As It Was
Old love doesn't rust. After directing a successful full-length feature, Damian Kocur returns to the short form in grand style, resulting in a qualification for the Cannes festival. In As It Was, the creator of Bread and Salt, along with co-director Anastasiia Solonevych, follows the story of a young Ukrainian woman living in Berlin. Driven by an impulse and longing for her loved ones, Lera decides to visit her hometown, Kiev. Once there, she wanders through the city with growing melancholy, feeling both familiar and foreign. This ambivalence is intensified by the fact that, although the residents maintain the appearance of a normal life, they subconsciously feel the horror of the ongoing war at every step.
Anastasiia Solonevych
Anastasiia Solonevych is a debut director from Kiev. In 2020, she graduated from the Faculty of Film and Television Directing at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. She has directed music videos, one of which received an award at the Prague Film Festival in 2022. Since 2017, she has worked as an assistant director and in other positions on commercials, feature films, and TV series.
Filmography
2023 As It Was (short)
Damian Kocur
Damian Kocur is a director and cinematographer born in 1983. He holds a PhD from the Lodz Film School. Kocur's short films have garnered numerous awards including at festivals in Krakow, Gdynia and at Camerimage. He developed a unique method of work that is based on improvisation, blurring the boundaries between fiction and documentary, and engaging non-professional actors. Bread and Salt is his feature-length debut.
Selected filmography
2013 Lekcja (short)
2014 21 dni (short)
2015 To, czego chcę (short)
2016 Powrót (short)
2017 Nic nowego pod słońcem / Nothing New Under the Sun (short)
2018 1410 (short)
2019 Moje serce / My Heart (short)
2020 Dalej jest dzień / Beyond Is the Day (short)
2022 Chleb i sól / Bread and Salt
2023 As It Was (short)