To Play Upside Down
A group of actors of the so-called Solidarity generation emigrated from Poland to Australia in the early 1980s. It took them years to adapt to the new country. Now, they all have work in professions they learned in Poland: they are actors, directors, authors. They look back on their choices of those days. Some of them consider returning to their home country. Their film and theatrical performances are part of contemporary Australian culture. In the film we see Gosia Dobrowolska, Marian Dworakowski, Bogdan Koca, Jacek Koman, Lech Mackiewicz.
Jerzy Domaradzki was born in 1943 in Lvov. He graduated from the cinematography department and then directing at the National Film, Television & Theatre School in Łódź. He started his career as an assistant director with Janusz Morgenstern (Trzeba zabić tą miłość) and Andrzej Wajda (Ziemia obiecana - Promised Land). His directorial debut was the novel Romans in a film made by various directors, Obrazki z życia (Pictures from Life). In 1976 he co-directed Zdjęcia próbne (Screen Tests) together with Agnieszka Holland and Paweł Kędzierski. His bold portrait of the Stalinist era, Wielki bieg (The Big Race - 1981), won awards at many international festivals (including Moscow and Montreal). Since 1989 the director has lived in Australia, where he made Struck by Lightning (1990) and Lilian's Story (1996).
Selected filmography:
1976 Długa noc poślubna
1976 Zdjęcia próbne
1978 Bestia
1980 Laureat
1981 Wielki Bieg
1983 Planeta Krawiec
1984 Trzy Młyny
1986 Legend of the White Horse
1987 Łuk Erosa
1995 Historia Liliany / Lilian's story
1997 Grać do góry nogami / to Play Upside Down (dok.)
1997 Papieska Akademia Nauk Społecznych (dok.)
1998 Szlachetny dzikus / The Noble Barbarian
2005 Tablice (nowela w filmie Solidarność, Solidarność)
2006 Co ja tutaj robię...