Oskar Dawicki at 65 Berlinale Film Festival, Berlin, Sat 7 February, 21:30, Akademie der Künste and Kino Arsenal, Mon 9 Feb 15:00
An insight into the contemporary art world, based on the life of performance artist Oskar Dawicki who plays himself. The main theme of his art is the search for an answer to the question of whether… Oskar Dawicki exists at all. The trademark of his performances is his blue shining jacket.
We meet Oskar at a turning point in his life, when he learns that his Mentor Zbigniew Warpechowski is dying. Warpechowski has also been mentoring Dearest, Oskar’s childhood friend and a rival, who has devoted himself to more commercial art and beomce the most profitable contemporary artist in Poland. Oskar has one more complicated relationship in his life: a love affair with his art dealer. As in Dawicki’s previous works, established norms of moral, spiritual, and social order are challenged and put on trial.
The Perfomer is the first-ever art exhibition in the form of a feature film: Oscar Dawicki’s works are connected on the screen not only by time and space, but also by narrative, drama, and emotion. The film is an unusual mix of performance art with acting, and a fusion of documentary film-making with fictional storytelling.
The premiere screening of the film will be followed by Oskar Dawicki’s performance I am sorry (2015).
DIRECTOR
Maciej Sobieszczanski, Lukasz Ronduda
CAST
Oskar Dawicki
Agata Buzek
Andrzej Chyra
Zbigniew Warpechowski
Anda Rottenberg
Poland 2015, 63 min