Dotknąć obrazu

Poland

29’10’’, 2020.

DIRECTED BY

Olga Blumczyńska, Barbara Ostrowska

PRODUCED BY

National Museum in Gdansk

SCRIPTWRITER

Olga Blumczyńska, Barbara Ostrowska

CINEMATOGRAPHER

Barbara Ostrowska, Slawomir Vitek

EDITED BY

Agata Cierniak

CONTACT

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An ethnographer from Kashubia returns to her haunt to observe that region's folk religiosity, which she's been very familiar with since childhood, but from which she distances herself in her adulthood. She meets young Kashubians facing the challenge of saving the centuries-old tradition of ritualized bowing to and dancing with holy icons. The young people are getting ready for a pilgrimage, during which they will carry the painting weighing over 100 kgs (220 lbs.)on their shoulders. Their physical weaknessand the necessity of learning the specialized dancing techniques from videos on YouTube make them aware of the difficult task they are facing.

Olga Blumczyńska is an anthropologist and a filmmaker, who is a keen enthusiast of archival photography. She directed two documentaries: “Past States”, relating the life of the Polish community in New York and “Touching the Icon”.

Barbara Ostrowska is a director and producer of short documentary films, videographer, and photographer based in Gdynia, Poland.

Dotknąć obrazu / Touching the Icon - trailer from Olga Blumczyńska on Vimeo.