Morgenrot

For seven centuries Masuria belonged to East Prussia, right up until the end of the Second World War when it was incorporated into the Polish People's Republic. Those who remained were forced to assimilate, and yet how was one expected to become a “real” Pole within a matter of weeks in light of the expropriation, violence and compulsion?

Filmmaker Michał Korchowiec is determined to finally unlock his family history. There would appear to no better way to do so than take his mother on a journey back to the places of her childhood, where she is to encounter long-lost relatives. Thus they set off across narrow wood lanes and remote Masurian villages in the north of Poland, as the director breaks the silence and provides his mother and his grandmother with an opportunity to expose the family secrets and harm, as well as understand the historical roots thereof. JG