Welcome us with a warm smile right at the entrance. On the day of our recording, there are other film shootings taking place in the smallest cinema in Warsaw. The place is full of life. The life of our interviewee, co-owner of the Amondo cinema, Cork Bojanowski, has also been intense lately. He had just been to Shanghai and Brussels, and after our meeting, he will go to another film festival in Poland, where his work will be shown.
Loss of Balance
, carried out by him.
We discreetly passed by the cinema cables and the filming crew who happen to be recording the show. We sat in the cinema room, closed the door, and turned on the microphone.
The influence of Roman Polanski
Korek Bojanowski tells us that he is an extremely sensitive viewer. “I am the type of viewer who gets most scared by horror movies, laughs the most at comedies, and cries the most at melodramas. And I have this way of liking cinema in general like that. The fact that it is, to build a kind of landscape of the world.”
The filmmaker greatly enjoys the cinema of Roman Polanski’s early years, which inspired “Losing the Balance” due to its sensual atmosphere and strong proximity to the protagonist. As he explains, at a certain point, the camera becomes involved with the character’s emotions, penetrating them.
Dialogues and playing with them are also important for him.
I wanted to understand her as much as possible
“Tell the story of a group of students preparing for the final show. A new director gets in their way and starts a game between them.” – Korek Bojanowski describes in an interview to
Euronews
, the theme of your
Loss of Balance
.
“I wanted to understand her as much as possible.” – The film is about the character of the main character. Her situation is inspired by the revelation of pathological situations that took place in Polish film schools in 2020. The film shows the methods used to break acting students and force them to exceed their limits, because it was considered that art simply required it.
“For 60-70 years, acting schools in Poland were simply something taken for granted. Everyone knew about it. It was only when a girl decided to write that people started thinking we weren’t getting out of this and moving forward. It caused a huge trauma, which she had to overcome through therapy,” explains the director.
After the first post, the Internet was flooded with descriptions of similar experiences from Polish artists. “These were already very experienced actors and actresses. Suddenly, it turned out that even people who are accomplished in this profession went through something like this and continue to carry a kind of wound inside themselves.”
Suddenly, it was discovered that teachers, due to their power, abuse it and often release it on students in a physical and psychological way.” – Bojanowski explains how he began to explore this theme and wanted to tell the story in the film. “He wanted to tell a story about entering adulthood. About how much we have to sacrifice to realize ourselves in what we love.
Awards and end of the Polish presidency of the EU
In 2024, Bojanowski’s debut was recognized for the first time at the Gdynia Film Festival. And, more recently, a very important event in the team’s calendar.
Lost Balance
It was the closing of the Polish presidency of the European Union.
We were in Brussels, in one of the local cinemas,” says Bojanowski. “It was a show that brought together people connected to the European Parliament, and cultural institutions linked to the European Union.
World premiere of ”
Losing the Balance
It had just taken place in Shanghai, where it was recognized and won the award for screenplay.
“We spoke with the jury, chaired by Giuseppe Tornatore, and they liked this film. After all, the themes we address in this film are universal and touch people all over the world,” the director congratulates himself.
The smallest cinema in Warsaw
The auditorium where we sat to talk to Kork has a capacity for 25 people, the other one has 20. The Kino Amondo, the smallest cinema in Warsaw, is a space created by a collective of filmmakers. “We try to do a series of different things related to cinema. Each of us produces, directs, writes” – says Korek.
Since I was a child, I wanted to make movies,” the director tells us. “I remember my first experience in the cinema and the impression it made on me.
Studied in Paris and obtained his bachelor’s degree from the Paris Film School. Returned to Poland at the age of 21. How does he explain it – a bit without anything, with international contacts scattered around the world.
Working on
Losing the Balance
, I knew from the beginning that he had to learn how to write screenplays and to understand the film production process, and that no one would do it for him.
“I wrote a lot along the way and also produced a feature film. Those were important lessons. At the moment I gathered these tools, I knew I was ready to make a film and that I was in control,” explains the young director, although he was born in 1993, so already in his thirties.
“Even though he made his debut at 30, it’s still very young in the Polish reality, because in Poland even directors who are 38 years old are considered young directors,” says Bojanowski.
“Many times I have been asked if it’s good that this opportunity is given later, that’s how young people are tested. Well, it’s interesting for me, but yes – it took a long time,” he concluded.
When we do not disappoint the world, we disappoint ourselves
” I am preparing my next movie and I hope to start filming this year,” says Cork about his plans.
It is also a film about entering adulthood, but in some other phase. Because I feel that
Losing [Balance]
It’s about being disappointed with the world, because I have a vision of the world. We are 20-25 years old and think the world should be in front of us, but it’s not.
“The second phase of this entry into adulthood, when we do not disappoint the world, we disappoint ourselves, which means that a certain view of ourselves falls,” says Bojanowski.
The director emphasizes that he is from Warsaw and that the second plot will take place in the Polish capital, a city that inspires him.
Korek also reveals that his second film will be a black comedy.
But now we have to go. He is about to leave for another projection.
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