14 shorts have been commissioned examining life under the COVID-19 lockdown.
A month after it ordered a Spanish coronavirus-themed anthology series to be shot by directors in isolation, HBO Europe has done the same for Poland.
The At Home (W domu) project will comprise 14 short films about isolation, shot in lockdown conditions and examining life under the government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions.
Overall, 16 filmmakers (two projects are collaborations) have been commissioned to create the shorts, which will all be bound by the same parameters. Each plot must take place here and now in the times of pandemic, the duration of the story cannot exceed 10 minutes, all of the shorts must adhere to restrictions that have been introduced, and filmmakers must shoot the footage on their own in four weeks. However, the format and genre is up to them.
The filmmakers comprise of Jacek Borcuch, Andrzej Dragan, Krzysztof Garbaczewski, Renata Gąsiorowska, Magnus Von Horn, Paweł Łoziński, Jan P. Matuszyński, Tomek Popakul, Jerzy Skolimowski, Krzysztof Skonieczny, Małgorzata Szumowska/Michał Englert, Mariusz Treliński, Anna Zamecka/Sung Rae Cho and Xawery Żuławski.
"While humanity is under lockdown, art transcends borders and knows no limitations," said Izabela Łopuch, head of original production at HBO Poland. "At Home is a project created as a product of artistic freedom, a creative chronicle of restricted individual liberties. I hope that it will be a stimulating and moving story about human struggles in a state of transition — the shift from a world which had a structure we were familiar with, to the need to redefine it anew."
Added HBO Europe's executive vp programming and production Antony Root: "More than ever, TV and film are a vital way of connecting people, and each of these films will tell a strong, distinctive story based on a shared experience. I’m proud that alongside our At Home anthology series in Spain, we are able to work with the creative community in Poland at this challenging time to provide a platform where they can inspire and entertain audiences, ahead of other production activity resuming when it is safe to do so."
Films made as part of the At Home project will be released in the coming weeks on HBO Go in Poland, as well as well as on other European HBO platforms at a later date.
