In the best film of Amsterdam’s IDFA (2022) and the best Nordic documentary of Göteborg, 13 vulnerable years of a vivid, intimate, turbulent, and lovely life are mesmerizingly edited into two very short hours. The French-Danish-Polish painter Apolonia Sokol (follow her on Instagram!) was born in a Parisian underground theatre and immediately dived into a free-spirited bohemian existence. She inherited eccentricity, charisma, generosity, and boundless creativity from her actor parents. Danish filmmaker Lea Glob somehow gained Apolonia’s blessings to film everything and everywhere from the closest distances at any given moment.

Extraordinary fascinating documentary circles inside two distinctive friendships. We follow Apolonia’s long-term stormy relationship with a rebellious Ukrainian activist, refugee, and feminist Oksana, who sometimes lives with her in the theatre's messy rooftop studio. Meanwhile, the silent and mostly invisible observer Lea uses her wholehearted trust not to betray Apolonia’s struggles, joys, fights, painful lessons, and heartbreaking sacrifices while squeezing herself into an almost totally patriarchal world of visual art and discovering the wildest ranges of love. Confident and resilient in her own way Apolonia daringly exposes her talents, bounds, and choices body and soul.

Edvinas Pukšta