#he wants her in lodz with him

[cicaklah]

🌹

Why not some more hitman ABO???

He goes through handlers frequently, and today he is to meet yet another one and he spots him immediately; another anonymous European confused by a Starbucks opposite another Starbucks in the Lower East Side, chosen as it is an easy walk from where 47 has been placed for this pseudo-retirement. He knows without checking that his new handler is male, and is a beta with alpha aspirations. They all are. The ICA recruiters are weak to a certain type of man who plays that gendered game, the stereotypes of the second sex they want, rather than the one they got in the cruel deal at puberty. 

This was the hand that he was dealt, the compensation he received: a life of Beta males, rye bread, and first refusal on the best hits. The same promise, every time.

His new handler introduces himself as Tomasz, from the Lodz office. They make small talk in German as that is 47’s cover at the moment, Christoph Brennholz. 

Tomasz is politely dressed for the weather, and 47 covets his coat, last season’s Tom Ford. 

Tomasz passes the documents over, and confirms that it is his first time in New York in the fall. Is it not beautiful, Herr Brennholz, in the central park? Perhaps we could go walking there. His voice is soft, and 47 knows when he’s being cruised, however poor his grammar is. Time was he wouldn’t notice the grooming, or see it dispassionately as something to be exploited, but now he wonders if it's worth taking him up on it. 

Out of the corner of his eye, 47 sees a flash of red hair, and hears a squall in the wind that cuts through him like a knife. He is out of the shop in a flash, eyes scanning, hackles up, and then he’s knocked to the ground by a large man. The wind goes out of him, and his head hits the hard concrete of the sidewalk hard, and he goes down and watches helplessly as a pair of familiar shoes climbs into a yellow cab and speeds away. 

When he’s helped up, the cab has merged into traffic. The man, a patsy, 47 recognises him as one of Diana’s local assets, apologises profusely as Tomasz glues himself to 47’s side, hustling him into a cab.

47 is careful to not check his pockets, but he doesn’t need to to know that something has been placed there. 

He’s checked out by a doctor and given the all-clear, and then Tomasz escorts him back to the apartment. 47 puts the coffee maker on and misplaces his coat in the spare room’s wardrobe as Tomasz openly makes mental notes about him to report back to HQ. 

Afternoon comes, and with it comes the rain, and Tomasz leaves disappointed in another carefully disguised ICA car, and once he is safely gone, 47 retrieves the note from the pocket of his coat with shaking hands, and allows himself a moment of happiness as he traces the curve of her hand with his thumb.

[itokunii-a]

( about: Radek. ) tw: death, religion, self-hatred, self-harm.

I traveled with the enemy, I thought it was my destiny. I’m free of all the lunacy. I never want it back, my history in black.

FULL NAME:  Radek Mateusz Tomiczek.

NICKNAMES: Tommy. That damn hunter. Maciuś (only by people he is very close to).

GENDER II SPECIES: Male II Vampire.

BIRTHDAY II AGE: November 8th 1432 II Was embraced at the age of 28 and stopped ageing since then.

BIRTHPLACE: Modern Lodz, Poland.

HEIGHT: 6’1”.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Pansexual.

OCCUPATION: Former church hunter, now mechanic.

DEMEANOR: Your coldness is not limited to the confines of your body: not only has your warmth disappeared from your touch but from your heart as well, turning it to stone and leaving you with an aversion towards anyone who tries to approach you, whether with good or bad intentions. You neither care for reputation, nor friendliness ( you are simply here to get the job done and you will get it done, come hell or high water ) but even in your icy demeanor you still find yourself polite enough not to throw yourself head-first into danger; after all, with five hundred years upon this planet and death a lingering cloak upon your slumped shoulders, you surely must have learned? Do you finally understand that the safest course of action is to turn away, from yourself, from others and not reveal your desperation and your pain? You do not want their sympathy, do not deserve it and they, in turn, should not see your heart still beating through its frozen cracks or your fingers shaking as you pray.

–> Traits: seems coldhearted and unapporachable. quiet. devoted. determined. distant. will finish the job no matter what. does not know how to relax or enjoy life. can sometimes be seen as uptight. he is a little more open in his modern verse but still very much has issues relating to people and trusting them. cares deeply for very few people.

THE DEAD SAINT OF LODZ:

1432: You were born on a chill winter night, the wind biting, the rain drowning out the prayers of your father as he mumbled and begged for your health and life and perhaps this already was a good and ironic indication of the fate you were about to face. You barely remember this life before the church, your family, your two brothers by blood, your naive innocence and childish desire to make those around you proud. And therefore, when you ( that little blond Polish boy who was left in front of the monastery with barely any belongings in hand ) found your new family within God, you could not help but give yourself entirely into making a deity satisfied with your existence.

You were always dedicated, it seemed: soon you were one of the best hunters the church had to offer, tearing through beastly carcasses, extinguishing the demonic from this holy land, never bestowed with mercy but always with your bible and the verses you knew by heart slipping from your lips as you sent them to hell. You believed it all to be evil and how could you not? There is no reason to question the things you were taught when it all seemed to make so much sense: you were here to rid the earth of the devil’s creations and those who gave themselves to him, you were here to save good people from a terrible end. You never doubted yourself, until you met her. Mikhaila. Such a beautiful soul, so true, so selfless, the manifestation of the saints pictured in mosaics and walls. Gentle and loving, how could you possibly force yourself to arrest her on the counts of WITCHCRAFT?

1460: It should never have come to this, you realize as you laid here in the grass, gasping for breath that filled your lungs less and less by the second. The stench of blood and tears surrounded you, your brethren fallen, their torn limbs reaching out to brush against your skin, even in death and all you can do is wonder if your father begged for your life the same way you now begged for your end. An ambush, how could you have been so ill prepared? The beast on top of you formed a lecherous grin at your plight, displaying its monstrous teeth in your horror and it traces your quickening pulse with them. When it is too still at night you can hear its words echo within your hollow mind: OH I AM NOT DONE WITH YOU YET. And thus it not only fed from you but also let you drink from its own vile essence and you were crying for a god that had already turned away from you.

When you woke up again you found yourself in front of the monastery, your sanctuary for the past decades, the only respite. You stumbled towards it, weak, oddly hungry but not hurt. And when the others saw you, they yelled in terror and reduced your own name to the only noun you find yourself in association with you, even in this day. Beast! A beast! Begone from these holy lands, you wretched thing! And in your betrayal as they closed the doors in your face and left you to your own fear and lonliness you finally realized that you never once stopped to take a breath. Radek Tomiczek the church hunter died that night and in his wake a vampire was reborn. With bloodied tears running down your pale cheeks you turned on your heel and ran back into the forest.

Today: You honestly had not expected irony to continue on throughout this undead life of yours but here you are, Dallas, Texas, slipping through the shadows in an attempt to evade the oppressing Southern sun on your way to work. And it seems that no matter how early you arrive, your boss is there before you. Johnny Doe grins every time he sees you, a cheeky and sharp smile, sharp as his own fangs that protrude from his mouth, predatory as the fire within his eyes. You nod in return and briefly wonder how it all has come to this but it seems that the enemy of your current enemy is now your best friend and who would have assumed that to be the hound of hell?

ABILITIES:

- Inhuman speed. - Ability to regenerate, especially if he just fed. - Carries an iron dagger on him -> can use his own blood to elongate it into a sword and the more blood he uses ( e.g. from his lower body ), the more accurate and deadly it becomes -> this also weakens him. - APOCALYPSE!VERSE: is unaffected by the virus but can get addicted to beast and zombie blood, which causes immense pain.

