I Am One of Them
Spring Grants 2023 - Production Stage
Nadim Suleiman / Feature Documentary / Poland, Syria, Qatar / 72 min / Original Language: Arabic, Polish / Interests: Documentary
Synopsis
At the lake of a small town, Grzegorz makes a living by guiding tourist cruises on his boat, on which he coincidentally meets Nadim, a filmmaker from Syria. The two seemingly different men develop an instant connection, and Grzegorz opens up in front of Nadim’s camera. A year later, Nadim returns to Łagów to discover that Grzegorz has become a regional leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement in western Poland. The film follows Grzegorz’s journey as a politician running for local elections, ending with his failure and withdrawal from politics. In the deserted off-season Łagów, Nadim witnesses Grzegorz’s autumn crisis and his struggle to find purpose.
The director’s arrival breaks the protagonist’s loneliness. Grzegorz reveals the story of his little brother, who drowned in the lake, which he crosses daily with his boat. This horrifying family trauma which was never dealt with, triggered in him the need to speak up and to be heard—something Nadim and Grzegorz have in common. Nadim turns the camera on himself to reveal his fear of being an outcast, a fear which doesn’t allow him to be himself. After seven years of exploring their identities, Grzegorz and Nadim set off on a trip to Syria, seeking closure of their mutual journey.
Credits
- Director
- Nadim Suleiman
- Screenwriter
- Nadim Suleiman
- Producer
- Nadim Suleiman, Adrianna Redzia
- Production Company
- Palmyra Films Ltd.
About the Director
Nadim Suleiman was born in 1995 in Damascus, Syria and is a graduate of the Film & TV Directing department at the Polish National Film School in Lodz. His short films have been shown at film festivals in Poland and abroad, including the Koszalin Debuts Film Festival and the Hamburg International Short Film Festival. In 2020, he co-founded the production company Palmyra Films Ltd., which aims to produce films that tell stories of people overcoming fear and bias in today’s wall-building culture. The company is a monument to the ancient Syrian city at the heart of the Silk Road, which used to connect the East and West. Nadim has gained experience working on films such as 'The Green Border' by Agnieszka Holland, 'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' by Francis Lawrence, 'Bread and Salt' by Damian Kocur and 'The Republic of Children' by Jan J. Kolski. He is currently based in Warsaw, Poland.