27/04/2007

Thanks to its awards and positive press reviews, Several People, Little Time by Andrzej Barański (Woman from the Provinces, The Peddler), a simple, subtle and intimate film initially made for television (TVP), finally hits the big screen today through Vivarto.

In the film Barański depicts the platonic relationship between well-known writer-poet-playwright Miron Białoszewski (1922-1983) – played by Andrzej Hudziak – and Jadwiga Stańczakowa (Krystyna Janda), a blind apprentice poet and writer who works as the poet’s secretary. The film is set in the Communist period but is entirely void of any political content.

Instead Barański’s film depicts the huge importance of private meetings between intellectuals, students and artists; those who were supposed to substitute public discussions and debates, which were forbidden at the time. However, the more essential, and touching, part of the film is its human aspect; the feelings that bond the couple and their joint effort to overcome daily hurdles.

Hudziak attracted professional acclaim at the 2006 Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where the jury voted him Best Actor for his role as Białoszewski (see news). The film also won Best Critics’ Prize at the 2005 Gdynia Polish Film Festival.

(Translated from French)