WEAKNESSES:

- Holy symbols give him a severe headache. - Holy water burns him. - While the sun does not cause physical harm, it can weaken him immensely the longer he is out during the daytime, so he prefers to wear many layers to shield himself from it. - Normal bullets still hurt but a silver blade or bullet to the heart would actually kill him.

FACE CLAIM: Boyd Holbrook.

APPEARANCE: Blond hair. Steelblue eyes that look black after he fed. A cold and intimidating stare. Has a tattoo of the borromean rings on his right index finger as a symbol for hunters. Wears white church garbs in his past verse. Has the scar of the bite mark that turned him into a vampire on his neck. Always has a bible on him.

KNOWN LANGUAGES: Both old and modern Polish; fluent in English; knows very basic Russian and some Latin (mainly religious texts).

[mrthoughtbubbles]

Today, I spent most of my time with my family, annoying them, sharing with them my jokes and things that I find funny, and I ended my day watching Rewind. I cried a couple of times all throughout the show, with the premise being Lodz, a.k.a. Jesus Christ, giving Ding Dong a chance and rewinding time, but the catch is that someone else has to die in the place of Marian, his wife. They also used the song that I like as their theme song, which is Sa Susunod na Habang Buhay.

I understand that it’s easy for my mind to connect things, due to my mental illness, but I’ve been noticing things lately, wherein I feel that God’s timing is always perfect, wherein he’s plays a certain song whilst I was asking for his presence, puts me in situations/tests wherein coincidences/conditions are perfectly unnerving or even frightening, at times, like he’s testing me or putting the conditions right for me… A good example would be today, wherein I was doubting/worrying about me hurting Yeet, and somehow, I just had the random urge to watch Rewind… I didn’t know that Lodz,a.k.a. Jesus Chirst, will be there, based on the description of the film, like He’s asking me what I’ll do next, based on what happened on the film and based on the song…

I guess my decision would be to continue to tribute these messages of mine to Yeet. I won’t ask her if she wants me to continue or not, I’ll just continue loving her. It doesn’t mean that her opinion doesn’t matter, it’s more like I’ll just continue showering her with love and it’s for her to decide to accept them or not… I understand that I’m a hopeless romantic, that I might or might not receive the same amount of love that I give, but that’s okay with me… It’s my way of telling Yeet that I chose her today, that I tried to shower her with love through these letters of mine. I hope that Yeet is having a great time in her trip. I hope that Yeet  knows that God has plans for her, and I hope that she trusts Him, just like how I trust that He has plans for us. I hope that Yeet appreciates everything around her that God created, like the weather, the people/animals, the situations, etc… I hope that Yeet knows that she’s beautiful despite having flaws/insecurities. I hope that she prays/talks to God every night. Finally, I hope that Yeet knows that I love her!

[greylagwriting]

FtLoM Cast

Time for a breakdown of the central characters in FtLoM. Rather long so its under a cut. I'll probably do RPD next. @ariel-s-awesome

Micah West-Flint

A 20-year-old Texan, Micah is the son of Herbert West-Flint, shipping magnate and owner of West-Flint Freight. An only child, Micah is a bit of a spoiled golden boy.

Wanting him to take over the family business down the line, Herbert enrolled Micah in a business program at East Georgia Technical College, one of the best schools in the South.

Being a bit of a brat, Micah instead spent most of his time partying and trying to recreate all those wild college movies.

Being rich, Micah has not had to face much of those things called "consequences". That, coupled with his baby-blue puppy-dog eyes, has gotten him out of trouble many times.

During the time the story takes place, Herbert is getting older and increasingly annoyed at his son's behavior. When he hears Micah is almost about to fail psychology, he gives him an ultimatum: pass the class, or pay for the entire tuition with his own money.

Micah, never having had an actual job, has no real means to pay, and is not keen about working (or student debt) either.

At some point after that, he was approached by an agent of Haemundis and promised that his dreams would come true if he incapacitated a fellow human with a certain sacrificial knife.

Katarzyna Wierzbowski

A 23-year-old classmate of Micah's, Kat is an exchange student from Lodz, Poland. She has a fascination with theology, especially how religion affects history. She's a mostly agnostic Catholic.

At EGTC, Kat is majoring in theology and minoring in psychology. Kat has bipolar disorder, so she was interested in learning more about it and other mental illnesses.

She has a particular interest in Catholic saints, and loves telling anyone who will listen all about the ones she's memorized. Kat has a bad habit of...overtalking, we'll say. She takes ahold of the conversation by the throat and basically makes it all what she wants to talk about. Kat is aware of this, but she still has the habit of verborreah.

Micah met her while cramming at the university library. Kat has a natural instinct to help other people (be it providing information or physical assistance), so she was more than happy to talk about psychology with Micah.

Kat works as a forklift driver at High's [this universe's version of Lowe's, a home improvement store].

Madeline Craine

Maddy, as she's often called, is a 24-year-old high-school dropout who had drifted through several jobs before landing one at High's, working as a shelf stocker. She met Kat and the two fell in love over their shared fondness for history. They got engaged and are now fiancées. [The story takes place in 2010, USA, so they can't legally get married yet].

Though generally good-natured, Maddy is not above exploiting loopholes. She always makes the most of whatever she can get, even if it skirts the law. She takes pride in her wits.

Geoff sometimes calls her "Sis' Rabbit", in reference to Br'er Rabbit, hero of Black American folklore. Like Br'er Rabbit, Maddy has a talent for worming her way out of trouble and using deception to her advantage.

Geoff Craine

Maddy's big brother, Geoff, is 32 and extremely introverted. One could say he puts the "auto" in autistic.

He tends to take things very literally, but when given a task he will follow it to the letter. This makes him a great asset to Northwire, a manufacturing company that makes wires, cables, and other metal parts. He sorts and packages said parts for shipping.

Geoff's propensity to follow things to the letter also makes him great at his hobbies - cooking and crafting, respectively. Though not really creative in the sense he comes up with his own patterns/recipes, he enjoys following them.

He gets along quite well with Kat, who calls him her FBIL (future brother-in-law). Through her, he was introduced to Micah.

Micah, assuming Geoff to be naïve, attempted to fulfill Haemundis' wishes by stabbing him in the neck. Unfortunately for Micah, Exmödus appeared and prevented Geoff from falling into the god's hands.

-

There are three ancient beings known as the old gods. They once ruled over the inhabitants of another dimension, before Haemundis' meddling resulted in an apocalypse that destroyed their followers. The three migrated to the dimension of humans, determined to gain followers here.

Haemundis

One of the three old gods. Haemundis is a trickster, often known as the Playwright for his pastime of creating strife among humans just to watch the fallout. He considers himself as not a force of evil, but one of humor — he thinks tragedy is funny (as long as it's not happening to him. He's regarded as the god of chance, gambling, and misfortune.

Haemundis' grandest plan is to take loyal human followers to a sort of pocket dimension, where he molds their flesh like clay to twist them into bizarre monsters. The ameliorated (as he calls them) will eventually form an army and storm into the human dimension, creating a war between ordinary and extraordinary... well, that's the idea. The ameliorated keep most of their human memories and are far from mindless monsters.

Haemundis' true form is that of a massive, horse-headed man whose lower body disappears into a different dimension and, as such, is not visible to humans.

Exmödus (ecks-MURR-duss)

The god of infinity, cycles, and mathematics, Exmödus is the sworn rival of Haemundis. It views itself as a font of creation and positivity, in opposition to Haemundis' love for strife and destruction.

It is very against Haemundis' creation of ameliorated, and tries its best to prevent his agents from making more. Exmödus saved Geoff from becoming one.

Exmödus resembles a huge orangeish centipede with the head of a shrimp. The rest of its body is infinitely long and resides in another dimension that humans can't perceive. It often projects itself into our dimension through a point in space were Geoff's neck is, curling and looping itself over his shoulders like some sort of horrible scarf.

