i was there (2025)

Format: Super8, transferred to HD
Country: UK/Poland
Duration: 13 mins
A story by Helena Kuc
As inherited by Kamila Kuc
Directed by: Kamila Kuc
Sound: Ecka Mordecai, featuring Ecka Mordecai and Valerio Tricoli
Voices: Helena Kuc, Ecka Mordecai
Ending song: Ecka Mordecai, Kamila Kuc
Cinematographer: Reed O’Beirne
Choreography: Kym McDaniel
Sound engineer: David Knight
Colour correction: Shanna Maurizi
Graphics: Andrew Philip

I Was There is a haunting exploration of familial bonds, intergenerational memory, and the enduring impact of shared narratives. Filmmaker Kamila Kuc steps into the emotional stream of inherited family history as the lines between documentary, testimony, and fiction blur. She performs acts of bearing witness not just for herself but also on behalf of her grandmother. Together, they testify to their experiences and the reverberations these stories have over time. I Was There is a palimpsest - a layered tapestry where past and present intertwine in the intimate process of activating memory and vulnerability as forms of resistance. I Was There honours the testimonial object inherited from ancestors and the living connection that binds generations in the shared pursuit of justice and healing.