\"Walking Under Water\" by Eliza Kubarska at Museum of Natural History in New York (video/trailer)

The Consulate General of the Republic of Poland  and  the Polish Cultural Institute New York  invite you to  WALKING UNDER THE WATER by ELIZA KUBARSKA.

Following the 2010 presentation of Magdalena Kowalczyk\'s BY THE RIVER at the Margaret Mead Film & Video Film Festival, the Polish Cultural Institute is proud to support the screening of another Polish production WALKING UNDER WATER by Eliza Kubarska, which will have its NY premiere on Oct. 25.

The film is a journey from a fairy tale-like world of the simple people that believe in magic to the end of that world  where floating rubbish is left in place of lively colonies. Eliza Kubarska.

Alexan, the last practitioner of a traditional, makeshift diving method called compressor diving on Mabul Island near Borneo, teaches his nephew, 10-year-old Sari, everything he knows, from dangerous fishing techniques and the temptations of the tourist economy to wisdom about the underwater world. Walking Under Water presents the Badjao peoples ancient traditions and collective experience as a magical narrative, spinning the urgent pressures and problems they face into a hybrid of fantasy, fiction and fact. The Badjao once lived like fish, spending the majority of their time in the water, but with the encroachment of modern civilization that way of life has become nearly extinct. Breathtaking underwater photography emphasizes this loss and the drought of enchantment on dry land. While Alexan refuses to accept that the world of his ancestors is gone, Sari is torn between his longing to be a fisherman like his uncle and the tug of the new world in the form of a nearby resort.

Eliza Kubarska specializes in adventure filmmaking and extreme location work. She is a Polish alpinist and traveler. In 2010 she made her first feature documentary What Happened on Pam Island (aka Mountain Love Story), that won many prestigious awards. Apart from Walking Under Water, she has recently directed another documentary titled The Baltoro Passage, which is currently in post-production.

Monika Braid is an independent film producer, who works on fiction and documentary films with international production companies and broadcasters.

Walking Under Water - UK/Poland/Germany, 2014 Duration: 76 min.

Filmmaker Adam Zucker adds another Polish element to the Festival in his feature-length documentary film THE RETURN, which be premiering in New York and other cities in Fall 2014. The Return focuses on lives of four young women who were raised Catholic only to discover they were Jewish in their teens. It will be screened on October 25 at 7 pm.

The 2014 Margaret Mead Film Festival, entitled "Past Forward" runs from October 23 through October 26. The Festival is the longest-running, premiere showcase for international documentaries in the United States, encompassing a broad spectrum of work, from indigenous community media to experimental nonfiction. The Festival is distinguished by its outstanding selection of titles, which tackle diverse and challenging subjects, representing a range of issues and perspectives, and by the forums for discussion with filmmakers and speakers.

Saturday, October 25, 2014
Museum of Natural History
77th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, New York, NY
Tickets: $12 General / $10 Members, Students, Senior Citizens
Opening Night and Closing Night: $15 ($13 Members, Students, Seniors)
tel: 212-769-5200