In June 2025, something important began for our team. What started as a pilot shoot in Podlasie, eastern Poland, soon became the beginning of a shared journey – both cinematic and personal.
For the first time, the team met in person: filmmaker Łukasz K. Kamiński, Carmel Tanaka (founder of Canada’s first Jewish queer and trans charitable nonprofit and is currently conducting the “Jewpanese Project”, an oral history project at the intersection of being Jewish and Japanese), her friend Stefan Hoffmann and cameraman Maciej Eichelberger. These days together were not only about filming. They were about listening, walking through landscapes of memory, and beginning to understand how a family history could become a film.
The footage we captured during those early days was primarily reconnaissance material – a way to explore locations, tone, and storytelling approaches for the larger documentary project we are developing. At the same time, the recordings became something meaningful on their own: a short film reportage that captures the atmosphere of those first encounters.
Today, we are sharing the full 42-minutes film from that trip.
Part of the material filmed during this visit will later be incorporated into the final documentary film currently in development.
The Beginning of a Long-Term Film Journey
Those first days in Podlasie marked the start of a longer process of research, storytelling, and filmmaking. The project explores the history of the Atłasowicz family, told today by Carmel Tanaka, whose family roots reach deep into the Jewish history of the region.
Since that first visit, our work has continued to grow in several directions.
1. Second Documentary Shoot in Podlasie – August 2026
In August 2026, we will return to Podlasie for a second stage of documentary filming.
This time Carmel will travel together with her mother, Dalia Gottlieb-Tanaka.
The upcoming shoot will focus on intergenerational memory—a conversation between daughter and mother as they revisit places connected to their family history. These recordings will form an important narrative layer of the future documentary film.
2. A Short Animated Film About Szyfra Gottlieb
At the same time, we are beginning work on a 5-minute animated short film based on the story of Szyfra Gottlieb (née Atłasowicz)—Carmel’s grandmother and Dalia’s mother.
Her wartime experiences and postwar life form one of the emotional cores of this project. Through animation, we hope to bring fragments of her story to life in a visually poetic way.
The film is scheduled to premiere in August 2026 in Białystok, during commemorations marking the 83rd anniversary of the Białystok Ghetto Uprising.
3. Developing a Feature-Length Documentary-Animation Film
Beyond these steps, our broader goal is to create a feature-length documentary-animation film telling the story of Szyfra Atłasowicz family as narrated by Carmel.
We are currently working to secure the resources necessary to realize the film in full professional production conditions. As part of this process, we have begun applying for international film grants and development funds to support the project.
A Story Still Unfolding
Looking back, the June 2025 pilot shoot now feels like a quiet but decisive starting point. What began as exploratory reportage filming in the landscapes of Podlasie has grown into a multi-layered project involving documentary, animation, family history, and intergenerational dialogue.
We invite you to watch the film above and follow the next stages of this journey as the story continues to unfold.
In the photograph – Carmel Tanaka in the Jewish Cemetery of Białystok (Bagnówka). Photo taken by: Maciej Eichelberger