>>> FATHERHOOD (Poland)
PAVEL (30 y/o), an independent spirit, and KATE (30 y/o), visibly pregnant, are waking up. He is rushing for a meeting on a trip to China. She – to stay at a cottage with her mother. Pavel is been given an air ticket to China, makes final touch ups for his long awaited trip. After meeting he switches on his mobile. It’s his mother in law. Kate has started to give birth. They are now at a small hospital outside of town. Pavel asks where to come. Better no, she hangs down. He is not in the best terms with her.
To calm down he enters nearby seedy bar, orders beer. He plays the slot machine, observed by a gang of bald types. They want him to leave, he resist. When he walks out, they follow him. Behind the corner they beat him up. Pavel lies unconscient. Then unexpectedly he fights back. Bleeding, he calls his mother-in-law. Nothing has changed. Child doesn’t want to be born. At home Pavel dresses major wounds and falls asleep. Acute ringing wakes him up. He is to come to the hospital immediately. The child is born.
He goes out into the pouring rain. The town is totally jammed. Taxi driver speeds up. Pavel is afraid. At the hospital doctors wait for him. Your child was born with a brain defect, it will surely die soon, they say. If it survives, it still will be a vegetable. The baby will be moved to the pediatric clinic, where specific examination of this case is possible. Doctors ask Pavel not to tell this bad news to his wife – she is in a shock after a hard labour.
Doctor takes Pavel to the baby. Seeing it, he is about to faint. We do not see the baby through all the film. Mother-in-law preys it dies immediately. Pavel tells her it’s a boy. For her it doesn’t matter. Kate is fast asleep on sedactives, i.v. connected to her arms. Pavel waits for the ambulance in front of a hospital. Women stare at him from hospital windows. In the ambulance he sits by his newly born in incubator. He turns away and cries.
At the reception of the clinic, DR KRALL ( 50 y/o) examines the baby. They will need to do more specific examination, tomography and so on. Dr Krall promises to call Pavel when the diagnosis would be more certain. Pavel tells the bad news to his father-in-law, professor at the university. Professor, shocked, hands Pavel a bottle of whisky, to numb the pain. Pavel drops by the university library. He wants to know more about brain damages. He is spotted there by HANKA (30 y/o). She is researching her doctor’s thesis there.
They go to her place. Hanka lives alone in a messy apartment. She takes a shower. Pavel observes her, drinking. It’s obvious they were close to each other in past. She doesn’t allow herself for love anymore. They remind old good times, dance, go to bed together. Pavel falls asleep immediately.
Pavel wakes up with hangover. He prepares breakfast, eats with her. Then he rushes to his work – he conducts literature classes at one lycee. At school, janitor passes Pavel the latest news: vice-dean and Pavel’s friend
Martin, quit wife, children, job, and left with one student. Sodomy and Gomorrah, the janitor commands. Pavel lectures about Greek tragedies, about Medea’s choice. Suddenly he turnes green and falls down on his knees. He vomits. The class reacton is loathing. One of the students criticizes Pavel openly. It’s a boarding school.
Pavel visits his baby at the clinic. He stands and stares at the child in a glass incubator. He also visits Kate, still lying at the out of town hospital. He gives her a box of strawberries. She is infuriated. Pavel has forgotten that she has allergy to strawberries. She smells alcohol from him Pavel lies to her that he has resigned from China. She accuses him of chronic irresponsibility and threathens divorce if something happens to a child. Kate is full of bad premonitions.
At Hanka’s Pavel rests. Their relation revives. They start to make love. At one moment she tells him it’s a bad day. He takes sedactives to fall asleep. Let’s better stay friends. Next morning Pavel learns the baby is in critical condition. Doctor tell him to prepare for the worst.
