- Occupation
Producer, Director - Country
Poland
Kubarska Eliza
What Happened on Pam Island
A couple of Polish alpinists, Eliza Kubarska and David Kaszlikowski, take a lonely journey to the fjords of southern Greenland to reach the world's highest cliff. The vertical wall is reachable only from a boat. Despite the fact that the team consists of mere two members, it is decided to travel on dangerous sea-kayaks. There is a storm, the water around is freezing - dips to 0° centigrade - and capsizing in this area would mean hypothermia and death within minutes. Deserted Pam Island becomes their home base… But this movie tells a different story. Trusting only in themselves, the characters open their exciting world to the viewer: the world of passion and strange, original love. 30' version also available.
A couple of Polish alpinists, Eliza Kubarska and David Kaszlikowski, take a lonely journey to the fjords of southern Greenland to reach the world's highest cliff. The vertical wall is reachable only from a boat. Despite the fact that the team consists of mere two members, it is decided to travel on dangerous sea-kayaks. There is a storm, the water around is freezing - dips to 0° centigrade - and capsizing in this area would mean hypothermia and death within minutes. Deserted Pam Island becomes their home base… But this movie tells a different story. Trusting only in themselves, the characters open their exciting world to the viewer: the world of passion and strange, original love. 30' version also available.
Baltoro Passage
Baltoro Passage is an intimate story set against the breathtaking views of Karakoram. It is also a multilayered portrait of children who are trying to understand the choices of their parents. But most of all it’s a story about love, passion and forgiveness. This emotional journey is led by Eliza Kubarska. Being a woman and an experienced alpinist, she often asks herself if her passion is worth the risk she takes? And – more importantly – can she be a mother and a mountaineer? To find the answer, along with an international group of grown-up children of acclaimed climbers, she sets out on an expedition along the Baltoro Passage on the Karakoram Highway. Our heroes will walk the same road that took their parents away. None of them is a professional climber. They will challenge themselves to face the past and to understand the force that once seduced their parents. The expedition will last one month and its main goal is to reach K2 base camp where parents of our protagonists are buried.
On the Sea with Badjao
Badjao, the Borneo sea nomads, are pushed to extinction by modern civilization. This year, the Badjao will be forced to move from their native sea to the city suburbs. Their culture will vanish. We will witness their struggle for survival and the clash of two cultures. Alexan is the last compressor diver. His world is being rapidly swallowed by the world of tourist resorts and he is desperate to pass his ancient knowledge onto his son Sari. Will Sari become a compressor diver or will he submit to new opportunities that Westeners bring to his little island?
Baltoro Passage is an intimate story set against the breathtaking views of Karakoram. It is also a multilayered portrait of children who are trying to understand the choices of their parents. But most of all it’s a story about love, passion and forgiveness. This emotional journey is led by Eliza Kubarska. Being a woman and an experienced alpinist, she often asks herself if her passion is worth the risk she takes? And – more importantly – can she be a mother and a mountaineer? To find the answer, along with an international group of grown-up children of acclaimed climbers, she sets out on an expedition along the Baltoro Passage on the Karakoram Highway. Our heroes will walk the same road that took their parents away. None of them is a professional climber. They will challenge themselves to face the past and to understand the force that once seduced their parents. The expedition will last one month and its main goal is to reach K2 base camp where parents of our protagonists are buried.
On the Sea with Badjao
Badjao, the Borneo sea nomads, are pushed to extinction by modern civilization. This year, the Badjao will be forced to move from their native sea to the city suburbs. Their culture will vanish. We will witness their struggle for survival and the clash of two cultures. Alexan is the last compressor diver. His world is being rapidly swallowed by the world of tourist resorts and he is desperate to pass his ancient knowledge onto his son Sari. Will Sari become a compressor diver or will he submit to new opportunities that Westeners bring to his little island?
Eliza is a graduate of Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (Poland) in Sculpture and Visual Art. Between 2001-2004 she produced and directed video-art installations and short films. Her short “Mom Dad and Me” won many awards and special mentions at film festivals around the world. Her works were exhibited in prestigious Polish galleries. She specialises in adventure filmmaking and extreme location work. She is a well-known Polish alpinist and traveller. In 2007 she set up her own film company Vertical Vision Film Studio, where she produced her first multi-awarded documentary Mountain Love Story (in distribution with First Hand Films).
“What happened on Pam island?” (project, 2008) - awarded on Dragon Forum- International documentary film workshops, “What happened on Pam island?” (documentary, 2007- 2009), “Mexico- another dimension” (2007) - nominated and awarded on 14. Festiwal Feliniada Fefe, Off Ery Filmowej Bydgoszcz, International Film Festival Bansco (Bulgary), Krakowski Festiwal Gorski, “Mom Dad and Me” (presentation, 2005), “Mom Dad and Me” (2004) – awarded on Independent Film Festivals in Poland: Sopot film Festiwal, Opolskie Lamy, Ściemnisko
Vertical Vision Film Studio
ul. Smetany 3/53
92-503 Łódz
ul. Smetany 3/53
92-503 Łódz
East European Forum - 2012
Project Market - 2013
Awards for “Mountain Love Story”: 59th Trento Film Festival (IT) „Mario Bello“ AWARD; 28th IMFF Teplice nad Metuji (Czech) GRAND PRIX; International Festival Hory a Mesto (Slowakia) GRAND PRIX and V4 AWARD; 17. Filmfest St Anton Festival (Austria) SPECIAL MENTION; 29th Cinema de Muntanya de Torello (Espania) PRIZE OF JURY; Open City London Documentary Film Festival (UK) nominations for Best Emerging Director, World; 15. Przegląd Filmów w Lądku Zdroju (PL) AUDIENCE AWARD and „UNKNOWN MOUNTAIN“ AWARD; 8. Krakow Mountain Festival GRAND PRIX: PL contest.
Oficial Selections: 14th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (Greece); 6th IMFF Domžale (Slovenia); 9 th PlaneteDOC (PL); Plus Camerimage-IFF of the Art of Cinematography; BANFF Mountain Film Festival (Canada); Internationales Berg & Abenteuer Filmfestival Graz, Vancouver IMFF; MEDIATRAVEL Civilization and Media Art Festival (PL); 25th Parnu International Documentary and Anthropology Film Festival (Estonia); Cervino Cinemountain Festival Internazionale (Italy); 18th International Festival of Mountain Films Poprad (Slovakia); 25th Festival International du Film de Montage d’Autrans (France); Multimedia Festival the Art of the Document (Poland).