Jestem (2005)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Dorota Kedzierzawska

Writer:

Dorota Kedzierzawska (writer)

Release Date:

4 November 2005 (Poland)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Awards:

6 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Piotr Jagielski	...	Kundel
Agnieszka Nagórzycka	...	Kuleczka
Edyta Jungowska	...	Kundel's Mother
Barbara Szkaluba	...	Kuleczka's sister (as Basia Szkaluba)
Pawel Wilczak	...	Kuleczka's Father
Marcin Sztabinski	...	Chudy
Lucjan Bienkowski	...	Stary
Agnieszka Podsiadlik	...	Waitress
Elzbieta Okupska	...	Cook
Janusz Chabior	...	Guy
Przemyslaw Bluszcz	...	Policeman
Tomasz Beker	...	Young Policeman
Kevin Rolof	...	Young Kundel
Piotr Andrykowski	...	Gang Member
Mateusz Andrykowski	...	Gang Member
Kamil Bitau	...	Gang Member
Lukasz Caban	...	Gang Member
Patryk Gola	...	Gang Member
Michal Hardzin	...	Gang Member
Dawid Kuszel	...	Gang Member
Patryk Kuszel	...	Gang Member

Directed by
Dorota Kedzierzawska

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Dorota Kedzierzawska		writer

Produced by
Artur Reinhart	....	producer

Original Music by
Michael Nyman

Cinematography by
Artur Reinhart

Film Editing by
Dorota Kedzierzawska
Artur Reinhart

Casting by
Magdalena Daniel

Production Design by
Monika Konarzewska

Costume Design by
Mariola Dziomdziora

Makeup Department
Anna Nobel-Nobielska	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Wieslaw Lysakowski	....	production manager
Karolina Samojlowicz	....	assistant production manager

Sound Department
Bartosz Putkiewicz	....	sound
Reinhard Stergar	....	production sound mixer

Stunts
Tomasz Krzemieniecki	....	stunts

Production Companies

• Agencja Produkcji Filmowej (financial support)
• Kid Film
• Telewizja Polska (TVP)

Distributors

• Dream Entertainment (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kino Swiat International (2005) (worldwide) (all media)

Also Known As:

I Am (International: English title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Filming Locations:

Chelmno, Poland

Company:

Agencja Produkcji Filmowej

Visual poem about an outsider child, almost too pretty, but lovely to watch

Dorota Kedzierzawska: "I Am"/"Jestem" (Poland, 2005). 100 minutes. No US distributor. Shown at the New York Film Festival, Lincoln Center, September 27, 2005.

An eleven-year-old (Piotr Jagielski) escapes from an orphanage and returns to his hometown where the other kids call him "Mongrel" and his young alcoholic mother (Edyta Jungowska) kicks him out again. Undaunted, he sets up quarters of his own in an abandoned barge. "Mongrel's" survival stratagems and day-to-day encounters show he's not only resourceful but a fundamentally good person. He and an unhappy girl his age (Agnieszka Nagorzycka) from a posh house nearby discover a sense of affection and love in each other's company. "Mongrel" forages, sells scrap metal, and deals with some of the adults in town. Dreaming of being a poet some day, he avoids the bad kids who chase him and sniff glue and doesn't drink or smoke. Prize-winning cinematographer Arthur Reinhardt used systems of bungee cords to stay close to the young actors and eschewed steadicams and hand-held cameras. Panovision Polska actually donated funds and equipment. The resulting gorgeous soft-colored sepia-toned wide-screen images make this quiet film beautiful to behold, and the director has an extraordinary way with child actors. Composer Michael Nyman (who did the scores for five Peter Greenaway films as well as "The Piano," "Gattaca," and "The End of the Affair") has provided music that's both sweeping and intimate. This is no "Ratcatcher" or "400 Blows": this boy is marginal and independent enough to create his own wholly separate world -- at least for a while. It's unlikely this would attract a wide audience, and the images are almost too pretty and tend to highlight a certain Polyannaish spunkyness that at times infringes on the true secrets of childhood with adult philosophizing. At the press screening however, Kedzierzawska explained that the main character was based on a real child she met who lived in the woods and dreamed of being a poet.

The director and cinematographer were on hand for questions after the NYFF press screening, which helped clarify the movie's inspiration and how it was made.