PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Bartosz M. Kowalski, director of the film Playground, from the 16th Transilvania International Film Festival.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture

Bartosz Kowalski presented his film Playground at the 16th Transilvania International Film Festival. The film has been deemed as shocking by many, and Kowalski tells us about some of the most surprisingly outrageous reactions that the film has received. Surely, its tale of violence and children is quite shocking. Nonetheless, Kowalski reveals that the origins of his movie can be traced back to a true event that happened in Britain and was written about in newspapers. He also talks about talking about his research process that included talking with child psychopathologists. The stories behind children’s acts of violence are very complicated. Furthermore, there are some decisions that Kowalski took in the making of Playground that he himself is unable to understand. Sometimes, he says, “it feels like the best thing, and we cannot really explain why.”

Playground: final day of school in a small Polish town. It’s the very last chance for a 12-year-old Gabrysia to tell her classmate that she had fallen in love with him. She sets up a secret meeting and blackmails the boy to show up. But what was supposed to be an intimate talk spins out of control.