Elisa Rimaila, text
Tytti Pohjola, translation
Hannele Salmi, picture
Anna Kazejak-Dawid (on the left) and Zaida Bergroth concentrate on social issues in their films.
Two women sit still in their chairs, wearing headphones. Both look at a tv-monitor where a film is playing. The credits roll, but the women's expressions remain fixed. The screens go blank and both lay their headphones on the table.
– It's almost scary to notice we've both made a film about virtually the same topic, says Polish film maker Anna Kazejak-Dawid. Zaida Bergroth from Finland agrees.
The women have just viewed each other's short films.
They are approximately the same age. Kazejak-Dawid studied directing in Lodz Film School and Bergroth did the same in the University of Art and Design (TaiK) in Helsinki. Both are interested in telling stories about children and teenagers.
According to Kazejak-Dawid, studying in the prestigious Lodz Film School is quite tough. Only a handful of students are accepted into the school each year. There's no time to slack around, because those who do not perform up to the standards will be expelled from the school.
– The time spent studying there made me the person I am today, both as a film maker and a person. At that time, the film school was the most important experience of my life, says Kazejak-Dawid, who is now the mother of a little boy.
The director myth built around directors such as of Krzysztof Kieslowski has traditionally had a very important role in Polish film culture. When communism died away in Poland around 1989, the social and political regard for film directors lessened considerably. According to Bergroth, Finnish education has put more and more emphasis on the collaboration of directors, producers and scriptwriters.
The shadows of Kieslowski and many other distinguished directors still hover in the corridors of Lodz Film School and the students are urged to take up weighty social issues.
– A director cannot hide behind her own art and excellence, if she is to capture something real, Kazejak-Dawid says.
In Finland there's no similar weight of tradition and TaiK currently operates much like a production company. Neither of the two directors feels pressure to make art.
– You can't start making a film and think you're going to make art. The process has to come from the heart, Bergroth says.
Updated 10 March 2007 19:00
