Kedzierzawska’s stories are based on life fragments, newspaper clippings, police reports, even images which are a part of her own experience of the world. Her films are up close and personal, often focused on the faces of those who were shunned by society. Although their destinies are harsh, she never portrays them as victims. As a rule, her characters are women and children who endure despite the darkness of their lives.
Kedzierzawska’s first feature film “Devils, Devils” deals with the intolerance and the rejection directed at one gipsy caravan, which arrives in a small town. There, amid intolerance, lives one teenage girl who exhibits remarkable understanding and fascination with the newcomers.
“Crows” is a story of a nine year old girl who finds a highly unusual way of dealing with loneliness, giving us a glance into the essence of human nature which needs love, family and a sense of security in order to survive.
A case of infanticide in Dorota’s awarded film “Nothing” tells us of a desperate woman’s act, but also an act of defiance, of throwing violence against violence.
The film “I Am” follows a nine year old boy, abandoned by his mother, who escapes from an orphanage in pursuit of a world he will create for himself. In Dorota’s films children possess a kind of a glow, both raw and hard. The unique poetics of “Time to Die” gives us an insight into the life of a lonely old woman, awaiting her death.
At 61st Berlinale, Dorota Kedzierzawska presented her latest feature “Tomorrow Will Be Better”, for which she received Deutsche Kinderhilfswerk Grand Prix and the Peace Film Award within the Generation Kplus selection’s closing ceremony.
Last year at Thessaloniki IFF, Kedzierzawska was awarded the Golden Alexander for the entire body of her work. The Festival Director, Mr. Dimitris Eipides, confessed to be under the charm of her films which, he added, are in the vein of traditional Polish cinema, reflecting elements from Kieslowski’s films and promoting human feelings above all. “More than anything, Dorota Kedzierzawska’s films are warmly human, they give an optimistic view of the world.”