Dismodat

The god of dreams, communication and balance. She appears as a tall (read: 9 foot), pale woman with grey hair and orange eyes. Her lower body is that of a grey heron, and a pair of wings sprout from her breastbone and spread out to each side of her chest.

Haughty and formal, Dismodat takes herself very seriously. She tries to present herself as a neutral force holding balance between Haemunids and Exmödus, both helping and hindering each in their respective goals.

-

In a pocket dimension known as the Point, Haemundis has created the Tree of Flesh. It's a massive structure made from the living tissue of humans, constantly rearranging itself. Using bribes, promises, and threats, Haemundis convinces ordinary humans to add to the flesh tree by incapacitating others. Haemundis will then take their bodies and mold them to the tree.

Occasionally, it births an Ameliorated, a human with anatomy melded beyond recognition. [Think like. Silent Hill monsters] Their minds are a mix of their previous lives and the memories of others in the tree.

Each one is unique and highly adaptable; they've formed a loose society with Haemundis as their central leader.

[archiegoodwin]

[girlactionfigure]

"I wanted to write something beautiful but for that I need a poet. So I'll say something good. I wish you much luck in everything you do."Jula Piotrkowski wrote these words to her boyfriend Eliash before he left Lodz, Poland.  #OnThisDay 19 February 1939 and immigrated to Eretz Israel. Eliash asked Jula to join him, but she declined, knowing that this would be frowned upon by her religious family. On parting, Jula gave him a portrait of herself inscribed with the dedication above (her photo and message are pictured below).

Jula was murdered in the Holocaust. This portrait of Jula is one of only two photographs of the Piotrkowski family that remain.

Learn more on our online exhibition featuring her farewell dedication : Here

Yad Vashem: World Holocaust Center, Jerusalem

[introvertguide]

The Life of Roman Polanski

The director of our current movie under review, Roman Polanski, is a man that has been surrounded by sadness and controversy. I think that he is a great director and an amazing creator of the visual arts, but he has a major flaw that makes me very glad he is nowhere near me. I think a statement like that deserves some explanation, but know that a lot of my take is based on opinion. I was not alive when a lot of his issues occurred so I base my opinion on news and official record statements. I will try and rely on recorded facts as much as possible and make a point to mention if something is not proven. I also encourage anyone who is interested to find out more because it is a fascinating story.

Polanski started off the in a pretty bad way as he was born in 1933 in Paris during the height of Nazi reign in Europe. He was moved to Krakow in 1937 right before the German invasion and his parents were taken in raids. He was kept alive in foster homes under an assumed identity and was lucky to survive. His mother died in Auschwitz, but he was reunited with his father after the war in 1946. Roman had quite the artistic eye and used it for both photography and filming. He attended the National Film School in Lodz, Poland and started directing short films that gained recognition. One film in particular was called Bicycle. It was a true story of a thief that tricked Polanski out of his money when purchasing a bicycle and instead beat Polanski around the head with the butt of a gun. The thief was found and eventually executed for past crimes including 3 murders. 

After graduating in 1959, Polanski went to France and continued to make short films. He reported that there was a problem with xenophobia at the time since so many Polish people had dispersed around Europe after the war. He went to England and made three movies between 1965 and 1968 that gained recognition in America: Repulsion, Cul-de-sac, and Dance of the Vampires. A young woman named Sharon Tate played a role in Dance of the Vampires and Polanski fell in love. He married her in 1968 in England, and they moved to the U.S. so he could make movies in Hollywood. His first film in the states was a horror film entitled Rosemary’s Baby, one of the highest rated horror films of all time. Polanski had a beautiful young wife, a son on the way, a hit movie with more work coming, and great prospects for life in the United States.

As horrific as his formative years were, I am surprised to find myself writing that this is when Polanski’s life really went out of control. On August 9th, 1969, cult members who followed a man named Charles Manson broke into the Polanski home in Los Angeles and murdered the 8 month pregnant Sharon Tate and four friends that were at the home. Polanski had been working in London on a new film and wasn’t there that night. He says to this day that it is by far the greatest regret of his life. Remember this. It seems that some wires got crossed as far as Roman’s thinking process because his behavior really took a turn.

His films had been dark and violent in the past, but they started to have sexual undertones with more graphic nudity. His first movie back after the loss of his wife was Macbeth, a movie that was rated X at the time for graphic nudity and violence. Polanski later said that he was in a dark place, but the media would find things in his movies always looking for a story. He hated the media after the sensationalism and lack of privacy involved with the loss of his wife and son. Next came an extremely odd road trip sex comedy that was appropriately called What?. And then came his last work filmed in the United States and the film he was probably best known for, Chinatown. I don’t want to go over the film too much since it is the film currently under review for the group, but it is very dark and has an extremely down beat ending. 

And then another crime was committed in Polanski’s life that would haunt while simultaneously erasing any good will the American public had for him. He was charged for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl who modeled for him during a Vogue photoshoot. It was recorded as occurring at the Bel Air estate of Jack Nicholson. There is no question about this encounter as Polanski was arrested and confessed to the charges. He thought he was going to receive probation and timed served for a guilty plea, but the judge was reported to have changed his mind and was planning to reject the plea and give Polanski prison time for all charges. This would result in up to 50 years in jail and what amounted to life in prison. Polanski would not serve this sentence so he fled the country to France where he would not be extradited. 

The charges are still pending and there is no statute of limitations on rape in the United States, so Polanski is on a list of people that if found outside of certain countries will be immediately sent back to the U.S. to face charges. He has dual citizenship in France and Poland; both countries do not extradite citizens. He went on to make one of his best works, a film called Tess, while in Europe. It was a great success and Polanski was nominated for Best Director. The film ended up winning three Academy Awards (none for Polanski). So it seemed that this acclaimed director would live in France and hope that things would blow over. He settled a civil suit in court with the girl and she went on to marry and says she forgives Polanski. But it didn’t end...

Because the woman was in the U.S. and Polanski was not, she was harassed by the press to speak out and tell her story. She reported that the media did much more harm to her and her family than Polanski did. That is a very strong statement considering the charges. Things finally cooled down somewhat when Polanski married an actress from one of his films, Emmanuelle Seignor in 1989. The couple have two kids together and things were apparently going fine in France. 

Things remained well through the 90s although nothing Polanski did got much attention. It seemed he would simply live out his life quietly in France. Then in 1999, he came out with a film called The Ninth Gate that garnered attention since it starred the very popular Johnny Depp. Polanski was back on his game and he directed and produced a film called The Pianist. It stars Adrian Brody and told the story of a Polish-Jewish composer who survived the concentration camps because of goodwill received from German officers that appreciated his work. It is a masterpiece and earned Polanski the award for Best Director. He could not accept the award in person because he would be arrested, so Harrison Ford accepted it on his behalf and took it to him in France. A strange little detail about this is that The Pianist was also up for best picture, but stirrings about Polanski’s past were brought up by a competing producer to throw the award. There is no real proof of this, but the man said to have done this was quite powerful in Hollywood at the time. Ironically, that man who was said to remind people of old rape charges was none other than Harvey Weinstein. I don’t have proof of this, but it is an interesting story. One of those “I heard it is said that” kind of things from TMZ. 

Anyway, these reminders had people trying to interview Polanski and his wife about the past and he basically said that people needed to move past it. This does not tend to go over very well with the American public or the legal system and Polanski was arrested while in Switzerland and held in Zurich. Public sentiment in America, France, and Poland leaned towards Polanski being sent to America to face trial. The Swiss judge denied extradition and Polanski was sent back to France. There were requests in 2014 by US courts that Poland send Polanski to stand trial since there was question concerning the conduct of the original judge in Polanski’s case. It was believed that Polanski would be given some form of probation, but it also meant he could travel. Polish courts ruled that Polanski had served his punishment and should not have to face U.S. courts again. In 2016, it was presented by Polish officials that no amount of time could account for the crime of rape, but the decision of the lower court was held. 

