Section: POLSKIE HORYZONTY: The Female Gaze

VIKA!

VIKA!

Agnieszka Zwiefka
PL/DE/FI, 2023, 74 Min

At 84, Virginia "Vika" Szmydt is the oldest DJ in Poland, if not Europe. She gives lectures in nursing homes, spins rock'n'roll and swing at dance parties, and techno at queer demos. But the search for eternal youth reaches its limits at the latest when you can no longer get out of the bathtub on your own.

Pat Mic

Vika is celebrated as an icon by her teenage clients, she is right in the middle of life and has therefore arrived not only in senior housing complexes, but also in Poland's subculture, which fights for more self-determination and less tradition – in old age and elsewhere. But what does it look like behind it? Vika's son accuses her of driving across half of Poland with 30 kilograms of records, but not around the corner to watch his game in the national team. Between career and coldness – Vika is also aware of this contradiction, but making music is just too much fun.

Text: Bernd Buder

Drehbuch
Agnieszka Zwiefka
Kamera
Monika Kotecka
Ton
Katarzyna Szczerba, Anna Rok, Pietari Koskinen
Schnitt
Katarzyna Orzechowska, Michał Poddębniak
Musik
Päivi Takala
Produzent
Katarzyna Ślesicka, Anna Stylińska
Produktion
My WAY STUDIO/Poland
Co-Produktion
Izabela Łopuch, Hanka Kastelicova (HBO MAX), Heino Deckert, Tina Börner (ma.ja.de./Germany), Outi Rousu (Pystymetsä/Finland), Elena Filippini (Stefilm/Italy)
Agnieszka Zwiefka

Agnieszka Zwiefka - *1978 in Poland - Agnieszka Zwiefka is known to the audience thanks to her films: SCARS (2020) about women fighting the ranks of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and THE QUEEN OF SILENCE (2014) about a Roma deaf girl who escapes into the world of Bollywood fantasy. It was in THE QUEEN OF SILENCE that we saw a combination of a documentary and a musical for the first time. This original film language became the basis for creating the story about DJ Vika. Currently, Agnieszka is working on another documentary, RUNA, about a young girl-refugee, and on her fiction debut. She lives in Wrocław with her husband, two daughters and dogs. He lectures at the University of Wrocław. Makes great kimchi and ramen. She collects old kimonos and, like Vika, believes that it is never too late to liveto the fullest.