STRANGE HEAVEN by Dariusz Gajewski @ CineStar Andel, Prague, CZ
Obce Niebo (Poland/Sweden). Screened as part of the 23rd Febiofest Prague International Film Festival on 21/03/2016, 18:30.
I attended this screening in knowledge of the fact that I would be interviewing the filmmakers the day later. Despite being concerned about meeting one of the actresses that I had chosen for the role of one of the characters in my film, I was looking forward to the screening as it would hopefully take my mind from other engagements. So, I had all the intentions of enjoying the intensity of this family drama about parents, Polish immigrants living in Sweden, losing custody of their child.
I felt however that there was a sense of pretentiousness which made it less impressive and a lack of focus, which would be explained in my interview with Gajewski. In fact, when I asked him about Strange Heaven, he kept taking me back to what he considered to be his film's selling point, the message that sometimes having the best intentions in mind is no good enough. That's all well and good, but he seemed to talk about it less as a family theme and more as a political theme, which helped me understand why the film wasn't as impressive to me as it could have, should have been.
The screening was well attended. It is worthy of note, however, that before the screening it was announced that the film's Q and A would not be translated in English and was only for Czech or Polish speaking people. Which was good news for me, as I do not particularly like Q and A's anyways. But what was interesting to me is that in said introduction, Gajewski was translated from Polish to Czech. For a non-speaker of those two languages, they sounded almost comically similar. In fact, I must admit, without realizing it, I chuckled. Thankfully, the filmmaker had also said something funny, or at least he must have, as many in the room laughed, and this gave me the opportunity to seem less like an obnoxious snob. Which I'm sure is what many people think of me anyways...