- Occupation
Director - Country
Poland
Polak Hanna
The Children Of Leningradsky
In post-Soviet Russia between 1 and 4 million children are homeless. Filmmakers Hanna Polak and Andrzej Celinski bring us the gritty and heartbreaking story of Russia`s most innocent victims.
In post-Soviet Russia between 1 and 4 million children are homeless. Filmmakers Hanna Polak and Andrzej Celinski bring us the gritty and heartbreaking story of Russia`s most innocent victims.
Yula's Dream
This is an 11-year odyssey into the harsh realities of Russia's underclass, it's a homeless and poor who live at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Moscow. We follow Yula from age 11 to 22, from her childhood to her pregnancy at 16, until she is 22 and finally realizes the need to prevail and escape Zvalka. Yula's story is one of countless tales that haunt Russia's as well as the world's garbage dumps. Yula has ''been there, done that, seen it all and is done''. Most importantly, Yula's life is a story od change, of ability of the human spirit to rise up and prevail from a heap of degradation and shame.
This is an 11-year odyssey into the harsh realities of Russia's underclass, it's a homeless and poor who live at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Moscow. We follow Yula from age 11 to 22, from her childhood to her pregnancy at 16, until she is 22 and finally realizes the need to prevail and escape Zvalka. Yula's story is one of countless tales that haunt Russia's as well as the world's garbage dumps. Yula has ''been there, done that, seen it all and is done''. Most importantly, Yula's life is a story od change, of ability of the human spirit to rise up and prevail from a heap of degradation and shame.
Hanna Polak, an Oscar-nominated director, graduated from the Cinematography Division of the Cinematography Institute of the Russian Federation. She worked on various movies as producer, director, cinematographer and still photographer. In 2002, she was awarded Best Producer of Documentary and Short Fiction Movies in Poland for Railway Station Ballad. In 2004 she completed work on The Children of Leningradsky in collaboration with HBO. The movie received an Oscar nomination, an IDA Award, two Emmy nominations, and the Gracie Allen Award and many others. She has been an expert for the Polish Ministry of Culture, evaluating documentary projects for financing by the Polish Film Institute. Hanna has been advocating the case of homeless children all over the world. She founded and collaborated with Active Child Aid foundation and collaborates with UNICEF.
Warsaw Battle 1920 in 3D - documentary, Director, Cinematographer, Editor 2010;
Faces of Homelessness – documentary, Director, Cinematographer 2010;
Stone Silence – documentary, Cinematographer 2007;
Orange Sun – documentary, Producer, Cinematographer 2005;
The Children of Leningradsky – documentary, Director, Producer, Cinematographer for HBO/Cinemax
2004;
White Terror - documentary, Camera Assistant (AC) 2004;
Al. Tribute to Albert Maysles – documentary, Director, Producer, Cinematographer 2003;
My Warsaw - A Look from the East – documentary, Assistant to the Director (AD) 2002.
East European Forum - 2012
Project Market - 2013