InstituteFestivalProfessionals
EN/NL
Donate
Loading...
MyIDFA
The Ukranian Cleaning Lady
About IDFA
Archive
The Ukranian Cleaning Lady
IDFA 2002

The Ukranian Cleaning Lady

The Ukranian Cleaning Lady
Pawel Lozinski
Poland
2002
20 min
Festival history

In this Polish documentary, in the form of a home movie, the director interviews his cleaning lady. We never see the face of the one who poses the questions and teaches the heroine to speak Polish. While talking to her employer, whose house she cleans and polishes, for whom she cooks, irons, bakes cakes and cleans windows, a warm, intimate story is revealed. The Ukrainian woman is a single mother who left home seeking a better job and ended up in another country. What are one's dreams and feelings in a foreign country? Is there any hope that this single, poor mother will find a new love? Singing and working at the same time, talking with a smile but also with a tear, the Ukrainian woman makes the viewer contemplate his own position in life. Made with the support of Polish Television, this intimate diary of the director and his cleaning lady radiates loneliness and melancholy. The director, Pavel Lozinski, especially known for his beautiful film SISTERS, also uses a method of intimate observation in his documentary work, betraying a fine sense of imagery and rhythm.

Credits
Director
World Sales
    Telewizja Polska S.A.
    Telewizja Polska S.A.
Screening copy
    Pawel Lozinski Produkcja Filmow
    Pawel Lozinski Produkcja Filmow