Maciej Kawalski’s new Short Film ATLAS focuses on the issue of mental health affecting one individual who has a peculiar talent for stillness. However, the people around him don’t appreciate the significance as they try to get him motivated in some shape or form.
Film and TV Now recently spoke with the director about the film.
FILM AND TV NOW: You have a very stylish title sequence, with white credits placed over a moving camera. Was this your first intention when conceiving the title sequence and does it have a hidden meaning in the narrative?
MACIEJ KAWAKSKI: The VFX Supervisor came up with the idea for the sequence when he saw the opening shots. I love it when your creative team picks up the initial idea and carries it way way further than you thought possible!
Matter of fact, there is a hidden message as well. A subtle one. As the camera travels towards the cell in which Atlas is locked, the aspect ratio compresses from a 16:9 wideframe to 4:3, almost a square. I wanted to have the world of the story confined and compressed just as the main character is. And in the end, when Atlas gets released, so is the aspect ratio. He can finally breathe and so can we.
FTVN: The film is also about interpretation as much as it is about mental health and identity. How many drafts of the script did you write and what was the start-off point?
MK: I had been studying Medicine when I decided to apply to film school. At the time I was in my the third year of Medical University and had a course in Clinical Psychiatry, which was quite an experience! It involved shifts in real hospitals, meeting actual patients and the patient meeting whom impressed me the most was a catatonic man who spent his entire days standing motionless. Nobody knew why he did that. His mystery in the end blossomed into a script.
What fascinated me was how drawn people were to fill the gaps in his story. After a week or so after his admission the other patients, the medical personnel, the students started to spread ‘informed gossip’ about him. It was as if people could not stand someone being a blank page, and since he didn’t write up his, people invented it for him.
And as you say — it’s all a matter of interpretation! We all take the random facts of life we happen to observe and fit them into the story of our lives. That becomes the story we tell ourselves about us and others. And the craziest thing is, the interpretation of that story becomes the very real substance of our lives!
It’s only in the light of that story and its interpretation if we see ourselves powerless or empowered. If, Atlas, we tell ourselves we are stuck and cannot move a muscle — we can’t. It becomes as real as brick wall. It does not cease to amaze me.
When it comes to the script, I thing it was the seventh draft which made the cut. I wrote the first draft in a notebook I had my notes for Medicine as well. I have found it recently and it was hilarious to see scene ideas scribbled in between notes on Clinical Psychiatry and Pathophysiology.
FTVN: You are tackling mental health, a subject that has to be handled with great sensitivity, but which has provided winning films over the years, notably with Samuel Fuller’s SHOCK CORRIDOR and Milos Forman’s Oscar-winning ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST. How much research into the script did you undertake before reaching your final version of it?
MK: ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST is one of my favourite book and film, respectively!
When it came to medical research I had it assigned simply by studying Medicine, so cramming for an exam in Psychiatry I was also researching Atlas. Double duty.
In hindsight I see it as a gift, otherwise the particulars of the microcosm which a psychiatric ward is would be hidden from me.
You are so correct pointing the sensitivity required! To this end I am a firm believer in ‘compassionate comedy’ — one which laughs at the insanity of the human condition in the universe, but without contempt and derision. It’s difficult enough without these.
FTVN: The climactic special effects sequence is impressive for a short film. Tell us about your creative team who executed this scene.
MK: Wow! I love these guys! Maciek Stanislawski and Krzysztof Karnicki deserve a huge credit! The post-production was made in ‘Film Garden’. As the company specialises in TVC post-production it was often after-hours work for the team. It took a couple of months to pull it off but I couldn’t be happier with the result.
FTVN: Tell us about the location where you shot.
MK: The place took ages to find!
Together with location scouts, the cinematographer, and the set designer we have visited a couple of dozen old castles, palaces, abandoned hospitals, and mountain shelters to find it.
I had a location in mind which would be remote and had an eerie magical air to it. When we finally arrived in Lubiaz, we knew that this was it. It is an abandoned XII century monastery in which at some point there really was a psychiatric hospital! That last bit added a touch of magic to our thinking about that place.
As picturesque as it is it was hell to shoot in. In March it was piercingly cold inside and no amount of heating we could muster could do anything about it. The cold was simply unbearable.
FTVN: Tell us about your cast.
MK: When it came to casting Atlas, the first actor I had in mind was Tomasz Kot. We didn’t know each other beforehand, but my casting director passed him the script, and he liked it enough to arrange a meeting.
We met at a restaurant and were supposed to talk it over over lunch. Half an hour, forty-five minutes tops. We ended up talking for over three hours! It was then that I was sure if that film is to be made, Atlas has to be Tomasz.
His schedule was full to bursting, so my production was faced with about a year-long wait for Tomasz. It was worth it.
Tomasz had a short window open before he started working on COLD WAR with Pawel Pawlikowski, and we managed to shoot ATLAS then.
The next talent on my dream list was Marian Opania, a legendary Polish actor, who starred in over 70 films. When he agreed to do it, I knew we’re going to be okay.
