Locked down in his apartment, Pawel Lozinski, one of Poland's most acclaimed filmmakers, hatched an experiment: focusing his camera on the eight square metres of sidewalk beneath his balcony, he waited for stories to come to him instead of searching them out. And come, they did. For two and a half years, he accosted strangers with questions, asking random passersby and neighbourhood residents alike "Who are you?" and proposing intrusive and sometimes unwelcome conversations. Some hurried by on phones and a few made polite-ish comments, but others shared swaths of unexpected experiences. The fixed camera became a confessional of sorts, recording a vibrant stream of life, full of small dramas and comedies, poverty, secrets, a mystery, loneliness-all moments revealing the unseen riches of everyday living. By turns sweet, sad and even shocking, Balcony Movie renders an intimacy between strangers only a pandemic could inspire.
-HotDocs
10 сен 2024
