"BATHS" BY TOMEK DUCKI - POLISH PREMIÈRE AT THE 54TH KFF

The latest film by Tomek Ducki, "The Baths" has won four awards abroad so far and has been shown at 13 festivals. Today, in the cinema Mikro in Kraków, Polish première of the film is held.

The latest film by Tomek Ducki takes us for a journey to the border of reality and fantasy. Two elderly women meet regularly in the city baths to make exercises. After a short warm-up, they jump into the swimming-pool. This time, the underwater world tempts with an unknown light. The women decide to dive a bit deeper than usual. "The Baths" - combining classic animation with the digital one - is a profound reflection on human attitude towards time. The producer is Warsaw Film Miniatures Studio and the English studio Peek and Boo.

On the occasion of the festival, we had the opportunity to talk to Tomek Ducki. The interview was conducted by Zofia Ścisłowska: 

PS:  The work on "The Baths" took six months, while the preparations - almost five years. Which stage do you consider the most important one?

The project matured for a long time, so the most important stage was actually making the decision to produce it and try to apply for funding. Patience turned out to be the key element of the entire process.

PS:  The film is based on the motive of stratification of the reality into two parallel stories. Can you tell us, how did it influence the choice of the implementation technique?

First and foremost‚ I wanted to differentiate between two worlds which appear in the film - it was the main assumption. Thanks to the film's having a very short form, I had a chance to adapt a special mix of techniques separately to every shot. I even took such risk as photographing the entire material from the screen, using optical filters, instead of rendering it in a computer. But most of the visual choices, such as for instance the colours, is the result of the conceptual approach.

PS:  Although no word is spoken in "The Baths," sound plays a very important role in the film, tells a parallel story. The author of music and sound effects is Jean-Marc Petsas, with whom you got acquainted during the studies at the British NFTS. How did the work on the sound of the film look like? 

Apart from the fact that I talked to Jean-Marc about the film much earlier, the work itself looked quite banal - it took place on-line. I like to introduce sound values before the film is finished, so sometimes it influenced the animation itself.

PS:  Just like your graduation film "Life Line," made at the Hungarian MOME, "The Baths" takes up the subject of periodicity of life, passing of time and a kind of opposition which the human being tries to impose on life. Which questions and motifs were important for you during the work on the script of "The Baths"?
 
First of all, capturing the moment of "being in-between." I do not purposefully try to look for such subjects. I often start with some visual idea and simply interpret it in a way which is specific for me.

PS:  What are you working on at the moment?

Currently, I am conducting an experiment, the aim of which is to find a common space connecting having a farm and making animated films. I have already found a way and place to use the lifecycle of wood to create something in animation. The results of this experiment will be soon available to watch. Recently, I have also finished the visualisation for the British music band Basement Jaxx, which should be published online this week, what is interesting is not only the fact that it was created at such a rapid pace, but also that it is the effect of co-operation with Ewa Borysewicz, who was granted the honourable mention for her film "To Thy Heart" at the last year's Krakow Film Festival.

The first screening of "The Baths" takes place today at 18:30 in the cinema Kino MIKRO. Another screening - next Thursday in the cinema KIJÓW.CENTRUM at 8 p.m. After the screenings, the director will answer the audience's questions.

"The Baths" is one of three Polish animated films, which also take part in the international competition.