In 2018, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences removed Polanski as a member. Strangely, that same year, they offered a membership to his wife (who loudly said no).

So the final say about how to feel about Polanski and his works lies firmly on the individual. Here is all the information about the trial that can keep it nice and ambiguous for you. The judge, the lead prosecutor, and the LA County Deputy DA at the time all admitted bias against Polanski. He would not have gotten a fair trial and would likely have ended up in prison for life. The prosecutor said later in an interview for a documentary that he was not surprised at all that Polanski left and it would have been a media circus. Polanski paid the victim almost a million dollars in civil settlement money and she said she doesn’t want to see any further prosecution. Okay. In 2017, a website run by Matan Uziel was sued by Polanski for libel when it was posted that 5 other women had come forward and accused Polanski of sexual assault. Polanski did not show up in court so Uziel was dismissed of charges. Uziel requested specifically that the cases not be dropped so that Polanski could not try and sue him at a future date. It is true that, in 2010, an English actress accused Polanski of “forcing himself” on her during filming of the movie Pirates. In 2017, a Swiss woman accused Polanski of raping her in the 70s when she was only 15. The same month, another woman accused him of assaulting her in 1975 when she was only 10. Finally, in 2019, a former actress model from France said that Polanski violently raped her at a Swiss chalet in 1975.

So what can you say about the man? His early life was tragedy and misery. The loss of his wife and child was horrific. He seemed like he was in a very bad place in the 70s. I don’t want to give credence to accusation without proof, but it can be sure that he committed at least one sexual assault of an under aged girl. He ran from his trial because he knew it would not be fair, but he was still never held accountable in a court of law for what he did. He has been forced to stay in Poland and France, but he is wealthy with a wife and kids, never seeing the jail time for what he did. And if it is true that he has committed other crimes like this, then he needs to be in jail. But could he ever get a fair day in court at this point? The man is 87 and will likely die soon, likely before any sentencing could occur. Also, how reliable is testimony from any parties about things that happened between 40-50 years ago? Everything he is accused of seems to have happened after the death of Sharon Tate and before his marriage to his current wife, so it seems like his behavior was linked to his state of mind and he is no longer in that state. That may explain things but it does not forgive them.

I don’t know. This is probably why I chose psychology instead of law enforcement or criminal justice. Trying to decide if someone has adequately paid for crimes they have committed is not my specialty. It will be a moot point soon enough because he will be dead. So what do we do with the guy? He has encountered both great suffering and great joy in his life. He as also caused great suffering and great joy. I guess it is more about how he will be remembered at this point. I would be curious to hear what others think. 

[docholligay]

Lila’s getting pretty big for her britches here, with Lodz talking with management all the time. And don’t get me wrong, this is a crushing blow to Sampson’s leadership, but I think she’s counting her chickens pretty soon. Management, as I see it, can only do so much if the crew refuses to work under Lodz. He can be as creepy as he wants, but he can’t make the carnival work for him if they have no inclination to do so. It wasn’t JUST management’s backing that made Sampson leader, it was his own qualities and abilities. Lodz can’t do jackshit if everyone hates him. 

[carnivalehbo]

Day 19 - Least favorite pairing?

Ok, so Ben/Ruthie is my least favourite. I do appreciate that they tried to turn the May/December romance on its head and have the roles reversed, so that the naive younger one is the male and the older and experienced one female. When the series starts, Ben’s mother dies after treating him like garbage his entire life, and understandably, he has never really had a mother figure so he goes looking for it elsewhere. Enter Ruthie. Ruthie is motherly yes, but considering Ben is an Avatar, he is immensely attractive to others so that adds a sexual component to their relationship. Also doesn’t help that he’s 18 and spies on her bathing first thing. However, it turns out Ruthie also used to date Henry Scudder, Ben’s father, and dating (or doing) both father and son doesn’t really sit right with me. It’s messy. What I really didn’t like about their relationship is that Ben doesn’t like to be touched, and Ruthie keeps trying to do it anyway even when he says no. Like in Insomnia, she sneaks a kiss and he tells her, no don’t do that, and she’s trying to laugh it off like it’s all ok. If someone says no, fucking stop. This is how rape culture perpetuates itself. Then in the next episode, Ben has such extreme insomnia that he’s at the point of being delusional and he is brought into her trailer to try and get him to settle down and they end up having sex even though he can’t really consent to it. The next day, he tells her that that wasn’t right, and it was a sin, which he’s been told all his life, and then wants nothing to do with her afterwards. He does eventually kill Lodz to bring her back to life because what happened to her was wrong but he has no affinity towards her. And I don’t blame him. Fuck this pairing.

[kelanfilms]

Krzysztof Kieślowski: What I’ve Learned This Semester

Kieslowski’s method of portraying people is an important inspiration for the documentary I’ve been looking into some of his films to further understand his style and motivations. The following is a quick summary of some of the things and films that stood out to me during my research:

His early work from the 1960-80s is a great influence for our documentary, due to his documentaries focusing on people and the issues of Polish life at the time. His subjects largely consisted of people within Poland, mainly working class subjects and soldiers. At this time addressing issues in Poland got him into trouble, even having his film Workers ‘71 heavily censored when it was released due to it’s portrayal of workers striking. The censorship of his films eventually led to him abandoning documentary for a large amount of time, as he believed he’d never be able to portray the accuracy of Polish life.

He then moved onto fiction works, where he continued to challenge the issues of Polish life. Despite his trouble with the authorities and criticism for his depictions of Poland he is now regarded as one of the best film directors of modern times. 

Below are some of my favourites out of his documentaries that I watched and had some thoughts on:

From the City of Lodz

The heart of this film being about the effect’s of modernisation on the older residents of the city is reminiscent of our own film, as we analyse how this building has remained stagnant amongst a gentrified city. I love the editing, the interactions of the characters, and the inclusion of city shots to portray the wider world the people live in.

Spitzal (1976) [aka: “Hospital”]

I absolutely love this documentary, possibly my favourite piece of Kieslowski’s works. The structure of breaking up the film with timecodes portraying a day in the life of the hospital workers and patients makes you feel as an absolute fly on the wall watching what you assume is an average day to them. The fact there’s no interaction between filmmaker and participants is really interesting too, as the dialogue and subsequent story is so realistic due to the simple interactions overheard between the doctors, patients, and nurses.

Z punktu widzenia nocnego portiera (1977) [Aka: “From a Night Porters Point of View”]

I was surprised by this documentary due to the interviewee’s harsh opinions on allowing government silencing of oppositions. It felt like Kieslowski was putting himself out of his comfort zone and rather than criticising the government, was showing how they manipulate people into following them by giving them positions of authority (although my reading of the film could be influenced due to watching it in the 21st century and knowing Kieslowski’s larger career that spent the majority of the time criticising Poland). I’ve also been seeking out the 2006 sequel to this film featuring the same Night Porter by a different director, to see if his views have changed.

Gadające glowy (1980) [Aka: Talking Heads]

Although we’re abstaining from the use of talking heads in our documentary due to our thoughts on them being overused in modern docs, I found this film really interesting and influential. I love how all he asks are two simple questions and yet everyone’s answers so different. The evolution of starting the documentary with young people and concluding with the elderly, reflecting their differences, is a wonderful way to show the contrast between generations. This idea of who are you, and what do you want, are key to this film, but also to our own. We want to know who Jola is, and what she want’s out of life, so seeing this film gave me more want to explore the idea of generations within Karina’s family to see how these have changed between her and her grandmother.

