Małanicz Family Archive

Eugeniusz Małanicz was born in 1904 in Zelczyn. He was an electrical engineer by education, and a passionate moviegoer and collector of films and film cameras. In 1925, he founded a travelling cinema “Oaza”, touring the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Although the business went bankrupt after a year, the passion for cinematography 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 40s. There he rested, kayaked and took pictures. Eugeniusz died in Giby in 1982, and the hood of his beloved car (Hansa) rested on his tombstone.

The film is a record of the everyday life of the Małanicz family in the second half of 1960s in Warsaw and Giby. 
Part 1 
Shot of the lamp in an apartment at 8 Elsterska Street in Saska Kępa. 
Part 2 
An account of the holiday in Giby. Three women walk in the woods. Eugeniusz at the top of his summer house installs a self-constructed windmill that was supposed to generate electricity. The device worked for some time, but did not bring the intended effect, mainly due to the lack of wind in the forest. Eugeniusz loads the coal into the car. Although Hansa was his treasure, she performed many functions – from transporting various things to accommodation during trips. During the stay in Giby, the Małanicz family is visited by forester Benedykt Waluś. Eugeniusz’s wife, Ludwika, serves tea. Shots of fighting roosters. Janusz (Eugeniusz’s son) sits in front of the house with his friends. One of the men is Zdzisław Struzik – a painter and a family friend. Zdzisław’s wife, Maryla, stands in front of the house and smiles at the camera. Anna (Janusz’s wife) cleans mushrooms, Maryla and Elżbieta Małanicz-Onoszko (Janusz’s sister) prepare something in a large bowl. Anna and Janusz’s daughter, Kasia, plays in the sandbox in the “Walcownia” holiday resort in Giby. Eugeniusz fishes in a nearby lake. 
Part 3 
Scenes from everyday life filmed in the apartment of Eugeniusz and Ludwika Małanicz at Obrońców Street in Saska Kępa. Eugeniusz helps his granddaughter (Joasia Onoszko) fix a doll’s pram. Ludwika feeds a goose in the kitchen to prepare foie gras. The goose swims in the bath. Ludwika talks to her friend in the apartment, then the women go for a walk, during which they watch Hansa parked in front of the garage on Dąbrowiecka Street. Eugeniusz walks with a friend on Obrońców Street, and later talks to his neighbor on a bench in front of the house. 
Part 4 
The Małanicz family spends Christmas in an apartment at Obrońców Street. The family members decorate the Christmas tree, and then eat Christmas Eve dinner and raise a Christmas toast. Among those gathered, we can see: Ludwika and Eugeniusz, their daughter (Barbara Łabno), the daughter of Elżbieta Małanicz-Onoszko with her mother-in-law (Anna Onoszko), the daughter-in-law (Anna) and the granddaughters (Joasia Onoszko and Kasia Małanicz). The girls, together with Elżbieta in the role of an angel, play a performance in front of the family. The performance makes Kasia cry. Ludwika’s nephew, Leszek Surowiec, sits on the floor next to a model of Eugeniusz’s electric railway. The toy took up half of the living room and was used only once a year, during the holiday season.
 
(AT)