Ferry from Poland

In 1984 I directed my first short film, The Party. We filmed it in an infamous abandoned former prison in the center of Stockholm, Långholmen Island. In connection with a modest premiere, the film was invited to a film festival in Krakow.

At that time, Poland was a communist dictatorship. I flew via Warsaw and quickly got into trouble, was deceived, robbed, and humiliated by a system that quickly recognized a young man with overly blue eyes, so after one day in the Polish capital, I wanted to head north with a few pennies in my pocket.

For sure, it was an interesting journey by train and bus, where I was barely released from the country. When I was about to board the ferryboat, three soldiers, crowded in a guard booth built for one person, tried in every way to fold and bend my Swedish passport so that someone else's photo would show up... By the ferryboat was a watchtower with armed guards. It was all pathetic.

However, I have always appreciated Polish film tradition and I still do today, there is a number of big names in their history. The country I then visited was in a mental breakdown... I got the impression that the whole population was exhausted.

The next morning, I got a tear in my eye when the Swedish south coast became visible from the ferryboat's deck...

Polish creators I admire:

Andrej Wajda

Jerzy Skolimowski

Roman Polanski

Muritz Gzegoschek

Pawli Pawlikowski

Rebecca Lenkiewicz