-----

Looking back I can see now why Karina has been influenced in her directing by his use of people, and I’m hoping to use some of his ideas in helping her develop the documentary to accurately reflect her grandmother and her life in Poland. As well as editors, we’re taking ideas from how he constructs his films: where does he show the person talking? when does he cut away? There’s lots to take him from his films and I think there’s lots more to be explored with his work as we move to further development and pre-production next semester.

[pamphletstoinspire]

Saint Maximilian Kolbe - Feast Day: August 14th - (Ordinary Time) - Mary’s Knight

His name wasn't always Maximilian. He was born the second son of a poor weaver on 8 January 1894 at Zdunska Wola near Lodz in Poland, and was given the baptismal name of Raymond. Both parents were devout Christians with a particular devotion to Mary. In his infancy, Raymond seems to have been normally mischievous but we are told that one day, after his mother had scolded him for some mischief or other, her words took effect and brought about a radical change in the child's behaviour. Later he explained this change. "That night, I asked the Mother of God what was to become of me. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red. She asked me if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity, and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both." Thus early did the child believe and accept that he was destined for martyrdom. His belief in his dream coloured all his future actions.

In 1907, Raymond and his elder brother entered a junior Franciscan seminary in Lwow in Polish (Also known as Lviv in Ukrainian - which is the largest city in western Ukraine and the seventh-largest city in the country overall, with a population of around 728,350 as of 2016. Lviv is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine). Here he excelled in mathematics and physics and his teachers predicted a brilliant future for him in science. Others, seeing his passionate interest in all things military, saw in him a future strategist. For a time indeed, his interest in military affairs together with his fiery patriotism made him lose interest in the idea of becoming a priest. The fulfillment of his dream would lie in saving Poland from her oppressors as a soldier. But before he could tell anyone about his decision his mother announced that, as all their children were now in seminaries, she and her husband intended to enter religious life. Raymond hadn't the heart to upset his parents' plans and so he abandoned his plans for joining the army. He was recieved as a novice in September 1910 and with the habit he took the new name of Maximilian. From 1912 to 1915, he was in Rome studying philosophy at the Gregorian College, and from 1915 to 1919 theology at the Collegio Serafico. He was ordained in Rome on 28 April 1918.

The love of fighting didn't leave him, but while he was in Rome he stopped seeing the struggle as a military one. He didn't like what he saw of the world, in fact he saw it as downright evil. The fight, he decided, was a spiritual one. The world was bigger than Poland and there were worse slaveries than earthly ones. The fight was still on, but he would not be waging it with the sword. At that time, many Catholics in Europe regarded freemasonry as their chief enemy; and it was against the freemasons that Maximilian Kolbe began to wage war. On 16 October 1917, with six companions, he founded the Crusade of Mary Immaculate (Militia Immaculatae), with the aim of "converting sinners, heretics and schismatics, particularly freemasons, and bringing all men to love Mary Immaculate".

As he entered what was to be the most creative period of his life, Fr Maximilian's health had already begun to deteriorate. He was by now in an advanced state of tuberculosis, and he felt himself overshadowed by death. His love for Mary Immaculate now became the devouring characteristic of his life. He regarded himself as no more than an instrument of her will, and the only time he was known to lose his temper was in defence of her honour. It was for her that he strove to develop all the good that was in him, and he wanted to encourage others to do the same.

When Maximilian returned to Poland in 1919, he rejoiced to see his country free once again, a liberation which he attributed to Mary Immaculate. Pius XI, in response to a request from the Polish bishops, had just promulgated the Feast of Our Lady, Queen of Poland, and Fr Maximilian wrote: "She must be the Queen of Poland of every Polish heart. We must labour to win each and every heart for her." He set himself to extend the influence of his Crusade, and formed cells and circles all over Poland. The doctors had by now pronounced him incurable; one lung had collapsed and the other was damaged. Yet it was now that he flung himself into a whirlwind of activity. In January 1922, he began to publish a monthly review, the Knight of the Immaculate, in Krakow. Its aim was to "illuminate the truth and show the true way to happiness". As funds were low, only 5,000 copies of the first issue were printed. In 1922, he removed to another friary in Grodno and acquired a small printing establishment; and from now on the review began to grow. In 1927, 70,000 copies were being printed. The Grodno Friary became too small to house such a mammoth operation, so Fr Maximilian began to look for a site nearer to Warsaw. Prince Jan Drucko-Lubecki offered him some land at Teresin, west of Warsaw, Fr Maximilian promptly erected a statue of Mary Immaculate there, and the monks began the arduous work of construction.

On 21 November 1927, the Franciscans moved from Grodno to Teresin and on 8 December, the friary was consecrated and was given the name of Niepokalanow, the City of the Immaculate. "Niepokalanow", said Fr Maximilian, "is a place chosen by Mary Immaculate and is exclusively dedicated to spreading her cult. All that is and will be at Niepokalanow will belong to her. The monastic spirit will flourish here; we shall practise obedience and we shall be poor, in the spirit of St Francis."

At first, Niepokalanow consisted of no more than a few shacks with tar-paper roofs, but it soon flourished. To cope with the flood of vocations all over Poland, a junior seminary was built at Niepokalanow "to prepare priests for the missions capable of every task in the name of the Immaculate and with her help". A few years later, there were more than a hundred seminarians and the numbers were still growing. Before long, Niepokalanow had become one of the largest (some say the largest) friaries in the world. In 1939, it housed 762 inhabitants: 13 priests, 18 novices, 527 brothers, 122 boys in the junior seminary and 82 candidates for the priesthood. No matter how many labourers were in the vineyard, there was always work for more. Among the inhabitants of Niepokalanow there were doctors, dentists, farmers, mechanics, tailors, builders, printers, gardeners, shoemakers, cooks. The place was entirely self supporting.

Not only the friary but the printing house had been expanding. More modern machinery had been installed, including three machines which could produce 16,000 copies of the review in an hour. New techniques of type, photogravure (an image produced from a photograph negative) and binding were adopted. The new machinery and techniques made it possible to meet the growing demand for Knight of the Immaculate -- which had now reached the incredible circulation figure of 750,000 per month -- and to produce other publications as well. In 1935, they began to produce a daily Catholic newspaper, The Little Daily, of which 137,000 copies were printed on weekdays and 225,000 on Sundays and holydays.

Maximilian did not rest content with mere journalistic activity. His sights were set even further. On 8 December 1938, a radio station was installed at Neipokalanow with the signature tune (played by the brothers' own orchestra) of the Lourdes hymn. And now that there was so much valuable equipment around, Niepokalanow acquired its own fire brigade to protect it against its enemies. Some of the brothers were now trained as firemen.

There was no doubt that Niepokalanow was going from strength to strength, a unique situation within Poland. The results of the work done there were becoming apparent. Priests in parishes all over the country reported a tremendous upsurge of faith, which they attributed to the literature emerging from Niepokalanow. A campaign against abortion in the columns of the Knight (1938) seemed to awaken the conscience of the nation: more than a million people of all classes and professions ranged themselves behind the standard of Mary Immaculate. Years later, after the war, the Polish bishops sent an official letter to the Holy See claiming that Fr Kolbe's magazine had prepared the Polish nation to endure and survive the horrors of the war that was soon to follow.

