The Prince and the Dybbuk

He worked with Orson Welles and Sophia Loren, and was a welcome guest of Italian aristocracy. But Polish filmmaker Michal Waszynski always remained a mystery. He never spoke about his past and often changed identities. In his diary, he wrote, "I have decided to leave my memories behind. It does me good not to know who I am." Filmmakers Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosolowski present the enigmatic Waszynski in various ways: as a fantasist, an escape artist, a celebrated filmmaker, a homosexual married to a countess, a homeless Jew—and as a man who used his films to drive out his inner demons. His personal life choices are aptly illustrated with excerpts from his films, such as the mystical Jewish ghost story The Dybbuk. While we also hear from the wife and daughter of director Joseph L. Mankiewicz (The Barefoot Contessa), the filmmakers seem more interested in the ghosts from Waszynski's past that kept following him—eerily similar to those in The Dybbuk.