groom with bread and salt. The guests follow the newlyweds into the hall, where they raise the first toast with champagne. The young couple gets into a car standing in front of the hall.

(AT)