In the feature doc Songs of Sisterhood, all that Polish Lu and Margot want is a future.
The pair became unwitting role models for their generation after footage of their arrest for spray-painting a police van went viral. Lu and Margot are living in the midst of a pandemic, a war and a climate crisis, all set against a sinister backdrop of Poland’s conservative and oppressive norms, pointed out Polish director Hanka Nobis and producer Esther Van Messel (First Hand Films), and they experience nothing by way of support from their parents’ generation. How can Lu and Margot, and the love they share, survive? Non-binary and polyamorous, the odds seem stacked against them today’s harsh reality.
“Let me briefly explain you what’s happening in Poland right now,” said Polish director Hanka Nobis at the beginning of her Geneva Impact Days pitch. “It’s struggling with conservative regression. The LGBTQ community officially became the main public enemy thanks to our politicians. The Polish government has practically blocked abortion completely. Traditional values like hetero marriages are being glorified on billboards. Over the last three years, we’ve been chasing a pretty active group of Polish youngsters opposing these rules – a generation raised within the European Union with a free access to the internet – very different from the generation of their parents.”
Producer Esther van Messel of Switzerland-based First Hand Films continued: “The form of the classic love story told in the beautiful three acts allows us to touch on all these subjects in an organic way. We want to address young people, Gen Z, and their partners. We want to further the intergenerational dialogue. The film addresses intersectional issues and we hope to resonate with NGOs and give an opportunity to campaign LGBTQ rights and freedom of expression as well as the fight of violence against women and other non-binary people.”
“We have financed a part of the budget with Swiss and American partners and are looking for completion funds in Switzerland, Poland and abroad,” Van Messel added. “We have received Swiss funds for development and a grant from the Inmaat Foundation in New York, headed by Rebecca Lichtenfeld. Almost all the material has been shot already. We are preparing materials for promotion in different lengths and formats to be able to be more present on social media.”
Nobis and Van Messel further outlined their Impact goals for Songs of Sisterhood: for it to be a tool for organisations working for the mental wellbeing of the LGBTQI+ community; to open a discussion about the well-being of the LGBTQI+ community; to facilitate spaces for young people to discuss how to hold healthy relationships within a community within the context of love and solidarity being an act of resistance against oppression; to bumanise LGBTQI+ themes by talking about their daily struggles.
Van Messel was also producer on Nobis’ Polish Prayers (2022) which has so far been selected for IDFA, CPH:DOX, One World Prague, Thessaloniki, DocPoint Tallinn, GoEast and DocsBarcelona in competition. The Swiss premiere was at the Solothurner Filmtage in Opera Prima competition and the film will be released in Swiss theaters. The film also secured a festival release with Against Gravity across eight Polish cities.
“Hanka is a filmmaker of both limitless empathy and sharp analysis at the same time,” Van Messel says of her director. “While telling her own story she manages to maintain the most loyal relationship with her protagonists. She is also highly invested in the artistic aspects of storytelling, finding a visual language (with her cameraman Milosz Kasiura) reminding audiences of grand fiction films.”
