Atomen – Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art

U–jazdowski Cinema invites you to a special screening of the film Atomen, followed by a meeting with the filmmakers: the director and screenwriter Kate Cragg and producer and cinematographer Daniel Landin.

Inspired by the play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler, Atomen is a poignant portrayal of the everyday life and problems of the inhabitants of contemporary Berlin. The reflective and hypnotically melancholic rhythm of the story exposes the alienation and confusion of the characters, so desperately seeking meaning and stability in a world that seems to be falling apart.

Tired of life, Yasmina spends every evening in one of Berlin’s bars. A solitary drink helps her prepare to return home and face her life in a loveless marriage. One night, however, an unexpected turn of events breaks Yasmina’s daily routine and makes her realise that many more people around her feel alienated and lost just like her.

Echoes of the old Berlin blend with a contemporary divided Europe, struggling with the growing effects of advanced capitalism. The film shows the consequences of living in a society where values have been replaced by prices. Is there still space for true human closeness in a world that tells us to care only about ourselves, and where concepts such as “truth” and “beauty” are losing their original meaning? Is it still possible to find the meaning and hope that give the strength to go on?

We will look for answers to these questions and talk about the work on the film together with the authors Kate Cragg and Daniel Landin in a post-screening talk hosted by Piotr Kopszak.

Kate Cragg

British film and theatre director, university lecturer and psychoanalyst based in London. Her films have screened at many international film festivals including Raindance in Berlin, and her film Shell won the Best Director of Short Film award at the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema in 2002. Kate Cragg has developed her own method of working with actors, combining the techniques of dance, pantomime and epic theatre, which primarily involves focusing on the relationships between the characters and working on the ideas in the script rather than directly on the text.

Daniel Landin

British cinematographer and producer living in London, whose work includes The Uninvited (directed by Charles Guard and Thomas Guard, 2009), Under the Skin (directed by Jonathan Glazer, 2013), Ray and Liz (directed by Richard Billingham, 2019).

Piotr Kopszak

Polish art historian, curator, publisher, director of the Warsaw Archdiocese Museum.

• The talk will be held in English.