For two years Polish doccer Zofia Pręgowska has been following Trotsky and Natalia, a couple desperately in love but fundamentally at odds. He is a dreamer and a non-conformist. She is a practical home builder. He wants to go abroad to street busk. She wants to get a loan and buy a house. Can their love survive their differences?
“I knew Trotsky from years ago. Back then we were two Bohemian students of politics studies who wanted to change the world,” Polish director Zofia Pręgowska told the Krakow FF Industry online audience of her new feature doc. “He was an exceptionally talented student. He was also a rebel…I lost the track of him for years and became a filmmaker. Ten years later, I found out he got married and, together with his wife [Natalia], they are living in a caravan. I found that interesting, and I was curious how people decide to choose that unconventional lifestyle.”
While Natalia is very supportive of her husband and his passion for music, she also dreams of a stable life. “She’s a smart and ambitious young woman. Despite working as a nurse, she is doing her PhD studies and additional part-time jobs to support her needs and dreams. For her, dream of creating a real home with her husband becomes a must, but for him to live in the caravan is enough. He just wants to be a free soul.”
When Natalia suggests that they should buy a house and that he needs to get a job, he is determined to prove that street busking can provide the financial support that they need…
Pręgowska’s doc debut Invisible premiered at IDFA in 2014 and competed at 37 further festivals across the world winning 19 international awards, including Jury Awards at New Orleans FF, a Special Mention at Monterrey IFF and the Best Short Documentary Film Award at Tirana IFF. She was producer of the documentary A Brave Bunch: the Uprising through Children’s Eyes (2015) by Tomasz Stankiewicz which was awarded at many young audience film festivals and screened at Thessaloniki FF, Tirana DFF, Brooklyn FF and the Seoul FF. Her production company is Prego Media.
Old Hippies Die Young is budgeted at €60,000, with €30,000 still needed. Confirmed partners are Chicken & Egg and the non-profit UnionDocs. Right now the film is in post-prodiction ahead of an early 2022 delivery. At Krakow she was looking for sales support and distribution.
Without giving too much away, life becomes very uncertain after Trotsky goes abroad in search of their fortune. “In my film, we follow them in [their] period of togetherness and separation. When Trotsky goes abroad, the camera stays with Natalie, and we follow her day to day worries. We listen to their phone calls. One day, he stopped answering the phone…”
The couple’s dilemma is further underlined therefore, and rendered even more stark. Can they remain together despite their very different dreams? As director Pręgowska explains on the Chicken & Egg website: “What compels me is the everyday quest of my characters to live a meaningful life… What interests me is how people face everydayness.”
