- Occupation
Director - Country
Poland
Konopka Bartek
Rabbit a la Berlin
The untold story about wild rabbits which lived between the Berlin Walls. For 28 years Death Zone was their safe home. Full of grass, no predators, guards protecting them from human disturbance. They were closed but safe and happy. Their population quickly grew up to thousands. Guards started to remove them. But rabbits survived and stayed there. Unfortunately, for them, one day the wall fell down. Rabbits had to abandon comfortable system. They moved to West Berlin and have been living there in a few colonies since then - deprived of food, run over by cars, not knowing how to get around the new world. And they are still learning how to live in the free world, same as we – the citizens of Eastern Europe. This film takes you from rabbits to humans, from laughter to the real world.
GOAT WALKER
The authorities in the Wroclaw region came up with an unconventional idea of helping the poorest. A number of families from the Swidnica area were given a couple of goats from the Wroclaw Academy of Agriculture Experimental Research Centre. The purpose of this gift was to supply the families with cheese and milk. Actually it was much more they encouraged the families to be more active, mutual feelings were forged, and the goats also became an artistic inspiration.
The Art Of Disappearing
An unknown story of a Haitian vodou priest, Amon, who visited the People’s Republic of Poland in 1980 with a group of Haitians invited by the theatre of Jerzy Grotowski. Here, his Polish roots were reborn. His ancestors, Polish legionaries, took part in liberating Haiti from slavery 200 years ago. Amon feels that he should pay his debt and do something for his second fatherland so he decides to stay in Poland. All is leading to martial law and Amon tries to change the course of history. He sees that general Jaruzelski is possessed by Baron Samedi – a bad daemon that causes stiffness, eye congestion and the necessity to wear sunglasses. In December 1981 Amon conducts a vodou ceremony to take the spell off the general, free his soul and stop the Soviet tanks… A surprising view on socialism through the eyes of a stranger form a different culture.
The untold story about wild rabbits which lived between the Berlin Walls. For 28 years Death Zone was their safe home. Full of grass, no predators, guards protecting them from human disturbance. They were closed but safe and happy. Their population quickly grew up to thousands. Guards started to remove them. But rabbits survived and stayed there. Unfortunately, for them, one day the wall fell down. Rabbits had to abandon comfortable system. They moved to West Berlin and have been living there in a few colonies since then - deprived of food, run over by cars, not knowing how to get around the new world. And they are still learning how to live in the free world, same as we – the citizens of Eastern Europe. This film takes you from rabbits to humans, from laughter to the real world.
GOAT WALKER
The authorities in the Wroclaw region came up with an unconventional idea of helping the poorest. A number of families from the Swidnica area were given a couple of goats from the Wroclaw Academy of Agriculture Experimental Research Centre. The purpose of this gift was to supply the families with cheese and milk. Actually it was much more they encouraged the families to be more active, mutual feelings were forged, and the goats also became an artistic inspiration.
The Art Of Disappearing
An unknown story of a Haitian vodou priest, Amon, who visited the People’s Republic of Poland in 1980 with a group of Haitians invited by the theatre of Jerzy Grotowski. Here, his Polish roots were reborn. His ancestors, Polish legionaries, took part in liberating Haiti from slavery 200 years ago. Amon feels that he should pay his debt and do something for his second fatherland so he decides to stay in Poland. All is leading to martial law and Amon tries to change the course of history. He sees that general Jaruzelski is possessed by Baron Samedi – a bad daemon that causes stiffness, eye congestion and the necessity to wear sunglasses. In December 1981 Amon conducts a vodou ceremony to take the spell off the general, free his soul and stop the Soviet tanks… A surprising view on socialism through the eyes of a stranger form a different culture.
He is a graduate in Film Studies from the Jagiellonian University, Krakow. He studied journalism and worked as a TV and radio reporter for 4 years. In 2002, he graduated in Directing from the Kieslowski Film School, Katowice and the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing, Warsaw. Bartek has directed numerous documentaries for TVP, TVN, MTV, VIVA as well as commercials and videos. He was nominated for the prestigious Polityka Passports Award for the best young talent. He received a Ministry of Culture scholarship for artistic achievements. He is currently shooting his full-length feature debut. He is an expert for the Polish Film Institute. His Rabbit a la Berlin received an Oscar nomination and his Fear of Heights received the Hartley-Merrill award for Best Script in 2009.
Goat Walker – Planete Television Docu Prize for the best script, audience awards on: Cracow International Film
Festival, Dokument ART in Neubrandenburg, Era Nowe Horyzonty Cieszyn, Prowincjonalia Festival Wrzesnia,
Toffi Torun and Honour Diploma on Happy End Festival Wroclaw.
The Loony has entered official selections of many international festivals (Clermont-Ferrand, Hamburg, Siena,
Belo Horizonte, Cottbus, Triest, Cracov, Amsterdam, Granada, Filmschools Festival Muenchen).
Piotr Rosolowski is the cinematographer and co-writer of: Goat Walker, Three Stories About Love, Great
Manoeuvres, A Boy from Sosnowiec, The Loony.