LIFE COULD BE SO BEAUTIFUL
Documentary, 62 min, Germany/France/Poland, 2019 – Color, Stereo
During the 1940s, Polish writer Andrzej Bobkowski headed from the south of France to occupied Paris, describing everything he saw in diaries in which his hundreds of kilometers of cycling were transformed into a deep reflection on wartime Europe. Decades later, Angelika Herta and Filip Jacobson retraced his route and filmed everything along the way. During the exploration of Bobkowski’s path through the landscape and in culture, a conflict arises on the interpretation of the author’s diaries, with the pair’s creative debate leading to a reflection on their own relationship. In this documentary video diary and from the literary work, a reflection on modern life, work, and love arises.
Jury statement for Best Central and East European Documentary Student Film at Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival 2019
“Starting off as a geographical and cultural bicycle road trip through France, on the trail of a Polish war time writer from the 1940s, the real journey of this film becomes a witty exploration of the dynamics of a relationship. For its free-flowing, unpredictable style, which subverts the conventional narrative of a masculine adventure, and for its wry, open-ended enquiry into the nature of historical trauma and memory.”
Awards:
Best Central and East European Documentary Student Film 2019 at Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival
Shoot Award at the International Women's Film Festival Dortmund + Cologne, July 2021
Screenings:
Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, October 2019
International Women's Film Festival Dortmund + Cologne, 2021