Imago

Set in 1987, young Ela is searching for her place in the bleak, communist Poland. Energetic and full of ideas, yet burdened by doubts and a complicated relationship with her mother, Ela finds solace and a sense of freedom within the alternative art scene, eventually becoming the lead singer of a post-punk band.

Director Olga Chajdas co-wrote the script with the charismatic Lena Gora, who plays the lead character, inspired by her own mother. Together, they bring a complex female character to the screen, caught between artistic ambition, motherhood, and her inner struggles. On a broader level, the film vividly portrays the Baltic Tri-City art scene during a time of significant political change.

IMAGO | 2023 | 113 min | Poland, Netherlands, Czech Republic

FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION) 

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, 2023 – FIPRESCI International Critics Prize, World Premiere | Film Festival Cottbus, 2023 | Polish Film Festival, 2023 – Best Feature Film, Best Music (Andrzej Smolik), Best Actress (Lena Gora)

DIRECTOR’S BIO 

Olga Chajdas (1983, Poland) studied film production at the Łódź Film School and directing at the Academy of Film and Television in Warsaw. While still a student, she worked on the sets of numerous films and series in the production department. She also collaborated with Warsaw’s Na Woli Theatre, where she directed the play The Last Jew in Europe, based on a drama by Tuvia Tenenbom—an important work about antisemitism, the hypocrisy of contemporary society, and the need for tolerance and respect for diversity.

Chajdas worked as an assistant on the series Prime Minister, directed by Agnieszka Holland, Magdalena Łazarkiewicz, and Kasia Adamik, which was a significant professional experience for her. She continued to collaborate with A. Holland on subsequent films, including the Oscar-nominated In Darkness and Mr. Jones.

Chajdas has directed numerous TV productions and series, including The Deep End and The Border for HBO, as well as Cracow Monsters and 1983 for Netflix. She also co-directed Netflix’s first Polish feature film, Erotica 2022. Her film work began with short films about women at pivotal moments in their lives, such as 3xLOVE and Morning Has Broken. In 2018, Chajdas made her feature debut with Nina.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

“Imago” is a Latin term signifying the ideal form that an insect achieves in its life. When I was searching for the title, I kept thinking about what this film means to me: looking for one’s ‘ideal’ form, this search for oneself and the process of transformation. In Imago, this process of transformation of a woman is what matters most to me. A young girl, an artist, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, becomes pregnant. I wanted the viewers to be kept on their toes as to where the story was really going. Ela’s actions are sometimes illogical, chaotic, emotional. Her process of searching for herself is crucial here.