Saturday May 16 | 6:00 PM | KINOTEKA 4
Discussion: ‘It’s Not Just You Who Gets to Ask the Questions, Dad.’ On Building a Relationship
after the screening of KANDYDACI ŚMIERCI, dir. Maciej Cuske
Partner: Fathers.pl
Who is the main protagonist of the film ‘Candidates of Death’? The answer is by no means obvious. Rather than specific individuals – the director-father, his son, or the boys he has been following with his camera for thirteen years – what we see on screen are various transformations. The roles of father and sons shift; childhood friendships evolve into adult, masculine relationships. What also changes is the awareness of what these transformations are and how they feel. The melancholy of passing time accompanies them, but, as ‘Candidates of Death’ seems to suggest, this too can be a source of strength. Cuske – the director-father is present through the common adventure and passion he shares with his son and his friends. At what point does he cease to be their teacher and become… well, who exactly?
In her acclaimed book ’Mała empiria’, Katarzyna Sobczuk writes with tenderness and humour about parents as ‘the worst kind of people’, whom children never see at their best. Does it have to be this way? We’ll talk about fatherhood as an adventure that doesn’t necessarily have to end (badly), about fathers and sons growing up together, and about the lessons children teach their fathers.
Guests:
Anna Bal – psychotherapist, supervisor, publisher (Oficyna Związek Otwarty). For almost 20 years, she has been practising psychotherapy, specialising in couples and intimate relationships, integrating Gestalt and the individual’s experience with cultural shifts in the modern world, including the ecological crisis.
Rafał Żak works in the field of personal and organisational development; he is a trainer and public speaker. Whenever he can, he writes books (ten in total); most of them (eight) focus on skill development, and some (two) have won competitions (rather niche ones). Father of two, an older son and a younger daughter.
The meeting will be hosted by Filip Springer, a writer and photographer, and the author of books on space and architecture. He was the programme director of Instytut Reportażu in Warsaw from 2022 to 2025 and co-founder of the School of Ecopoetics (together with Prof. Julia Fiedorczuk). Editor-in-Chief of ‘Fathers’ and fathers.pl. Father of nine-year-old Kazik and three-year-old Krysia.
