THE PRINCE AND THE DYBBUK

Who was Moshe Waks, son of a poor Jewish blacksmith from Ukraine, who died as Prince Michal Waszynski in Spain? Was he a golden boy of cinema, a cunning fraud or a man who couldn’t distinguish between the illusion of film and reality?

As a prolific director and producer of Hollywood movies, Waszynski made over 40 films and worked with major movie stars including Orson Welles, Claudia Cardinale and Sophia Loren (whom he allegedly discovered). His true obsession, though, was “The Dybbuk” or “Between Two Worlds” which he directed in 1937, based on an old Jewish legend (a young woman is haunted by the spirit, or “dybbuk” in Yiddish, of her first love). One of the most important and mystical Yiddish films, it also mirrors Waszynski’s personal life as a restless man with many secrets and untold stories. Tracing Waszynski’s footsteps from Ukraine, Poland and the US into Italy, the film takes us on a cinematic journey into the life of a human chameleon constantly changing names, religion, titles and countries to write his own story as if it were a film.

ELWIRA NIEWIERA
Born in 1976 in Raciborz. Director and screenwriter. She studied acting in the theatre academy in Gardzienice, and moved to Berlin in 2003, where she worked as a researcher for a number of documentary film productions. From 2008 to 2015, Executive Director of the Polish German foundation Nowa Ameryka (New America). Recipient of numerous awards worldwide for her “The Prince and the Dybbuk” and “The Hamlet Syndrome.”

FILMOGRAPHY
2022    The Hamlet Syndrome (Syndrom Hamleta) co-dir. by Piotr Rosolowski
2017    The Prince and the Dybbuk (Ksiaze i dybuk) do-dir. by Piotr Rosolowski
2014    Domino Effect (Domino efekt) co-dir. by Piotr Rosolowski
2007    Bulgarian Stories (Historie bulgarskie)

PIOTR ROSOLOWSKI
Born in 1977 in Olsztyn. Director, cinematographer. Graduated from Cinematography Faculty at the K. Kieslowski Film School of the Silesian University in Katowice in 2002. C0-author of the Academy-nominated documentary feature “Rabbit a la Berlin” (2010). Recipient of numerous awards worldwide for his “The Art of Disappearing”, “The Price and the Dybbuk”, and “The Hamlet Syndrome.”

FILMOGRAPHY as a director
2022    The Hamlet Syndrome (Syndrom Hamleta) co-dir. by Elwira Niewierza
2017    The Prince and the Dybbuk (Ksiaze i dybuk) do-dir. by Elwira Niewierza
2014    Domino Effect (Domino efekt) co-dir. by Piotr Ros0lowski by Elwira Niewierza
2013    The Art of Disappearing (Sztuka znikania)