it was first a book written by the former “businessman, journalist, doctor of philosophy, academic teacher and screenwriter” Mirosław Miniszewski, who at some point in his life escaped from the big city and moved to the wilderness of Podlasie, which guaranteed him minimal contact with civilization and other people .
A world of deep provinces where you don’t sleep well
In these picturesque circumstances, he began to tell stories from the provinces and wetlands “only for adult readers” (and now listeners as well). In his Podlasie region, ordinary people live together with boggy ghosts and healers who cite Jacques Lacan (founder and reformer of the French school of psychoanalysis) and Lao Tsy (founder of Taoism, a semi-legendary figure), and professors with doctorates work at a local mill to earn some extra money.
There are also terrible swamps where municipal officials are killed, haunted carousels murder ministry envoys and dubious rituals to honor ancient deities are performed. What’s more – it is not uncommon that men wear high heels, young men may love other young men, and no one mind that they are “rainbow-headed” people – apart from thoroughly Catholic parents. It happens that Mossad agents will appear in the village, but no one is more impressed than Mrs. Wala, who makes a whip of five hundred eggs.
Miniszewski writes about all this with a large dose of black humor, curses and, as befits a doctor of philosophy, with “psychoanalytic insight”. In winter, at the turn of 2021/2022, he met Maciej Stuhr and Antoni Pawlicki in his outback, who were involved in providing humanitarian aid to refugees stranded on the Polish-Belarusian border. What they saw on the spot was traumatic, but the shared experiences resulted in a joint artistic project. The actors took Miniszewski’s stories to the workshop and turned them into an audiobook – Pawlicki took care of the production, and Stuhr – daring reading. In some respects, the climate of the project resembles Andrzej Stasiuk’s “Galician Tales” and the film “Strawberry Wine” (in which Stuhr also starred) based on them, but it is definitely more twisted and naughty.
Tales from the village nearby in Gazeta.pl mat. press releases
Dark Podlasie of Commissioner Kruk
The folk, multicultural and mystical face of Podlasie was also taken by Jakub Korolczuk, who created the script for a series about the policeman Adam Kruk, who returns from Łódź to his native Podlasie, where he is to solve the case of cigarette smuggling, but has to deal with a traumatic past. The production has already had two seasons, and in the second one, the protagonist played by Michał Żurawski cannot cope so much with what tires him internally that he asks for help from a Podlasie whisper. They perform mysterious rituals together …
In a place where Orthodoxy is mixed with Catholicism and folk legends about drowners, devils, rusalkas and aquariums, it is the whisper who connects all these worlds and helps those who need it. He is a psychologist, confidant and confessor of the local micro-community.
Podlasie blogger, Tomasz Jakimiuk, emphasizes that “a whisper is no fairy, nor does he use black magic. She is a pious person who brings the requests and intentions of people visiting her to the church. Importantly, her healing power is based on faith in the power of prayer. a whisper cannot help an unbeliever. “
‘Raven. Czorny Woron is not sleeping ‘ photo by Jarosław Sosiński / CANAL +
Maciej Pieprzyc was responsible for directing, and Jan Holoubek and Witold Płóciennik were responsible for shooting the picturesque and mysterious pictures. The team worked in “forest swamps, in Czarna Białostocka, Kruszyniany and Białystok” – we read on the blog
It’s like Jacek Bromski’s
A completely different side of Podlasie was shown by director Jacek Bromski in the series of films “U Pana Boga za piecem” (1998), “U Pana Boga w gardku” (2007) and “U Pana Boga za miedzą” (2009). Their action was set in the village of Królowy Most in Podlasie. There, the main fiddle is played by the parish priest, who advises the townspeople with great commitment and cleverly deals with various problems – even with the Belarusian mafia. In addition, he tries to live in harmony with the rhythm of nature and will not despise herbal tinctures for colds from nuns from a nearby congregation.
In these films, Bromski managed to create a warm, very sunny image of a small local community, and at the same time show an interesting piece of reality – in the first of the films, alongside actors from the Białystok Puppet Theater and artists such as Krzysztof Dzierma, Andrzej Zaborski or Jan Wieczorkowski, the director hired a lot of a charming array of local naturists.
In addition, there are wonderful landscapes and locations: picturesque fields with characteristic fences near Wierzchlesie, a bazaar in Białystok, a disco in Janów, a presbytery and church in Sokółka, the Zapiecek inn in Tykocin, a police station in Supraśl, which so gracefully played command in Królowy Most, and a chimney in Supraśl, from which the commandant’s father tries to jump off from time to time, which always ends with the intervention of the security forces, as well as the charming Mrs. Halinka Struziakowa from the inn (played by Małgorzata Sadowska).
The popular series is kept in a similar atmosphere “Blonde” about a veterinarian who escapes to a charming province from stuffy Warsaw. Sylwia falls in love with Majaki, but discovers that this charming place is also flawless and decides to change it for the better, fighting fraud, intrigue and superstition. The production, directed by Mirosław Gronowski, has over 100 episodes and nine seasons, and was filmed in its entirety, among others. in Białystok and Supraśl.
A quack from Podlasie
The film “Znachor”, directed by Jerzy Hoffman, loved by entire generations of Poles, was also shot in Podlasie. In 1981, the team worked mainly in Bielsk Podlaski. In the town, you can still find memorable steps leading to the shop where Marysia Wilczurówna, played by Anna Dymna, used to work.
Still from the movie ‘Znachor’, dir. J. Hoffman, 1982
The director was very keen on every detail. In 2007, he emphasized: “The decoration of the interior of the hut was completely reproduced on the original (…) We wanted to make a film that was absolutely realistic and set very specifically in the realities of the pre-war Borderlands, or rather in the Belarusian part. even somewhere in the distant Białystok region “.
The charms of Podlasie have also been appreciated by Hollywood and the Walt Disney label. When in 2005 the film adaptation of the classic book “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” was made, it was there that a large part of the outdoor photography was made. The film Narnia was played by the Białowieża Primeval Forest and the Siemianówka Lagoon. This is where the panoramic photos and the scene where the children run away from the White Witch on the frozen lake were taken.
The Siemianówka lagoon photo: Wojsyl – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
Let us add that in Podlasie there were also shots for such films and series as the epic “Nad Niemnem” directed by Zbigniew Kuźmiński, “Czarne Chmury”, “Wołyń” by Wojciech Smarzowski, the classic “Sanatorium pod Klepsydrą” by Wojciech Jerzy Has, “Faustina” by Jerzy Łukasiewicz , “Chronicle of love accidents” by Andrzej Wajda or “People from the train” by Kazimierz Kutz.
Source: Gazeta
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