Fr Maximilian was a restless spirit, and his activities could not be confined to Poland. His junior seminary had been started in 1929, but he didn't intend to wait for its first priest to be trained before he himself set out for the mission lands. To those who pointed out that Niepokalonow wasn't yet up to undertaking foreign apostolic work, he quoted the example of St Francis, who had risked himself on the mission fields when the other Orders had remained uninvolved. With the blessing of his Father General, Maximilian prepared his expedition. Asked whether he had money to finance it, he replied: "Money? It will turn up somehow or other. Mary will see to it. It's her business and her Son's."

On 26 February 1930, Fr Maximilian left Poland with four brothers from Niepokalanow on a journey to the Far East. They travelled by way of Port Said, Saigon and Shanghai, and on 24 April they landed at Nagasaki in Japan. Here they were given epispcopal permission to stay. In fact Archbishop Hayasaka received them very warmly when he learned that Fr Maximilian had two doctorates and would be able to take the vacant chair of philosophy in the diocesan seminary in exchange for a license to print his review.

The going was hard. The Poles' only shelter was a wretched hut whose walls and roof were caving in. They slept on what straw they could find and their tables were planks of wood. But despite such hardships, and the fact that they knew no word of the Japanese language, and had no money, on 24 April 1930, exactly a month after their arrival, a telegram was despatched to Niepokalanow: "Today distributing Japanese Knight. Have printing press. Praise to Mary Immaculate." After that, it was scarcely surprising that a year later the Japanese Niepokalanow was inaugurated -- Mugenzai no Sono (the Garden of the Immaculate), built on the slopes of Mount Kikosan. The choice of this site in the suburbs had been dictated by poverty, but it proved to be a lucky one. People thought Fr Maximilian was crazy to be building on steep ground sloping away from the town; but in 1945, when the atomic bomb all but leveled Nagaskai, Mugenzai no Sono sustained no more damage than a few broken pains of stained glass. Today it forms the centre of a Franciscan province.

Despite his passionate zeal in the cause of Mary, Fr Maximilian proved to be a wise missionary. He did not attempt to impose Western ideas on the Japanese. He respected their national customers and looked for what was good in Buddhism and Shintoism. He entered into dialogue with Buddhist priests and some of them became his friends. In 1931, he founded a novitiate, and in 1936 a junior seminary. And of course he continued to publish his beloved magazine. Seibo no Kishi, the Japanese Knight, had a circulation six times that of the nearest Japanese Catholic rival. This was because it was aimed at the whole community, not just Catholics. The first 10,000 copies had swollen to 65,000 by 1936.

Fr. Maximilian's health was rapidly deteriorating, but he didn't allow this fact to diminish his zeal -- or his restless energy. Although he often complained of the lack of manpower and machines needed to serve the people of Japan, in 1932 he was already seeking fresh pastures. On 31 May he left Japan and sailed to Malabar where, after a few initial difficulties, he founded the third Niepokalanow. But his superiors requested him to return to Japan, and as no priests could be spared for Malabar, that idea had to be given up. On another of his journeys, he travelled through Siberia and spent some time in Moscow. Even here, he dreamed of publishing his magazine -- in Russian. He had studied the language and had a fair acquaintance with marxist literature. Like Pope John XXIII, he looked for the good elements, even in systems he believed to be evil; and he tried to teach his friars to do likewise.

In 1936, he was recalled to Poland, and left Japan for the last time. He had thought that he would find martyrdom there; and indeed he had found martyrdom of a kind. He was racked by violent headaches and covered with abscesses brought on by the food to which he could not grow accustomed. But these things were only pinpricks: the real martyrdom awaited him elsewhere.

Just before the Second World War broke out, Fr Maximilian spoke to his friars about suffering. They must not be afraid, he said, for suffering accepted with love would bring them closer to Mary. All his life, he had dreamt of a martyr's crown, and the time was nearly at hand.

By 13 September 1939, Niepokalanow had been occupied by the invading Germans and most of its inhabitants had been deported to Germany. Among them was Fr Maximilian. But that exile did not last long and on 8 December (the feast of the Immaculate Conception) the prisoners were set free. From the moment that he returned to Niepokalanow, Fr Maximilian was galvanised into a new kind of activity. He began to organize a shelter for 3,000 Polish refugees, among whom were 2,000 Jews. "We must do everything in our power to help these unfortunate people who have been driven from their homes and deprived of even the most basic necessities. Our mission is among them in the days that lie ahead." The friars shared everything they had with the refugees. They housed, fed and clothed them, and brought all their machinery into use in their service.

Inevitably, the community came under suspicion and was watched closely. Early in 1941, in the only edition of The Knight of the Immaculate which he was allowed to publish, Fr Maximilian set pen to paper and thus provoked his own arrest. "No one in the world can change Truth," he wrote. "What we can do and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the catacombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?"

He would never know that kind of defeat; but a more obvious defeat was near. On 17 February 1941, he was arrested and sent to the infamous Pawiak prison in Warsaw. Here he was singled out for special ill-treatment. A witness tells us that in March of that year an SS guard, seeing this man in his habit girdled with a rosary, asked if he believed in Christ. When the priest calmly replied, "I do", the guard struck him. The SS man repeated his question several times and receiving always the same answer went on beating him mercilessly. Shortly afterwards the Franciscan habit was taken away and a prisoner's garment was substituted. On 28 May, Fr Maximilian was with over 300 others who were deported from Pawiak to Auschwitz. There he received his striped convict's garments and was branded with the number 16670. He was put to work immediately carrying blocks of stone for the construction of a crematorium wall. On the last day of May he was assigned with other priests to the Babice section which was under the direction of "Bloody" Krott, an ex-criminal. "These men are layabouts and parisites", said the Commandant to Krott, "get them working." Krott forced the priests to cut and carry huge tree trunks. The work went on all day without a stop and had to be done running --- with the aid of vicious blows from the guards. Depsite his one lung, Father Maximilain accepted the work and the blows with surprising calm. Krott conceived a relentless hatred against the Franciscan and gave him heavier tasks than the others. Sometimes his colleagues would try to come to his aid but he would not expose them to danger. Always he replied, "Mary gives me strength. All will be well." At this time he wrote to his mother, "Do not worry about me or my health, for the good Lord is everywhere and holds every one of us in his great love."

One day, Krott found some of the heaviest planks he could lay hold of and personally loaded them on the Franciscan's back, ordering him to run. When he collapsed, Krott kicked him in the stomach and face and had his men give him fifty lashes. When the priest lost consciousness Krott threw him in the mud and left him for dead. But his companions managed to smuggle him to the Revier, the camp hospital. Although he was suffering greatly, he secretly heard confessions in the hospital and spoke to the other inmates of the love of God. In Aushcwitz, where hunger and hatred reigned and faith evaporated, this man opened his heart to others and spoke of God's infinite love. He seemed never to think of himself. When food was brought in and everyone struggled to get his place in the queue so as to be sure of a share, Fr Maximilian stood aside, so that frequently there was none left for him. At other times he shared his meager ration of soup or bread with others. He was once asked whether such self abnegation made sense in a place where every man was engaged in a struggle or survival, and he answered: "Every man has an aim in life. For most men it is to return home to their wives and families, or to their mothers. For my part, I give my life for the good of all men.

Men gathered in secret to hear his words of love and encouragement, but it was his example which counted for most. Fr Zygmunt Rusczak remembers: "Each time I saw Fr. Kolbe in the courtyard I felt within myself an extraordinary effusion of his goodness. Although he wore the same ragged clothes as the rest of us, with the same tin can hanging from his belt, one forgot his wretched exterior and was conscious only of the charm of his inspired countenance and of his radiant holiness."

There remained only the last act in the drama. The events are recorded in the sworn testimonials of former inmates of the camp, collected as part of the beatification proceedings.

