Documentary Competition
EL FANTÁSTICO MATT PAREY
Fantastic Matt Parey
The film attempts to capture the phenomenon of Maciej Parowski, the editor behind the success of several generations of Polish fantasy writers, including stars such as Andrzej Sapkowski (creator of The Witcher) and Jacek Dukaj. His biography, enriched with animation and archive material, is presented against the backdrop of turbulent history: from the struggles of the Polish People’s Republic, through the founding of the world’s largest literary magazine, Fantastyka, the transformation period, to the birth of the Internet and the decline of the printed word.
Festival note by Alejandro Yamgotchian
A brilliant documentary — one of the finest ever made on science fiction, and not just Polish science fiction. The film traverses several decades (over 60 years, from the emergence of the socialist current in the 1960s) right up to the present, casting its lens over the current state of the genre and treating science fiction across film, television and video games. Director Bartosz Paduch, a graduate of the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School, takes the writer of the title (‘a great humble man’, ‘an anonymous hero of our popular culture’) and interweaves valuable testimonies and archive material with original animations to narrate the repressive system in which he worked — and the role he played, as journalist, editor and proofreader, in providing opportunities to numerous young Polish authors during and after the period of censorship and threats in Poland. The film is also subtly unflinching in showing how many of today's younger generations view science fiction: as a form progressively abandoning reflection through dreams and new literary worlds, seeking instead escapism and entertainment in the audiovisual sphere.
Technical Sheet
- Direction
- Bartosz Paduch
- Screenplay
- BP, Sebastián Wojtkowski
- Country
- Polonia
- Year
- 2023
- Duration
- 80 min
- Rating
- ATP