Shadowing
A busy family of three lives in the centre of Brussels. Their life circles around a little apartment, a store they run and a gym. Since Sanae (38) is a world boxing champion, she spends her days exercising on the ring. Yara (11) understands why her mother is often absent, since she is a promising boxer herself. Though, sometimes, she wishes she could spend more time with her mom. Jean-Christophe, the father and the husband, is an endurance coach for both ladies. Due to his wife’s booming career, he is relegated to taking care of the chores at home. Their entire routine depends on the needs of Sanae, who seemingly never tasted defeat.
That changes when she looses an important championship. Yara is upset, but finally has Sanae all to herself. Their connection is special – two warriors who, in their words, “have the same blood”. Jealous, Jean-Christophe, who performs all the duties traditionally reserved for a mother, knows he will never be able to replace one.
The trio form a unique structure, in which people exist very close to each other, but still end up feeling lonely, craving attention and missing one another. When that is paired up with financial hardships, untamed ambitions and the challenges of being women in competitive sport, we realize that we are dealing with characters who are loving and caring towards one another, but struggle to keep moving forward as a team.
While reaching for big dreams, the family needs to face the bigger challenges. How do you make things work in this relationship? How do you keep the family together? What is the right way to raise your child? How do you keep winning without pushing your loved ones away? This film is a portrait of a modern family, who does not give up on each other when things get difficult. We feel that that our bond with the family will allow us to tell a compelling story about people who, on the surface, do things that are out of the ordinary, but ultimately are highly relatable to many of us.
That changes when she looses an important championship. Yara is upset, but finally has Sanae all to herself. Their connection is special – two warriors who, in their words, “have the same blood”. Jealous, Jean-Christophe, who performs all the duties traditionally reserved for a mother, knows he will never be able to replace one.
The trio form a unique structure, in which people exist very close to each other, but still end up feeling lonely, craving attention and missing one another. When that is paired up with financial hardships, untamed ambitions and the challenges of being women in competitive sport, we realize that we are dealing with characters who are loving and caring towards one another, but struggle to keep moving forward as a team.
While reaching for big dreams, the family needs to face the bigger challenges. How do you make things work in this relationship? How do you keep the family together? What is the right way to raise your child? How do you keep winning without pushing your loved ones away? This film is a portrait of a modern family, who does not give up on each other when things get difficult. We feel that that our bond with the family will allow us to tell a compelling story about people who, on the surface, do things that are out of the ordinary, but ultimately are highly relatable to many of us.
Insurance Against Meteorites
When Natalia (28) was eight years old, her 24-years old brother died in a frontal car crash near their family home in the village of Psary, Poland. Bartek was blamed for causing the accident, and the family was never allowed to see his body. Natalia’s mother, Wanda (63), suspected the selling of Bartek’s organs for profit and a police cover-up of safeguarding the other driver, an ex-policeman and a son of a prosecutor. Natalia grew up with a mother who was consumed by a ten-year-long and unsuccessful legal battle to prove Bartek’s innocence, which coincided with the bankruptcy of the family’s rose nursery.
Twenty years later, as a filmmaker, Natalia returns to Poland and sees how her mother, father Henryk, and sister Zuza keep each other in a frozen state of mourning. To end this, Natalia wants to find out what happened to Bartek and fulfill her mother’s wish to confront the other car’s driver. She asks Wanda to perform her version of the truth to restart this quest. Wanda recites a PowerPoint presentation in her home office with 12 slides listing her accusations about the police, prosecutors, forensic medics, and villagers’ gossip. But when Natalia contacts these people for answers, she quickly starts doubting the reliability of her mother.
While playing with the conventions of a true-crime investigation, the workings of a conspiratorial mind are unmasked. Set as a psychological experiment unfolding on screen, Natalia makes Wanda watch the responses from people who approve and disapprove of her accusations, as well as acquaintances who have received messages from Bartek’s ghost.
From a ghostly tale on the malleability of truth, "Insurance Against Meteorites" gradually transforms into a daughter’s bittersweet love letter to her mother’s self-harming way of coping with loss.
Twenty years later, as a filmmaker, Natalia returns to Poland and sees how her mother, father Henryk, and sister Zuza keep each other in a frozen state of mourning. To end this, Natalia wants to find out what happened to Bartek and fulfill her mother’s wish to confront the other car’s driver. She asks Wanda to perform her version of the truth to restart this quest. Wanda recites a PowerPoint presentation in her home office with 12 slides listing her accusations about the police, prosecutors, forensic medics, and villagers’ gossip. But when Natalia contacts these people for answers, she quickly starts doubting the reliability of her mother.
While playing with the conventions of a true-crime investigation, the workings of a conspiratorial mind are unmasked. Set as a psychological experiment unfolding on screen, Natalia makes Wanda watch the responses from people who approve and disapprove of her accusations, as well as acquaintances who have received messages from Bartek’s ghost.
From a ghostly tale on the malleability of truth, "Insurance Against Meteorites" gradually transforms into a daughter’s bittersweet love letter to her mother’s self-harming way of coping with loss.