“I think the power within the film is that it tells a simple story with universal emotions, like loneliness and confusion connected with stepping into the adulthood. – Kamila Tarabura”
We caught up with coming of age Polish Director Kamila Tarabura. Fresh off winning Best Live Action Short Film Award at the 36th Annual Warsaw International Film Festival for her work & Oscar Qualifying short film “Into the Night”.
She begins by explaining how she got into film through studying film directing. Noting how as a teenager, making films was a natural way of self-expression. Having experimented with making short films with her parents’ home camera, forward to today, and she takes joy in having her passion as her job. The screenplay for ‘Into The night’ was originally written by Nina Lewandowska, she explains. A story about a 16-year-old introvert named Krysia. The character lives a life of ongiong social problems and finding it difficult to express herself. For this very reason, Kamila points to the very reason this story appealed to her due to personal experiences from adolescence. In addition to having a younger sibling, who the director was keen to make the film for aswell as her sibling’s generation.
Into the Night
‘Into The Night’ is coming of age short feature film, the director explains. Kamila believe’s due to the authentic nature of the production, it is “alluring” for young people. She explains how following the film premiere at the Warsaw International Film Festival, the director received positive feedback, expressing how they felt exactly like the heroines portrayed in the film.
Together with her director of photography Patryk Kin, she highlights how they managed to create the consistent and intensive world in which the camera follows the emotions. Noting how the characters glances, gestures and moments of silence are sometimes more important than the dialogues.
A Film Director through the Pandemic
The polish director explains how she finds she has more time to write, enabling her to place all of her efforts into improving her screenplays for her next projects. Her aspirations for this year are to start shooting her full length feature debut. Whilst the subject matter will be totally different, there will be some similarities. “I noticed that in everything I write I explore mother-daughter relationship and the search for identity”. Thanks to the success of ‘Into the night’ together with Nina Lewandowska, Kamila explains how they were asked to develop an original coming of age series. A project they are currently working on and really enjoying the process.
Managing Expectations
At the beginning, when Kamila started film school, she imagined that things should come much easier 
and faster. Where in fact, the whole gaining of experience, learning how to write and also what to write, building a team, learning how to be a leader, increasing one’s position within the industry, is very hard, she points out. “It takes time and requires patience. You need a lot of persistence and enthusiasm for what you are doing, because most times, you will be the only person fighting for your film”.
Finding inspiration through her husband, she notes how he [Tomasz Naumiuk]encourages her to keep going. Pointing out how there naturally will be some steps in her career. In addition to laying down the argument that you should do a short film the best you can and show to the industry that you can cope with that matter and that you have a talent for storytelling. Furthered with a note that only then, some producers may trust you with your full-length feature.
Kamila biggest challenge to date has been writing the full-length feature screenplay. Pointing to the script as the base and instrumental key element. In her free time she enjoys learning horseback riding! Very quickly learning the importance of staying calm and well-balanced. An understanding which she points to as being very useful in a professional capacity.
For those seeking to follow in her footsteps, Kamila recommends keeping things simple and telling the stories that resonates with your own experiences, emotions, or imagination. To remember that nowadays when you can share your work online, you can start your career right here, right now!
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