It first enthralled the audience at the Krakow Film Festival only to go on to tour other Polish film events and win over the rest of the country. The first international stop had been the Hot Docs festival, and a few days ago the documentary set off to the Bergen International Film Festival.
Bogna Kowalczyk, making her debut as director of a feature-length documentary, has shown us a protagonist who cannot be unliked. We have been rooting for him from the very beginning, just as we are rooting for Boylesque in its further festival journey we – as the KFF Sales & Promotion agency – are also going to participate in.
Although the protagonist of Boylesque knows he is not getting any younger, he is still looking for the love of his life – queer performer Lulla La Polaca is past eighty, but still eager to dance, have fun, love. However, his young soul has to compete with his aging body. What’s it like – to crave something which you can no longer keep up with? To yearn for love, having so little time to find the one? Sticking out like a sore thumb among the elderly, he comes to life when he is among the young who, unfortunately, tend to leave him behind. Lulla doesn’t belong anywhere. Suspended between the past and the future, he reminisces of his former relationship and hopes to start a new one, seeking protection from loneliness in a fantasy world. BOYLESQUE’s protagonist doesn’t fit any label or generation: he frequents funeral homes and pride parades alike, balls for senior citizens and gay clubs. The oldest Polish drag queen is gracefully navigating a youth-adoring world and BOYLESQUE captures the tender moments with attention and affection.
Bogna Kowalczyk director, animator, graduate of the Łódź Film School with a degree in animation and the Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology with a degree in new media art, currently employed at the production house Warsaw Production. She runs projects for international brands including Universal, Sony, Adidas, Red Bull, Dell, and Netflix. In her works, she combines traditional styles with the opportunities provided by new technologies. Since 2009, she has been making music videos and short films, making multifaceted artistic contributions as an animation designer, special effects consultant, and script doctor.
One of her most complex projects is the animated film VANILLA WHIP, which explores Warsaw’s BDSM culture. Among her most experimental works is FIFTH ELEMENT – an animation made entirely in dyed ice, frozen at various temperatures. Bogna’s work also includes visualisations for the contemporary theatre play #Hansel#and#Gretel at Teatr Rozmaitości, Warsaw and conceptual visuals for the concert of Wojciech Mazolewski Quintet at the KODY Festival in Lublin. BOYLESQUE is her feature-length documentary debut.
The film will be represented at international festivals by the KFF Sales & Promotion agency. In 2021 Polish documentaries represented by our agency were presented at 250 screenings at 150 international festivals, 230 of which were competition screenings. Thanks to our efforts, documentary films represented by KFF won 30 awards at foreign festivals in 2021.