They are as follows:

Tadeusz Joachimowski, clerk of Block 14A: "In the summer of 1941, most probably on the last day of July, the camp siren announced that there had been an escape. At the evening roll-call of the same day we, ie Block 14A, were formed up in the street between the buildings of Blocks 14 and 17. After some delay we were joined by a group of the Landwirtschafts-Kommando. During the count it was found that three prisoners from this Kommando had escaped: one from our Block and the two others from other Blocks. Lagerfuhrer Fritzsch announced that on account of the escape of the three prisoners, ten prisoners would be picked in reprisal from the blocks in which the fugitives had lived and would be assigned to the Bunker (the underground starvation cell)"

Jan Jakub Zegidewicz takes up the story from there: "After the group of doomed men had already been selected, a prisoner stepped out from the ranks of one of the Blocks. I recognized Fr Kolbe. Owing to my poor knowledge of German I did not understand what they talked about, nor do I remember whether Fr Kolbe spoke directly to Fritzsch. When making his request, Fr Kolbe stood at attention and pointed at a former non-commissioned officer known to me from the camp. It could be inferred from the expression on Fritzsch's face that he was surprised at Fr Kolbe's action. As the sign was given, Fr Kolbe joined the ranks of the doomed and the non-commissioned officer left the ranks of the doomed Firzsch had consented to the exchange. A little later, the doomed men were marched off in the direction of Block 13, the death Block.

The non-commissioned officer was Franciszek Gajowniczek. When the sentence of doom had been pronounced, Gajowniczek had cried out in despair, "Oh, my poor wife, my poor children. I shall never see them again." It was then that the unexpected had happened, and that from among the ranks of those temporarily reprieved, prisoner 16670 had stepped forward and offered himself in the other man's place. Then the ten condemned men were led off to the dreaded Bunker, to the airless underground cells where men died slowly without food or water.

Bruno Borgowiec was an eyewitness of those last terrible days, for he was an assistant to the janitor and an interpreter in the underground Bunkers. He tells us what happened: "In the cell of the poor wretches there were daily loud prayers, the rosary and singing, in which prisnoers from neighbouring cells also joined. When no SS men were in the Block, I went to the Bunker to talk to the men and comfort them. Fervent prayers and songs to the Holy Mother resounded in all the corridors of the Bunker. I had the impression I was in a church. Fr Kolbe was leading and the prisoners responded in unison. They were often so deep in prayer that they did not even hear that inspecting SS men had descended to the Bunker; and the voices fell silent only at the loud yelling of their visitors. When the cells were opened the poor wretches cried loudly and begged for a piece of bread and for water, which they did not receive, however. If any of the stronger ones approached the door he was immediately kicked in the stomach by the SS men, so that falling backwards on the cement floor he was instantly killed; or he was shot to death ... Fr Kolbe bore up bravely, he did not beg and did not complain but raised the spirits of the others. ...Since they had grown very weak, prayers were now only whispered. At every inspection, when almost all the others were now lying on the floor, Fr Kolbe was seen kneeling or standing in the centre as he looked cheerfully in the face of the SS men. Two weeks passed in this way. Meanwhile one after another they died, until only Fr Kolbe was left. This the authorities felt was too long; the cell was needed for new victims. So one day they brought in the head of the sickquarters, a German, a common criminal named Bock, who gave Fr Kolbe an injection of carbolic acid in the vein of his left arm. Fr Kolbe, with a prayer on his lips, himself gave his arm to the executioner. Unable to watch this I left under the pretext of work to be done. Immediately after the SS men with the executioner had left I returned to the cell, where I found Fr Kolbe leaning in a sitting position against the back wall with his eyes open and his head dropping sideways. His face was calm and radiant."

The heroism of Fr Kolbe went echoing through Auschwiz. In that desert of hatred he had sown love. Mr Jozef Stemler, former director of an important cultural institute in Poland, comments: "In those conditions ... in the midst of a brutalization of thought and feeling and words such as had never before been known, man indeed became a ravening wolf in his relations with other men. And into this state of affairs came the heroic self-sacrifice of Fr Maximilian. The atmosphere grew lighter, as this thunderbolt provoked its profound and salutary shock." Jerzy Bielecki declared that Fr Kolbe's death was "a shock filled with hope, bringing new life and strength. ...It was like a powerful shaft of light in the darkness of the camp."

His reputation spread far and wide, through the Nazi camps and beyond. After the war newspapers all over the world were deluged with articles about this "saint for our times", "saint of progress", "giant of holiness". Biographies were written, and everywhere there were claims of cures being brought about through his intercession. "The life and death of this one man alone," wrote the Polish bishops, "can be proof and witness of the fact that the love of God can overcome the greatest hatred, the greatest injustice, evern death itself." The demands for his beatification became insistent, and at last on 12 August 1947 proceedings started. Seventy-five witnesses were questioned. His cause was introduced on 16 March 1960. When all the usual objections had been overcome, the promoter spoke of the "charm of this magnificent fool." On 17 October 1971, Maximilian Kolbe was beatified. Like his master Jesus Christ he had loved his fellow-men to the point of sacrificing his life for them. "Greater love hath no man than this ..." and these were the opening words of the papal decree introducing the process of beatification. Fr Kolbe's canonisation was not long delayed. It was the Pope from Poland, John Paul II, who had the joy of declaring his compatriot a saint on 10 October 1982.

St Maximilian Kolbe's feast day is 14 August, the day before the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady.

Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, pray for us.

“For Jesus I am willing to suffer more “!

[njawaidofficial]

How a Polish Cinematography Festival Became a Bellwether for Oscar Season

http://styleveryday.com/2017/08/29/how-a-polish-cinematography-festival-became-a-bellwether-for-oscar-season/

How a Polish Cinematography Festival Became a Bellwether for Oscar Season

Twenty-five years ago, a small group of movie enthusiasts in Torun, a city in northern Poland, decided that not enough attention was paid to cinematographers, the men and women responsible for capturing images on film. So they approached two icons of the craft — Sven Nykvist, who had shot many films for Ingmar Bergman, and Vittorio Storaro, who had worked frequently with Bernardo Bertolucci — to see if they would be willing to take part in a new film festival.

Marek Zydowicz, the founder and current director of what has become Camerimage, laid out a manifesto: “The role of cinematographers and their importance as contributors to the visual effect of the whole construction — the final shape of the film picture — is usually underappreciated. Yet the creation of moving pictures by means of a camera goes back to the sources of the cinema and camera storytelling, in which a picture, equally with the plot, accumulates the meaning. This would not be possible without the great art of cinematographers.”

And so the first Camerimage was held Nov. 22 to 28, 1993, in Torun. Nykvist, an Oscar winner for Cries & Whispers and Fanny and Alexander, attended, and he received the first Golden Frog Award for Lifetime Achievement in cinematography. (While Berlin hands out a Golden Bear, and Venice, a Golden Lion, Camerimage chose an amphibian as its standard-bearer.) Three-time Oscar winner Storaro (Apocalypse Now) agreed to be a member of the jury, alongside then-president of the American Society of Cinematographers Victor Kemper (Emmy nominee for Kojak: The Price of Justice). The jury voted to give its first Golden Frog for best cinematography to Stuart Dryburgh for Jane Campion’s The Piano.

A quarter of a century later, Camerimage has become so established that, on the week of Nov. 11, any name cinematographer who isn’t working is likely to be found in Bydgoszcz, Poland, where the festival — this year’s edition is officially dubbed the 25th International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage — now takes place. (Bydgoszcz lured it away from Lodz in 2010, when plans for a new theater in Lodz hit an impasse.) The fest doesn’t focus on premieres or red carpets; instead it screens programs in 10 competitive categories, which includes a main lineup of new feature films as well as documentaries, music videos and TV pilots, while also hosting panel discussions, workshops and product demonstrations. Last year, it attracted 72,000 attendees, featuring 610 cinematographers from 45 countries.