Pavel has a serious talk about the incident in a class with a dean of the lycee. One of the student’s father is a boss of major newspaper and the dean is afraid. It’s good you’re going away, Pavel, people will forget. Dean suspends Pavel’s lectures for some time. When he is accompanied by students, his mother-in-law calls. She doesn’t allow him to tell Kate anything. Pavel openly hates her. Pavel drives out of town to the chalet of Martin, vice-dean that left with his student. He wants to tell him about the child and the trip to China, but Martin’s girlfriend enters and they can’t continue. Pavel packs up for the trip. Trainers, trecking boots, underwear, passport.
Dr Krall calls Pavel to come to the clinic. They are ready for surgery. Pavel disagrees. He doesn’t want his baby to suffer anymore. He tells Hanka that his child is born with a defect. She is ready to help him. Dr Krall tries to persuade Pavel to allow for operation but he is stubborn. In this case you have to take the child from our clinic. Hanka tells Pavel of a small private clinic where she undergone an abortion, they could take the child there. Pavel agrees. Hanka buys baby clothes, pretending she’s attending a baby.
Tohether with Hanka they take the baby out of the clinic. Pavel signs papers that he is doing this for his own responsibility. They walk out under scrutiny of the clinic personnel. They drive towards the private clinic. It’s heavily raining. They loose way. The child starts to cry. They catch a flat tire. Pavel puts on the spare one. Finally they park in front of an old building. LITTLE DOCTOR (45 y/o) tells it will cost 3 thousands. Pavel leaves the child there. Hanka gives him a lift to the airport. They are late.
At the last moment they park at the airport. He rushes to the departure hall, sees his group checking in. He enters the hall through glass door, but suddenly stops in the gateway. The door closes onto his face, knocking him out. He suddenly realizes that he cannot escape. He will stay and try to save the child.
Little doctor says by the phone it’s too late. Pavel forces inside the clinic, finds the baby. It doesn’t show any signs of life. Pavel calls the ambulance, trying to resuscutate the baby himself.
At night, Pavel stands at the clinic hall, praying that the baby survives. Dr Krall goes out through the swaying door. He is optimistic. Pavel asks is there anything more he can do to help. He gives blood for transfusion. He faints. Fade in.
Fade out. Pavel, smiling, goes out of the elevator with the baby in his arms. Kate, mother-in-law and professor are waiting for him in the reception of the clinic. Mother-in-law complements the baby. They drive away from the parking lot. When they stop on red lights, one guy from the gang that beaten Pavel at the bar jumps on the mask of the car. Pavel opens the window and cries to him. I know him, but he didn’t recognize me, bastard. No wonder, professor comments. You’ve completely changed. Baby starts to cry. Pavel looks at it with total care.
Kinga Dębska
She graduated in japanology in Warsaw and then went to study film directing at FAMU in Prague. Kinga is a writer and director of several documentary films including "Joseph and his children", "Tiesin’s Lightness of Being" ("Cieszynska lekkosc bytu"),"Detox" ("Detoks"), "Healers?",("Uzdrowiciele?") and "I Love Jesus", ("Kocham Chrystusa") for which she was awarded with Grand Prix at International Catholic Film Festival Niepokalanow in 2001.
at the moment she is working on her feature debut based on her script "Hel", which won second prize at the 1st edition of an Akson/ Filmforum contest for the best original screenplay in Poland.
| Where have you heard about Scripteast? |
First at one conference organised by Media Desk, second directly from Monika Bednarek, during Era Nowe Horyzonty this summer |
| What made you interested in this program? |
Opportunity to develop my script in a creative and international community of people, chance to present it to potential buyers |
| What do you expect from this year edition of scripteast? |
To improve my project , and find producer(s) to realise a real feature film. |
| Do you have previous experience as tutor and advisor at similar workshops? |
At my school FAMU we had some workshops conducted by guest professors, but these were weekend workshops and nobody traced the development of our projects in a longer period of time. |
| What is your personal defintion of a good scrtipt and what - the most- makes it succesful? |
The script should be a blueprint for a movie for a director - he should see the movie in his imagination; good script should have passion, clear idea, suspence and human emotions... and be unpredictable :) |
