WHEN THE HARMATTAN BLOWS
DIRECTED AND WRITTEN BY EDYTA WRÓBLEWSKA | DOP MARCIN SAUTER | EDITING KATARZYNA ORZECHOWSKA | LENGTH 52'/75' | LANGUAGE ENGLISH, POLISH | STATUS PRE-PRODUCTION | YEAR 2022
Harmattan is a dry wind from Sahara. It occurs in Ghana where it reminds 23-year-old Barbara of her difficult past. When she was a little girl she experienced a lot of trauma caused by her parents, her aunt and a school coach who brutally abused her. She was finally rescued by Father Piotr, a Salesian from Poland. Piotr used to work in Ghana, but lately he has moved to a distant Gambia and Barbara had to put her broken life together again. She wants to prove to herself and to her parents what she’s worth. She needs to learn how to read and write. Then, she wants to find a job as a cook. She would love to start her own family one day. She wishes for telling her parents what they sentenced her to by giving her to the aunt’s home. Barbara knows that she won’t have a peace of mind if she doesn’t forgive the people who hurt her so deeply. She decided to take this challenge because this is what Piotr advised her to do and he is the only man she can trust. Piotr knows that he can’t fail this trust as Barbara becomes also very important to him. He wants her help to rescue a woman from Gambia who has the same experiences as Barbara used to. Soon, due to Barbara’s health problems, she will visit Poland and Piotr will support her during this trip. This will be an empowerment story of a woman, who doesn’t want to be a victim anymore, about the difficult process of forgiveness and regaining one’s dignity and about unusual deep bond between a Ghanian girl and not so typical Polish priest.
