The disturbing story of an animal that doesn’t feel at home in the world of humans.

The film opens with a reference to the famous Swiss architect Le Corbusier, whose vision of the new architecture culminated in the term “dwelling machine”. In one of his theses he tried to measure human needs by units. How much space does a human being need? How much is he or she entitled to? A giant modern building at the centre of Katowice, the biggest in Poland, is the concrete embodiment of this idea. Endless corridors and rattling utilities connect the more than 700 flats built in the late 1960s. But every door conceals a mirror cabinet of desires and longings that emerge in various preferences and hobbies. Adieu tristesse! This is where people live, celebrate and, if need be, remove the casing of a garage, not because the car is too big, but because it’s the people who turn this building into a “super unit” and vigorously clear the necessary space. A few sketches are enough to portray the residents as they conquer this inhospitable space. The “dwelling machine” turns out to be an organism that’s borne up by the motto “live and let live”.
Cornelia Klauß

This is a film about a fairytale that was once true. Not so long ago, an unusual tribe lived on Borneo: the Badjao, who lived in and under water more than on dry land. They had neither passports nor money, but astonishing abilities. From earliest childhood they learn to dive and do without breathing for a long time. They move between shoals of fish and coral reefs like strollers who are at home there. Alexan, the last of his kind, teaches 10-year-old Sulu how to catch fish without modern appliances. The filmmaker Elizą Kubarską leaves no doubt about her fascination: in elaborate images that transcend every television documentary she dives into an idyllic and picturesque underwater world. She reminds us where we originally came from. And she shows us where we’re headed in equally unequivocal scenes: as the nomads, who are considered stateless today, vanish, they take their traditional knowledge and century old rituals with them. The rest is done by the fishing fleets and tourists.
Cornelia Klauß