Once Upon a Time in Poland

synopsis

The Czech Republic and Poland share an almost 800-kilometre-long border. However, the inhabitants of the two countries differ fundamentally in their approach to faith. While the Czech nation is considered to be one of the most atheistic in Europe and perhaps beyond it, the Catholic Church plays a significant role for our neighbours to the north. This remarkable meta-documentary tells the story of a film being shot in Poland, during which director Karel Žalud searches for God in various manifestations of religious life. An anthropological study focusing on the defective consequences of blindly applied faith gradually becomes a very personal journey into the depths of the director’s own convictions about spiritual life.

“There is an old Jewish proverb: ‘Man thinks and God laughs’.”

Source: Czech Television

biography

Filip Remunda (1973) is a Czech director and producer. The duo he forms with Vít Klusák has significantly influenced the local documentary landscape and the shape of public debate. His films include Czech Dream (2004), Czech Peace (2010), and especially the series Czech Journal (2013–2020), which was broadcast by Czech Television.

Vít Klusák (1980) is a Czech director and producer. He attracted public and critical attention with his feature debut Czech Dream (2004), which he made with his regular collaborator Filip Remunda. For his documentary film Caught in the Net (2020), which he co-directed with Barbora Chalupová, he received the Czech Lion and the Czech Film Critics Award.

more about film

director:	Filip Remunda, Vít Klusák
producer:	Jana Brožková, Zdeněk Holý
script:	Vít Klusák, Filip Remunda
editing:	Hana Dvořáčková
music:	Pavel Jan
sound:	Michal Gábor, Mariusz Bielecki
sound design:	Richard Müller