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.