Village of Swimming Cows (2018)

UK/Poland, Documentary, 78 min

Is a new healthy lifestyle only a passing fashion of rich city dwellers or can it really change the world? What does it really mean to be close to nature? Ellen, Mario and Jon, members of the spiritual commune – the Spirit Center- head East to the Beibrza National Park for a working holiday. They extend their stay in a small Polish village close to the Belarusian border where they rent an old wooden cottage from a local farmer. While there they meditate, practice acro-yoga, wash naked in the well and eat vegetables found in rubbish bins, all with the aim of reconnecting with nature and reducing their footprint on the planet. Local’s caution to their exotic ways, communication barriers and fundamentally different life philosophies makes bridging the culture gap difficult – is friendship possible between followers of alternative lifestyles and the rural communities they infringe upon?

 

Director Katarzyna Trzaska

Producer Katarzyna Trzaska

Co-producers Monika Braid, Marta Duzbabel and Marek Zydowicz

Cinematographer Andrzej Wojciechowski
 

Production Companies
Zygizaga, TVP S.A., Braidmade Films, Tumult

Funding
Polish Film Institute, Cassiopeia Pictures Ltd.

Trailer

 

Gallery

Festivals

 

Special Mention of the Jury at 28th Festival of Media “Man in Danger” in Lodz, Poland 2018

Podlasie SlowFest, Suprasl, Poland

Zwierzyniecka Akademia Filmowa Poland

Festival Opolskie Lamy, Opole, Poland

PROVINZIALE IFF – Eberswalde, Germany

16th IFF Tofifest, Torun, Poland 

Camerimage Film Festival, Poland 

Och Festival Lowicz, Poland

One World IFF Prague, Czech Republic 

Achtung Berlin April, German

Kino na Granicy, Cieszyn, Poland

Festival of Polish Films in Moscow, Russia