All These Sleepless Nights

Krzysztof is a student at art college, but what exactly he does there: no clue. His life is a never-ending array of private parties and open-air raves, lovers come and go. When he is temporarily involved with his best pal’s ex-girlfriend, a touch of drama is in the air, but why worry if the next party is already pending? “I’m afraid of drowning in the present”, he says once. In-between stoned babble flashs and park performances wearing an Easter bunny costume, a fascinating trance ensues: With a steadycam hovering smoothly over nocturnal Warsaw, director Michal Marczak sends his continuously buzzed twentysomethings on a journey into dawn. At best, the only thing occasionally materialising at this early hour is the phantom of their ceasing youth. The film acting as the young version of a Terrence-Malick-film, giggling blissfully at the pumping sound of techno music, is indeed staged, but still no feature film: The protagonists act more or less as themselves. The boundaries of fiction remain open. It is this bold consequence which brought the film the director prize in the section “International Documentary” at Sundance Film Festival.