Camera Buff

In Wielice, factory worker Filip Mosz documents his newborn daughter with a newly acquired 8mm camera. He feels like he has everything he ever wanted after years as an orphan. The camera's presence begins to reshape his daily life.

His initial home use soon reveals the camera's endless possibilities. He sees life through the lens and wonders what truths he can capture beyond everyday moments. The hobby begins to pull him away from his role as husband and father.

The local Communist Party boss asks Filip to document the plant's jubilee celebration. Filip agrees, seeing an opportunity to explore cinema in a real-world setting. The assignment will test his ability to film what matters while staying within political expectations.

His bosses deem the pigeon shot useless and the negotiators' scene too probing. They order him to remove shots of entertainers being paid, and to deliver a version that complies with party guidelines. The pressure to edit pushes Filip to balance artistic impulse with political control.

Filip submits the edited film to a festival and earns third prize, effectively equating to second prize since there was no first prize awarded. The festival awards him as an incentive to keep filming. This recognition reinforces his belief that filmmaking offers a path beyond ordinary life.

The recognition feeds Filip's fixation with filmmaking and causes him to neglect his family duties. He becomes more deeply immersed in the world of cinephiles and critics. This drift begins to erode his marriage and ordinary responsibilities.

Filip meets Anna Wlodarczyk, a confident amateur filmmaker who encourages his work and invites him into the cinephile community. Her enthusiasm deepens his immersion in film and shifts his focus from home toward the broader film world. The relationship intensifies Filip's obsession with documenting life.

The Kraków TV station airs his films about a dwarf factory worker and about misallocated town renovation funds. The broadcasts amplify his notoriety and draw attention from late-communist media circles. They also threaten people around him with exposure in public.

The boss tells him that work on the nursery school must stop due to the exposés. Stasio Osuch, the head of the works council and Filip's mentor, stands to lose his job. The films’ revelations put real people at risk and escalate workplace pressure.

Filip retrieves the undeveloped canister about the brickyard, which he learns is not operating for lack of materials. He opens it and exposes the film to light, setting in motion new discovery about the town's hidden labor. This act foreshadows a broader self-revelation in his work.

Alone at home, his wife leaves the relationship and takes their daughter away, overwhelmed by his obsession with filming. He remains consumed by the camera world despite the personal loss. The home becomes a site of isolation as his life unwinds.

With family life shattered, Filip points the 16mm camera at himself and begins recording his own life as if it were material. This self-portrait marks a turning point toward deeper self-obsession and estrangement from others. He seems to have replaced intimate life with cinematic scrutiny.