Buda Family Archive

Zygmunt Buda was born in Poznań in 1924 and was interested in photography since his childhood. From 1941, he worked in the Poznań photographic company Foto-Stewner, founded by Ernest Stewner. After the end of the war, he worked as a photographer in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, from which, in the 50s, he was dismissed for political incorrectness. From the 60s, he worked in the Film Services Department at the corner of Marszałkowska and Krucza streets in Warsaw. Zygmunt recorded films with a business camera with a 16-millimeter tape and a private SANYO camera with an 8-millimeter tape, which he received as a gift from a family living in the USA. His sons, Jacek and Marek, as well as the next generations of the Buda family, also became enthusiasts of filming family life.
Part 1 
Christmas Eve, 1991. The Buda family spends Christmas Eve together with the family of Irmina’s sister (Jacek’s wife). Piotr (Jacek’s son) and Magda and Michał (Anna and Krzysztof’s children) sing songs in front of Santa Claus, who after listening to the children, gives them gifts. Anna holds little Michał in her arms, and Krzysztof takes pictures. The family spends the 25th December with Katarzyna and Zygmunt. Uncle Bogdan Sobol as an emissary of Santa Claus hands in gifts to children. Piotrek, Ania and Paweł (Marek’s children) and Daniel (a son of a cousin – Jola Jarocińska) immediately unpack and look at the received gifts. In addition to sons with families, Katarzyna and Zygmunt were also visited by the woman’s sister (Teodora Chmielewska), and Jola (Tonia’s daughter) with her husband (Janusz). 
Part 2 
Winter 1992. Piotrek and his dance partner, Katarzyna Niska, spend their holidays at a camp in Kołobrzeg organized for members of the “Corda” band. Piotrek and Kasia walk on the beach, feed the swans and together with the rest of the campers dance in front of the holiday resort.
Part 3
During a visit to Elżbieta (Irmina’s mother), Piotrek and Magda walk around the area and play on a nearby hill in Warsaw’s Groty. 
Part 4 
An account of the winter trip to the Tatra Mountains. Piotrek and Paweł under the supervision of their instructor, Krzysztof Sikorski, improve their skiing skills on the slope in Suchy Żleba in Kalatówki. The boys walk to the shelter on Hala Kondratowa. During the trip, Jacek, Piotrek and Paweł lived in the Hotel Górski in Kalatówki, which was regularly visited by a bear looking for food in trash cans. Another ski challenge is the first descent from Kasprowy Wierch under the supervision of the instructor. As the author of the film recalls, in order to record the boys, he had to constantly overtake a group of young skiers and wind the camera on the crank. The boys, together with Jacek, go to Gubałówka, and then eat dinner in a restaurant. 
Part 5
Spring 1992. A family trip to Masuria in a new Opel Kadett. Irmina, Jacek and Piotrek spend their free time together. They swim in a pontoon on the lake and take a boat to Augustów. Piotrek dances on board with a newly-met friend, and, on land, he plays football with his mother. 
Part 6 
Piotrek, Ania and Paweł watch an Amiga computer that the boy got from Anna and Krzysztof Trześniowski on his first Holy Communion. Piotrek, still dressed in communion attire, plays with his mother and Michał in the garden of the house in Warsaw’s Groty.
Part 7
Another communion gift was a trip to Disneyland near Paris.  As the author of the film recalls, during this trip he broke his personal record, driving a car 1200 km at a time. While visiting Disneyland, Piotrek spins on a carousel and watches the parade of Disney characters. Before setting off on the way back to Poland, Irmina and Piotrek pose for the camera by the car in the parking lot next to Disney’s Hotel Santa Fe. 

(AT)