Shot over four years and currently in late production stage ahead of a January 2022 delivery, My Place Ozerna is a story of two women, one who has her whole life ahead of her, the other nearing her final farewell, and the profound emotional effect that each person has on the other.
Four years ago, director Karina Będkowska was living in London feeling trapped and suicidal, and so took the radical step of packing her bags for Ozerna, in Ukraine, where her Aunt Slava lives. Life in the war-torn country was equally difficult for Slava, who was then 84 and desperately missing her late husband who had died fifteen years before.
“Aunt Slava is slowly saying goodbye to life,” commented Będkowska of their evolving relationship. “At first she keeps her distance, but with the following visits, with the days and moments we share together, everyday life things bring us closer and happier.”
The director added of the difference between life in London and her new home of Ozerna: “I’m greeted with open arms with a warmth that overwhelms me and I meet people who don’t have much in life in a country turned by internal turmoil.”
The relationship between Karina and Slava is a beautiful one. Over the 4-year period, the women experience both a sense of healing and of profound comfort in each other’s presence. As the production notes say, living in harmony with the rhythm of nature, Slava introduces Karina to her world and Ozerna becomes the place where the director feels at home. She finds herself and learns what is most valuable: close relationships, warmth and tenderness; traits that are challenging to find in a modern metropolis. Slava shares her generational wisdom and teaches the importance of love and happiness. All the time Karina gives her aunt her undivided attention.
At one stage however, when temporarily parted, Będkowska hears the news that Slava has suffered a serious stroke. That is the point when both women really come to understand the depth of their connection and how they have both discovered a greater sense of personal equilibrium.
“We realized that we are in each other lives for forever and she tells me she’s happy and that I need to go back to London and live my life,” says the director. “And this is something that I can do now with confidence. I can embrace my life and then look bright[ly] into the future…”
My Place Ozerna fulfils UK-based Polish producer Monika Braid’s professional remit to produce films “that relate to a universal human experience and appeal to viewers from various cultural backgrounds.” The €127,000 budgeted project will be ready for delivery in January 2022, having already secured support from the Polish Film Institute and Telewizja Polska.
With €50,000 to find, Braid (Braidmade Films), who had earlier in the pitch explained how she has successfully worked with international funds and broadcasters such as BBC, TVP, ZDF/ARTE and HBO, was looking for sales, broadcast and festival interest for the project.
