ABAKANAMANIA: US Film Premiere

ABAKAMANIA is an original project produced by independent documentary filmmakers Róża Fabjanowska and Sławek Malcharek.
About this Event

ABAKAMANIA

Magdalena Abakanowicz – An Artist Apart

The filmmakers’ ambition was to present Magdalena Abakanowicz’s most important and diverse works created in Poland and abroad. They set out to remind us what an extraordinary woman and artist she was—so far ahead of her time. Europe, Asia, America—the team followed in her footsteps, listening to the stories of people professionally and personally connected to the artist’s world. Their journey was both symbolic, tracing new interpretations of her work, and literal, retracing her travels and installations. In a 1995 interview, Magdalena Abakanowicz said that she had always lived in her own reality, like in a transparent soap bubble, where she felt most at home, apart from the surrounding world, which she neither noticed nor wanted to see. The filmmakers sought to explore what shaped her worldview and artistic stance. The resulting portrait is presented through the voices of those who knew her, art historians, and, most importantly, her own work. It also features an actual portrait painted by the artist Olga Wolniak.

The directors, Róża Fabjanowska and Sławek Malcharek, have jointly made over 50 documentaries about art and artists. Their previous subjects include Mirosław Bałka, Krzysztof Bednarski, Gerard Blum Kwiatkowski, Marek Chlanda, Edward Krasiński, Zofia Kulik, Robert Kuśmirowski, Anda Rottenberg, Leon Tarasewicz, Feliks Topolski and Olga Wolniak.

Magdalena Abakanowicz's legacy in intertwinded with that of the Woman's Club of Wisconsin, as the scupltress was comissioned to create the dynamic "Birds of Knowledge of Good and Evil," a multi part sculture on Kilbourn Avenue. This sculpture is directly in front of the WCW, and was donated by the Woman's Club of Wisconsin Foundation to the city of Milwaukee in honor of the Club's 125th anniversary in 2001.

ABAKAMANIA is an original project produced by independent documentary filmmakers Róża Fabjanowska and Sławek Malcharek. Everyone involved in this ambitious film project devoted to the most renowned Polish artist of the second half of the 20th century committed time and resources far beyond what was formally required. The team treated the making of this film as a mission to restore the rightful memory and recognition of a truly great and globally celebrated Polish artist. 

Team:

Róża Fabjanowska (Director, Editor)

Sławek Malcharek (Director, Cinematographer)

Zofia Micyk (Screenplay)

Mateusz Malcharek (Original Music)

Robert Mańkowski PSM (Editor) 

Michał Jachuła (Content Consultant)

Leszek Stafiej (Co-Producer)Michał Grześ (Social Media)

The film would not have been possible without the essential support of a number of institutions, whose participation was crucial for the success of the ABAKAMANIA project.