The event has emerged as a bellwether for what’s to come during Oscar season. In three of the past four years, the winners of Camerimage’s Golden Frog in the main competition have gone on to earn Oscar nominations. That includes 2013 winner Ida, which won the Oscar for best foreign-language film and earned a nom for cinematographers Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski; 2015 winner Carol, which collected six Oscar nominations, among them one for cinematographer Edward Lachman; and 2016 winner Lion, which earlier this year earned six Oscar nominations, including one for cinematographer Greig Fraser. (The 2014 Golden Frog winner, Leviathan, was nominated for a foreign-language film Oscar.)

“Camerimage has become a trendsetter for the Academy Awards,” says Kees van Oostrum (Return to Lonesome Dove), president of the American Society of Cinematographers. “Because of the large concentration of great work and the exposure it gets, it seems to solidify great cinematography.”

“Marek and [festival office director] Kazik Suwala contacted the ASC very early on for support,” recalls ASC’s former president Richard Crudo (American Pie). ASC responded by inviting them to its own awards show and associated events each year. “They have done a tremendous service to cinematography,” adds Crudo. “Everyone makes the effort to go.”

A list of past attendees and honorees features some of cinema’s most influential cinematographers: Among those honored with Camerimage’s Lifetime Achievement Award are Owen Roizman (The French Connection) and Michael Chapman (Raging Bull), in addition to the late Laszlo Kovacs (Easy Rider), Vilmos Zsigmond (Close Encounters of the Third Kind), Conrad Hall (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), William Fraker (Bullitt), Haskell Wexler (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) and Michael Ballhaus (Goodfellas).

For many attendees, the event begins at Warsaw Chopin Airport, followed by a drive of several hours to Bydgoszcz. Cinematographer Rachel Morrison (the upcoming Mudbound) says of her first Camerimage: “I was there with a short film in the student competition, and I shared the shuttle with [Uruguay-born cinematographer] Cesar Charlone. Actors don’t intimidate me, but Cesar Charlone — I was totally starstruck. City of God is one of my favorite films. We chatted the whole way to the festival. I picked his brain on everything from 16mm film to how one managed to have a family as a working DP.”

A year ago, Fraser was in Italy shooting Mary Magdelene for his Lion director, Garth Davis, when he received word that Lion had won the Golden Frog. Unable to attend, he quickly recorded remarks from the set, which were played during the ceremony. “I’m a huge fan of Camerimage, and I was glad I was able to give a speech,” he says, adding that it was important for him to be able to talk about the entire team, from the crew to the equipment suppliers. “At general awards shows, you don’t have time to talk about your [crew], but at Camerimage you can discuss how they all helped contribute to the look of the movie. Also, suppliers like Panavision and ARRI are often overlooked, but they are tireless in working to make our tools better.”

Though all of the details for this year’s fest haven’t been revealed, Paul Hirsch, who cut the original 1977 Star Wars, will receive the Editors Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to John Toll, who has earned consecutive Oscars for Legends of the Fall and Braveheart. Reflecting on Camerimage, Toll says, “Since there is usually only one cinematographer working on a film, the festival is a unique opportunity for cinematographers to meet one another and share ideas.”

•••

THE TOWN THAT HOSTS THE FEST Founded in the 14th century, the Polish city of Bydgoszcz, home to Camerimage since 2010, offers appropriately picturesque charms.

Słoneczny Młyn Hotel  The four-star hotel, which boasts art nouveau and art deco decor, occupies what once was a 19th century mill on the banks of the Brda River.

Weranda Restaurant Located in the Bohema Hotel & Spa, it is celebrating its 10th anniversary and offers dishes like goose leg on a bed of carrots with lentil dumplings.

Old Market Square Cafes and restaurants, ideal for quick meetups or casual people-watching, line this landmark at the center of the city, which was established in 1346.

To Toast the Awards Want to drink like the Polish locals? Favorite libations include Zubrowka and Wyborowa vodkas and Zywiec beer.

This story first appeared in the Aug. 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

#Bellwether #Cinematography #Festival #Oscar #Polish #Season

[docholligay]

OKay so I think we’re pretty obviously doing some Eve/Snake/Tree of Knowledge shit here with Ruthie. 

And I’m not sure how I think it’s going to accomplish that. There’s so much snake imagery surrounding her and she is currently trying to sleep with Ben, and I think Ben likes her too, as uch as I want none of this, but Ben is so perpetually weird about everything all the time that it’s near impossible to tell what he’s really meaning by all of this. Is Ruthie going to bring him toward the things he needs to know to fully embody what his life means as the avatar? It can hardly be said that Ben is naive to everything going around him, he’s just AVOIDANT, but that I suppose can be naivete in its own way, that up to now he has believed that he could simply ignore everything he is. 

This sort of goes back to my whole thing about Justin and what does it be mean to be born into something, do you have any choice at all? I would say he has no choice but to be drawn into it, but only because of outside forces, not that him being born with these powers really meant he had to. If not for Lodz and Management and even Justin now in on the action, could Ben not just be a little weirdo? How much is “Fate” and how much is our own belief in what we are “fated to”? 

[unbounduk]

Vision

Just browsing the Heart of the Father facebook page and this new vision banner caught my eye. How beautiful. And the very last phrase ‘in the Father’s love’ is touching. 

At the recent Hungary conference, Fr Roman from Warsaw gave the talk on the 5th Unbound Key - the Father’s Blessing, and he opened with, ‘This last key is the most important key’. It came to me as something of a surprise. This last key is not an afterthought, a simple blessing of what has gone before to seal what has happened. Now, do we realise that, or are we just wanting a ‘quick fix’ of ‘getting free’? A quick fix is falling short of the ‘one thing necessary’ Jesus spoke of to Martha when her sister Mary made the choice to sit at his feet - that is, become a student follower of Jesus.

There’s nothing, nothing, so transforming as experiencing the love of Father God. Since my trip to Poland  and experiencing personal Intercessory prayer in the Lodz House of Mercy I’m:

- more relaxed

- more peaceful

- trusting of God in all kinds of situations

 - wanting to give people (and God) my attention and presence rather than rush on to the next thing. 

And my secret delight is knowing more deeply than before that I’m loved. Spoken over me in prayer were the words, ‘You are beloved son of God, you were born in the heart of God.’

We notice when we pray with people that the Father’s Blessing can be the most moving and healing, freeing, experience of the entire prayer session. Fr Roman did not let this go unnoticed. This is Belonging, going beyond just relief from the things that hold us back, to the real freedom of knowing the security of having a heavenly Dad. The witness who wrote the gospel of John wrote of Jesus: ‘But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.’ John 1:12  Andrew

See photos of the Hungary Conference here

[docholligay]

Oh I know Ben is going to react badly to this because Ben is a dumb boy and holy shit ben she has a son like, your age, how are you surprised that she’s had sex before??

And I mean, okay, let’s say that it’s the ~sheer volume~ implied by Lodz that’s getting to him SINCE WHEN DO WE EVER BELIEVE ANYTHING LODZ SAYS, EVER? I mean even Ben, who is sometimes a huge idiot, knows that Lodz is duplicitous. Ruthie has been nothing but kind to Ben, and Lodz has been nothing but a largely unhelpful jackass (admittedly, Ben doesn’t want help, but) and he seems to immediately be taking Lodz’ part. 

OH! But maybe it’s that Ben thinks if Ruthie was kind to him, if she was coming on to him, it MUST be true that she behaves this way toward every man. That nothing about Ben can be worthy of especial affection, and that to maybe have thought so for one second is this huge folly, and it was Ruthie who made him believe that for one second, and so damn her.