And we were! The entire cast was a delight to work with! We had a great time on set, and I am sure they elevated ATLAS way above what I would be able to think up alone. They breathed life into this story, and I believe it shows on the silver screen.
The cast are well known Polish film and theatre actors who decided to join our film for the fun of it, since, as you are aware, there is no millions in short films. But nobody ever let me feel it! When they decided to join they were as committed as if it was a normal paid gig. I am so grateful for their contribution!
FTVN: Tell us about your crew.
MK: The crew was absolutely fantastic! I had worked with the cinematographer, Pawel Dyllus, and the set-designer, Alicja Kazimierczak, on previous shorts and commercials, so I was sure I could count on them in any unforeseen apocalyptic mishaps that occasionally happen on film sets.
They both attracted excellent collaborators to their departments so the entire set was a well oiled machine, and boy was it a boost!
As I mentioned, filming ATLAS was very, very tough! Most of the shooting took place in an unheated XII century monastery, which, in March had this ruthless cold about it. Despite all our heaters that cold somehow bore through you despite all the four jackets you would have on. Our excellent Steadicam operator, Adam Mendry, had a particularly tough assignment, doing long mastershots in the biting cold. So, in essence, it was a film-makers’ version of Navy Seals ‘Hell Week.’
The comparison is apt since the harder it was to survive, the more bound together the crew became. There was a sense of overcoming a physical and creative challenge together, and it created a lot of good vibe despite all the hardship.
FTVN: Your lead actor, Tomasz Kot, will also feature in your debut feature film, GENTLEMEN OF ZAKOPANE. Tell us about this project and how long has it been in development?
MK: I wrote the first draft in 2016 and after a few years of percolating further drafts and raising the financing I hope to shoot the film next year. Can’t wait!
The story follows Joseph Conrad and three other notorious Polish artists who wake up after a crazy bohemian party with a dead man on their couch, and not a shred of a clue who is that and why is he dead.
Tomasz is to play the leading role of a doctor of medicine who has to face a couple of murders and two revolutionary plots to figure if he was really meant to be a doctor after all.
Similarly to ATLAS it is a comedy and I aim to make it thought-provoking as much as funny.
FTVN: How did you raise backing for the film and tell us about some of the financial backers and companies who helped you realise your vision.
MK: The film was financed through the Thirty Minutes program run by Munk Studio. An invaluable experience financed by Polish Filmmakers Association and Polish Film Institute.
This program makes it possible for young film-makers to create a mid-range film — a sort of stepping stone between film school shorts and making their first feature length film.
At some point, however, our production encountered an unforeseen budget shortage and two weeks before shooting we weren’t certain if the film would get made after all. This is when an entrepreneur and former senator, Tomasz Misiak, stepped in and saved our production. I am so grateful for his help in that crucial moment!Â
FTVN: How long did you shoot for?
MK: We had seven days to shoot it. It feels long for a film of that length, however with short winter days and shooting on location there was no time to spare.
FTVN: Kot was part of the award-winning COLD WAR film. How much of a coup was it to have him on board for this?
MK: An absolute coup!
When I approached him, Tomasz was still involved in making Gods, a film about an eminent Polish cardiac surgeon, in which he was the lead as well. So he was busy for a number of months in advance. I decided to wait for his availability and thanks to it we found a short window in which he was in between larger films.
I was lucky to have shot Atlas right before Tomasz started working on COLD WAR. I think it wouldn’t be possible in the other order. Shooting COLD WAR took over a year and since making it Tomasz’s calendar is more than full.
FTVN: Tell us about the music and sound design of the film.
MK: As much as I love every step of the film making process, I have a particular fondness for the stage when music and sound design comes in. In Atlas, the music was composed by Lukasz Targosz, a phenomenal Polish composer!
We made a number of shorts and commercials together, and each time it is an inspiring and eye-opening experience. In films he works on Lukasz unfailingly finds layers and insights the directors haven’t thought of. It is a rare gift. Thanks to it he is able to make music which enriches and even redefines the film.
So in essence when I finish the edit of a piece I go to Lukasz to see what is the film I really made and if it’s any good.
Same goes for Maciej Pawlowski, who was the sound designer of ATLAS, whose other credits include COLD WAR. It as blessing to work with such professionals. Maciej plays with the sound design like a conductor with a life orchestra. I have no idea how he does it, but it extremely gratifying to see him elevate the film you’ve made!
FTVN: Finally, the film is generating some considerable buzz on the short film and festival circuit. How much of these events have you managed to attend over the months?
MK: Matter of fact not many! I wrote and directed a TV series for Canal+ this year and shooting it prevented me from attending most of the festivals Atlas was in.
Thankfully in November Atlas will be shown on St. Louis International Film Festival, Miami Short Film Festival and Rome International Film Festival — so I can catch up.
Click on the following social media links for more information on ATLAS:
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/atlastheshortfilm
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/atlastheshortfilm/
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