Communion

Ola is fourteen and it is she who runs the house. There is a father who cannot manage on his own, an autistic brother, and a mother who lives apart and is mostly heard over the phone. What Ola wants most is for her mother to come home, and she works at putting a scattered family back together. The first communion of her thirteen year old brother Nikodem becomes a pretext for the family to gather. Preparing a perfect family celebration falls entirely on Ola. The documentary does not present a child standing in for an adult as an achievement; it shows how early it is. Her relation with her brother moves between patience and anger, and the film shows both. Anna Zamecka’s seventy two minute documentary, a joint Polish and Czech production, was completed in 2016.