Z daleka widok jest piękny
It Looks Pretty from a Distance
Ein schweigsamer Kleinhäusler, der sich als Schrotthändler verdingt,
lebt am Rande eines idyllisch gelegenen kleinen Dorfes so dahin: Er arbeitet ein wenig, fährt ein wenig herum, hängt am Strand
des nahen Flusses ab. Er hat eine Freundin, die aber wegen seiner alten Mutter nicht bei ihm wohnen kann. Als er diese schließlich
ins Krankenhaus bringt, scheint sich die Situation kurz zu bessern. Doch während eines ruhigen Nachmittags mit seinem Kollegen
am Flussufer verschwindet er bei einem kurzen Ausflug ins nahe Wäldchen. Diese Abwesenheit löst in der Dorfgemeinschaft seltsame
Taten aus, die in stiller Übereinkunft ausgeführt werden: Plünderung, der zurückgebliebene Hund wird vergiftet, Teile des
Hauses angezündet. Der mögliche, imaginäre Ausbruch des Mannes aus Armut und Gleichförmigkeit scheint das latente Aggressionspotential
einer autoritätsgläubigen Gemeinschaft an die Oberfläche zu bringen. Ganz plötzlich taucht der Mann wieder auf, doch die „Ordnung“
des Dorfes darf durch ihn letztendlich nicht zerstört werden. (Claudia Slanar)
The directorial debut of visual artists Wilhelm and Anka Sasnal takes place
in a secluded Polish village near the woods and a river. It is here where the story of a scrapper and a girl unfolds. In an
air of ubiquitous secrecy, the villagers and the couple live their everyday dull lives of hardship until the scrapper vanishes.
His disappearance triggers a chain of unexpected events. In strikingly beautiful surroundings, under a scorching sun, human
evil surfaces.
Director's Biography
ANKA SASNAL, born in 1973 in Tarnów in Poland, studied
Polish literature and gender studies. As a screenwriter, editor, and filmmaker, she lives in Kraków together with Wilhelm
Sasnal, who was also born in Tarnów in 1972 and studied architecture and painting. WILHELM SASNAL attracted international
attention as a visual artist with a series of solo and group exhibitions in renowned international galleries and art institutions
with paintings, comic books, drawings, photographs, and videos. From the first joint film project onwards, significant characteristics
of their artistic collaboration are already visible: the intensive focus on language, texts, and literary models, which they
transform into an image language that suits them. An explicit political stance can be noted in their films – thematically
Anka and Wilhelm Sasnal circle around the current state of Polish society, rising xenophobia, the relationship of Polish society
to the Catholic church, and especially the recent Polish past during the Second World War. A dystopian worldview, although
not so much a pessimistic one – as they say themselves – may certainly be attributed to their work, along with an undisguised
interest in the “dark” side of human beings. Anka and Wilhelm Sasnal are no strangers to the festival audience in Linz, as
they have already been represented in the festival program twice in the past. In 2012, they won the main prize with It Looks
Pretty from a Distance, which premiered in Rotterdam, and then returned with Parasite in 2014. //
Films at CROSSING EUROPE Film Festival 2017 // Co-directed films: Słońce, to słońce mnie oślepiło (The Sun, the Sun Blinded Me, 2016), Huba (Parasite, 2014; CE’14), Aleksander (2013, doc), Z daleka widok jest piękny (It Looks Pretty from a Distance, 2011; CE’12), Świniopas (Swineherd, 2008) // Films by Wilhelm Sasnal: Afternoon of a Faun (2015, short), Columbus (2014, short), Inhuman Hunger (2014, short), Kacper (2010, short), Europa (2007, short), Brazil (2005, short), Marfa (2005, short)
Films at CROSSING EUROPE Film Festival 2017 // Co-directed films: Słońce, to słońce mnie oślepiło (The Sun, the Sun Blinded Me, 2016), Huba (Parasite, 2014; CE’14), Aleksander (2013, doc), Z daleka widok jest piękny (It Looks Pretty from a Distance, 2011; CE’12), Świniopas (Swineherd, 2008) // Films by Wilhelm Sasnal: Afternoon of a Faun (2015, short), Columbus (2014, short), Inhuman Hunger (2014, short), Kacper (2010, short), Europa (2007, short), Brazil (2005, short), Marfa (2005, short)
Tribute 2017
Anka
Sasnal, Wilhelm Sasnal
Polen 2011
color
77
Minuten
OmeU
Drehbuch
Anka Sasnal, Wilhelm Sasnal
Schnitt
Beata Walentowska
Ton/Sounddesign Igor Kłaczyński
Mit Marcin Czarnik, Agnieszka Podsiadlik, Piotr Nowak, Elżbieta Okupska, Jerzy
Łapiński, Hanka Chojnacka, Michał Pietrzak, Oskar Karaś, Beata Zygarlicka, Waldemar Czyszak, Dawid Wolski
Produzent*innen Anka Sasnal, Wilhelm Sasnal (PL), Anton Kern Gallery (US)
Produktion
Anton Kern Gallery
Weltpremiere
New Horizons International Film
Festival Wrocław 2011
Internationale
Premiere / International PremiereInternational Film Festival Rotterdam 2012
Österreichpremiere / Austrian Premiere
CROSSING EUROPE 2012