When adults are ineffectual, children have to grow up quickly. Ola is 14 and she takes care of her father, autistic brother and a mother who lives separately; but most of all she tries to reunite the family. She lives in the hope of bringing her mother back home. Her 13 year-old brother Nikodem’s Holy Communion is a pretext for the family to meet up. Ola is entirely responsible for preparing the perfect family celebration. COMMUNION reveals the beauty of the rejected, the strength of the weak and the need for change when change seems impossible. This crash course in growing up teaches us that no failure is final.
Especially when love is in question.

Having met Ola, Nikodem and their father I knew I wanted to make a film: about the strength of unconditional family love and the bonds forever securing it. In a cramped flat – where everything gets lost, deteriorates or falls to pieces — I saw three people so connected that a mere gesture from one of them led to an avalanche of reactions: anger, fear and concealed emotions. To capture this throng of objects and feelings the camera had to become the fourth family member.

Anna Zamecka lives and works in Warsaw, Poland. She studied Journalism, Anthropology and Photography in Warsaw and Copenhagen. She completed the Dok Pro Documentary Programme at the Wajda School. Multi-awarded COMMUNION is her full-length debut.