14/03/2008

The Slovenian/Polish/Croatian co-production Teah – which combines both a children’s tale and a story of cruel reality for adults – hits Polish screens today.

Hanna Antonina Wojcik-Slak introduced her new film thus: "My motivation for making Teah stems from the fact that many stories for children are set in a world detached from reality. I believe that we can also find magic in our world. You just have to look for it."

Martin – a boy of ten – is the protagonist of the film. He lives in a magic forest, along with some elves and a fox, his best friend. On Martin’s birthday, the peaceful life of the forest inhabitants is disturbed by the arrival of two strangers to his house.

One of them is Teah, a girl of the same age. Although Martin has been longing for company for some time, Teah – a Bosnian survivor who is haunted by memories of the war – brings him nothing but problems.

The director said: "Teah is a story about friendship, about how it can change our world. In these times, where cynicism and indifference prevail, I feel the need to express my belief in the importance of being and living for the other". She added: "Teah is a film for children but the subject – which is universal – transcends the divide between generations".

The film has an international team. The cast is made up of Slovenian, Bosnian and Croatian actors: Martin is played by Nikolaj Burger and Pina Bitenc plays the role of Teah. The technical aspects of the production were handled by the Polish members of the team, including the director of photography Karina Kleszczewska (Lukasz Barczyk’s Changes ).

The film was co-produced by Slovenia Studio Maj, SPI International Polska (who are also releasing the film domestically), Gustav Film and Jadran Film in Croatia, with backing from the Polish Film Institute (PISF) and Eurimages.

(Translated from French)