LOSING SONIA

GDZIE JEST SONIA?

Documentary shows how a seemingly rigid monastery can be a place full of life, beauty and artistic expression. Sonia, a young nun, paints icons in the night and then sleeps until noon. She has a dog, cats, exotic birds, and a body that rebelled against the strict rigour of the monks. Trying to understand her and the meaning of her life choices, we come to Sonia’s family, marked with the history of Russia. At the same time, the film is a journey inside the Orthodox church, showing that the deep spirituality of the nation is being reborn. "Losing Sonia" tells the story of an unusual woman who, within the walls of the monastery, is trying to rebuild the values that Russian society has lost under successive political regimes. 

FILM REPRESENTED BY KRAKOW FILM FOUNDATION

  • Genre: Dokumentalny
  • Country: Poland
  • Running time: 50
  • Year: 2012

Director: Radka Franczak

Script: Radka Franczak

DOP: Radka Franczak, Michael Ackerman, Ita Zbroniec-Zajt, Anna Wydra, Małgorzata Szyłak

Editing: Radka Franczak, Jarosław Kamiński

Production company: Anna Wydra, Katarzyna Ślesicka

About the director:

Radka Franczak

Radka Franczak

Film director, scriptwriter, film editor and photographer, who graduated from Film Editing and New Media Department at Polish National Film School in Łódź and Dok Pro-Documentary Programme at Wajda School, Warsaw.

She took a part in international workshops such as: Dragon Forum, Laboratory, Mobile Academy, Berlinale Talent Campus, Ex Oriente Film, EAVE. She has directed two documentaries. Short documentary "Stiepan" that was screened at foreign festivals. 50 minuters long documentary "Losing Sonia"  is her second film.

At festivals:

Visions du reel, Switzerland, 2012 (competition)

DOK Leipzig 2012, Germany, 2012 (competition)

16th Ismailia International Film Festival, Egypt , 2013 (competition)

5th Dokubazaar, Slovenia, 2013 (screening)

Astra Film Festival 2013, Romania, 2013 (competition)

1st Film Festival Buenos Aires Polonia, Argentina, 2013 (screening)

Different ages, different voices: Polish Women in Film, USA, 2013 (screening)