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‘Lilac/Bez’ - film from the AMU at international film festival

Prof. Mikołaj Jazdon and Prof. Marek Kaźmierczak of the Film, Media and Audiovisual Arts Institute of the Faculty of Polish and Classical Philology and Piotr Jaxa co-directed the film "Lilac/Bez". The film, as the only Polish production, was recently presented at the 23rd Garden State Film Festival in Asbury, an international festival of independent films.

"Lilac/Bez" tells the story of a mother, Laura Morowitz, and her daughters Isabelle and Olivia Schechter's journey to Poland. - "There have been many documentaries about journeys to the roots, but “Lilac/Bez” is the first such documentary in Poland featuring the poetics of photo-film," explains Professor Marek Kazmierczak, representing the Polish co-authors at the Festival. The production was created in Polish-American cooperation. Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań is the major patron of the film.

The 23rd Garden State Film Festival was held in Asbury, New Jersey, from 27-30 March 2025. It presented more than 200 films from 16 countries. The screening of the film "Lilac/Bez" happened on 30 March. According to Professor Marek Kazmierczak, the film received an excellent reception from the audience gathered in the cinema: - "After the screening, silence fell, followed by long applause. Lively discussions with the audience accompanied the screening: questions were asked about photography, editing, the poetics of the film and its inspirations," says the AMU scientist.

The film's creators:

  • Laura Morowitz - lead character, co-writer of the film,
  • Piotr Jaxa - co-director, cinematography,
  • Marek Kaźmierczak - concept artist, producer, co-director,
  • Mikołaj Jazdon - co-director, screenplay, sound,
  • Damian Parobczy - editing, music,
  • Olivia Schechter - music, film character,
  • Isabelle Schechter - film character,
  • Joel H. Schechter - executive producer.

It is worth mentioning that the work had a nominated status at the Philadelphia Film Festival, and at the Rome Short Film Competition the film reached the semi-finals.