Directing
Zuzia, a very sensitive teenager with an artistic talent, is struggling with a drug addiction. Her brother, the film director, decides to take a closer look at the family to understand what might have caused this difficult situation.
In the Podlasie countryside of the late 1950s, Zośka grows up marked by the Polish plait: a symbol of shame and rural fears. Hoping that obedience will bring her love, she tries to escape the family stigma. Years later, she realises that her mother’s fate has befallen her. When her daughter’s future is in danger, for the first time, Zośka stands up to the world that taught her to be quiet.
Halina is one of the last funeral singers in Podlasie. Her son Andrzej is a gravedigger. Thousands of people have crossed to the other side accompanied by them. He dug, she sang.
When Daria learns that her grandmother will die, she begins to pray to the Holy Tree.
In a polish countryside lives a woman who's really close to nature. During the night, she performs rituals like burning roses or cleansing with a hen's egg.
She's part girl next door and part femme fatale. Sometimes she's treated instrumentally, but at other times with respect or even fear. The titular character of the film by plays a role that is as important as it is complicated in the life of rural communities.
