Jestem tutaj (I'm Here)
2020 · 15m · Poland
Directed by Julia Orlik
Tones: contemplative, dark, melancholic, tender
An elderly man cares for his paralyzed, bedridden wife while their daughter struggles to balance her hospital job with family duties — differing views on how to properly care for the dying woman create quiet, devastating tension. The camera stays bedside with the immobilized wife throughout, restoring her presence and identity through minimalist stop-motion animation.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Camera fixed at a paralyzed wife's bedside for the entire film, puppet degrades in real time. That's brutal commitment — Amour by way of Lodz Film School, and the puppet trick alone clinches it.
Orlik locks the camera at the paralyzed wife's bedside for the entire film while the puppet itself physically degrades in real time — formal devotion to the immobilized perspective in the rigorous Łódź tradition. Devastating by design.
Camera fixed at the wife's bedside for the entire film with no reframing, plus the puppet physically degrading during production to mirror her decline — that's craft-as-physiology and the kind of single-shot discipline that makes Annecy noisy. 52K views, 555 likes.
Reviews
Orlik tackles her subject matter with great tenderness and restraint, proving that keeping things simple can often yield the best results... I'm Here ticks that box and many more, signalling Orlik as a filmmaker to definitely keep an eye on in the future.
Devastatingly accurate portrait of what hospice can be like. Brutal, but beautifully told.
Festivals
- DOK Leipzig 2020, Golden Dove for Best Short Animated Film
- POFF Shorts 2020, Grand Prix
- Etiuda&Anima International Film Festival 2020, Grand Prix
- Animator International Animated Film Festival 2020, Audience Award for Best Short
- Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film 2021, Special Mention
- Kaboom Animation Festival 2021, Best Student Short
- Slamdance Film Festival 2022, Grand Jury Winner
- Brooklyn Film Festival 2022