"Maja Gordon goes to Chorzow" - Description
Why?
The idea for the film “Maja Gordon goes to Chorzów” came out of exhaustion. Exhaustion of the way of treating the history of Polish-Jewish relationships, and the way in which the contemporary relation between the Jews and the Poles is understood. Festivals of Jewish Culture remind of heritage parks. The tourists from Israel follow always the same sightseeing path - concentration camps, ruins and souvenirs. All of that is necessary, but it turns against the fundamental matter which is meeting of living people. That is why the film “Maria Gordon goes to Chorzów” is an attempt at “concealing” the past with present, which to the author of the film seems much more important. Memory in this film is merely an opportunity for an adventure, which is a trip to Śląsk, where Maja was born. Polish train, hotel, arguments, conversations and the tension between Maja and accompanying her Rajka – her friend - are the true content of the film. The memory of the enforced displacement and the trauma accompanying it and the misfortune of eradication seem to be only a background, real but distant. Although – paradoxically - if not for the story from the past, there wouldn’t be any present, any journey and any adventure.
In this film a certain longing for Poland, for the author - Rajka it is a longing with a “different accent”.
What?
Maja Gordon left Poland in 1957, eleven years before the mass exodus of Polish Jews. She was 10 years old. She lives in Amsterdam. She has not mastered fluently speaking Dutch. She speaks Hebrew, Polish and English. She is an artist, but she doesn’t work too much. She celebrates life, lives in a big, beautiful studio in Amsterdam city center, she takes care of her friends who struggle with AIDS, and she throws parties on the occasion of Jewish and catholic holidays for her friends. She cooks, and she does it great. She talks on the phone mainly in Hebrew. She says about herself: I am a food processor. Among her closest friends there are a few polish artists. It seems that to her Poland is in the first place a country where you can really feel and understand yourself and return to the artistic life.
The film “Maja Gordon goes to Chorzów” is also a story about a strange relationship connecting two women, Maja Gordon and Joanna Rajkowska. Maja Gordon decides to return to Poland and make journey to the place of her birth - to Śląsk, to Chorzów, and afterwards to the place of her early childhood years - to Gliwice. It is her first journey to Śląsk since she emigrated in 1957, and at the same time a return which may allow her to make final decision about taking up residence in Poland for a longer time. Because of the film Maja will rent an apartment in Warsaw and will stay in Poland for couple of months. It is a very important thread - Maja returns to make a film about herself - about her return.
Joanna Rajkowska