Description

I would like to present for your consideration my most recent documentary “Touch of an Angel”, which took five years to produce. I searched all over the world for documents to prove the truth of this story. It’s a very personal, poetic tale of a deaf man who returns to the places where he found refuge as a boy. He finds his hiding places bringing back horrific memories. Sounds return to him, which as he describes “shut in him like in a shell”. My hero, Henryk Schoenker, remembers people who consumed by fear refused to help and those who selflessly risked their lives. It’s not just a wartime story but an account of how even the smallest gesture can save a life. The film presents completely unknown facts about the existence of a failed Bureau of Emigration of Jews to Palestine in Auschwitz town, run by Schoenker’s father. What went so terribly wrong in a place which became later infamous for its gas chambers? Schoenker speaks about it boldly, looking directly into the eyes of the viewer. The language of my film is deliberately different. Schoenker is a painter. Art played important role in his family’s history. That’s why I decided to use an innovative language that I call archicollage. It requires viewer’s imagination but I believe that it’s self-explanatory.
I am aware of problems posed by the contemporary world and I use history as a point of reference to deliver a message of universal importance. Schoenker’s story concerns dilemmas facing today’s Europe such as the status of refugees. My film speaks about the consequences when the response comes too late.I hope that you will also find this story deserving your attention.
Marek Pawlowski

Director Biography – Marek Tomasz Pawlowski