Unearthed

synopsis

 In 1967, extensive archaeological excavations took place near the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, during which over 16,000 objects belonging to deportees were uncovered. The excavations became the subject of a 14-minute documentary film, shot on location by director Andrzej Brzozowski. Ania Szczepańska followed in the footsteps of this film and the entire event with her film Unearthed, which she worked on for 14 years. Her documentary follows the author’s search for the circumstances surrounding the making of the film, and the significance of the excavations themselves. The history of Polish short documentary films, often screened in cinemas as supporting films, intertwines with the history of archiving related to the history of concentration camps in Poland. The director also films herself and her crew discussing more general topics related to the perception of recent history, and its impact on the present, which is currently shaken by many new military conflicts. 

“I began my investigation not knowing that this 14-minute film would occupy me for 14 years, that it would change how I view Poland, that it would change me, period.”

biography

Ania Szczepańska (born 1982) comes from Poland, but works mainly in France. Her career as a documentary filmmaker intersects with her academic practice as a historian, working with archives. She is the author of films such as Nous filmons le peuple ! (2013) and Solidarnosc, la chute du mur commence en Pologne (2019).

film details

director:	Ania Szczepanska
producer:	Virginia Subramaniyam