THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THE FOREST

W LESIE SĄ LUDZIE

A lonely man limps down the road. A truck drives up to him. Several armed men jump out of it. They capture the limping man and transport him to the forest. The only witnesses of the scene are people from a nearby village. Since 2021, situations like these are commonplace on the Polish-Belarussian border of the EU, which is the scene of an ongoing refugee crisis. An animated documentary whose creator happens to live in a town by the border.

Genre: Animated, Documentary
Country: Poland
Running time: 10
Year: 2023
Color: colour

Director: Szymon Ruczyński

Script: Szymon Ruczyński

DOP: Szymon Ruczyński

Editing: Szymon Ruczyński

Sound: Szymon Kucharski

Production company: Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Filmowa, Telewizyjna i Teatralna

Trailer

About the director:

Born in Hajnówka, Poland, in 2000, Szymon Ruczyński is a student of Animation at the Lodz Film School. He grew up in Białowieża, a village in the centre of the ancient Białowieża Forest which is the source of inspiration for his award-winning films “Reason” and “The Wildwood Diptych”. In 2021 and 2022 Szymon participated in bringing humanitarian aid to the refugees hiding in the forest. He uses mixed animation techniques to tell stories about socially relevant problems he witnesses.

Filmography:

2020 Reason

2021 The Wildwood Diptych

2023 There are People in the Forest

At festivals:

63rd Krakow Film Festival 2023, Poland, 2023 (competition)

2023 Ottawa International Animation Festival, Canada, 2023 (screening)

37th Leeds International Film Festival, United Kingdom, 2023 (competition)

2023 PÖFF Shorts, Estonia, 2023 (competition)

Animateka 2023 International Animation Festival, Slovenia, 2023 (screening)

36th Premiers Plans Film Festival, France, 2024 (competition)

26th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, Greece, 2024 (screening)

16th Go Short – International Short Film Festival Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 2024 (Special Mention in the New Arrivals Competition)

Ennesimo Film Festival 2024, Italy, 2024 (competition)

Anifilm 2024 International Festival of Animated Film, Czech Republic, 2024 (competition)