Małanicz Family Archive

The author of the film is Eugeniusz Małanicz (born in 1904 in Zelczyn). He was an electrical engineer by trade, but a cinematographer and a collector of films and film cameras by passion. In 1925, he founded the touring cinema “Oaza”, touring around the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. The cinema went bankrupt after a year, but the passion for the cinema remained with Eugeniusz until his death. In December 1939, he moved with his family to Warsaw and settled in Saska Kępa. An important place in his life was Giby – a village in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, to which he traveled from the late forties. There he rested, kayaked and took pictures. He also died there in 1982. The hood of his beloved car (Hansa) was put on his tombstone.

Part 1 

The film was made in the winter of 1973 in Warsaw’s Skaryszewski Park. Anna Małanicz and her daughter, Kasia, go down the hill on a sled and throw snowballs. Between the children playing in the park, there is a dachshund of the Małanicz family, Pikulina, who chases after thrown snowballs. 

Part 2

Warsaw, 1973. Shots of an Easter table in the apartment of the Małanicz family at ul. Elsterska 8 in Warsaw’s Saska Kępa district. Anna Małanicz and her daughter, Kasia, bring to the table next platters with cold cuts and decorated eggs. At the table, there is Anna, Kasia, Feliksa Blech (Anna’s mother), Natalia Wąsik (Anna’s sister-in-law), and Eugeniusz and Ludwika Małaniczowie (Anna’s in-laws). The family has an Easter breakfast. A shot of Elsterska street from the balcony of their apartment. 

Part 3 

The film was made during the Małanicz family holiday to the Suwałki region in the summer of 1973. Fiat 125p goes down a forest road and stops. First, Pikulina, a dachshund, jumps out of the car, and then Anna and Janusz Małanicz get out. The man waves to their daughter, Kasia, who films them. The married couple hugs in front of the car. Pikulina digs holes in the forest. The car is parked by the road. Shots from inside the car of the dashboard and the counters located on it. Shots of the lake and the tent “Baltic”. The boy washes his bike in the lake. Kasia throws plates into the water. Shots of a group of friends sitting by the lake. Shots of tents and cars standing next to them. A few people ride scooters on sandy roads. Anna in a hat lies on a lawn chair. Janusz washes the car. Anna sits at the entrance to the house, and Janusz takes out his jacket from the car’s trunk. Kasia, in a swimsuit, washes the car. Shots of a timber truck and a cart, driving on a partially flooded road. Anna washes the dishes. There are caught fish in a bowl on the table. Kasia fishes by the lake and poses for the camera with a pike. Anna sunbathes on a lawn chair. Kasia watches storks sitting in the nest on the house roof. Shots of a loaded truck and working men. Anna lies on a lawn chair and smokes a cigarette. Close-up of a pike lying on the grass.

(AT)