It was the Bolesławiec premiere because the film had already been screened at the end of September in the Warsaw Hall at the Gdynia Film Centre, as part of the “Young People for History” competition at the 8th Niepokorni, Niezłomni, Wyklęci Film Festival. “We certainly would not be here if it were not for Ms Maria, who agreed to a very long conversation—one lasting nearly two hours. Almost 17 minutes of film were created from those two hours,” said at Orzeł Przemysław Kania, a student at the II General Secondary School and director of “Aby Być.” “Thank you for the beautiful motivation and the beautiful—though very difficult and painful—story.”
The film’s protagonist, Maria Niemczuk, said: “Our cooperation began when Gimnazjum No. 2 [którego Przemek jest absolwentem – przyp. „ii”] began bearing our name—the Poles Deported to Siberia. We Siberian deportees visited that school very often; we saw young people who were so committed to and moved by our fate. It is a shame that the Gimnazjum will no longer exist.”
She added: “When speaking in the film about our family, I meant all the families that experienced the same tragedy, the same history—sad, painful, but true. The Russians were kind, especially the women, who befriended us. But not the authorities. When I praise the Russians, I do not mean representatives of the Kremlin led by Stalin.”
Ms Maria spoke about how her neighbour from the time of their deportation fell ill with typhus. The woman was very weak and went alone to a nearby clinic. At one point, she met a Russian woman who saw that the Polish woman was barely able to stand. The sick woman eventually lost consciousness. She woke up in a hospital bed. As it turned out, the Russian woman she had met had helped her and visited her until the typhus patient regained consciousness. The two women never saw each other again.
The Bolesławiec premiere was enhanced by performances from vocalists Anna Wróblewska and Aleksandra Kiepura, as well as rapper Kacper Kukawski. The ceremony was hosted by Łukasz Janiec and Tomisław Pranić. Małgorzata Matyjaszczuk provided artistic supervision for the film. Some of the footage was filmed by Mateusz Rzepiak.