Herbert. A Barbarian in the Garden / Herbert. Barbarzynca w ogrodzie

by Rafael Lewandowski

(Documentary, Poland/France, 2021, 90’, C, Fr ST)

with Katarzyna Herbert, Philippe Jaccottet, Al Alvarez

Herbert. A Barbarian in the Garden

Zbigniew Herbert is one of the major humanist figures of the 20th century. Since the publication of his first collection, Rope of Light, in 1956, he became one of the most appreciated poets in Europe. His work, which draws on the heritage of ancient civilizations to highlight the bonds of a common European identity, played a colossal role in awakening the minds of Eastern and Western Europe, which were separated by the Iron Curtain.
Translated into more than 40 languages, his poems, which have won numerous awards around the world, stand as hymns to freedom, human dignity and humanist values. Approached several times for the Nobel Prize, Herbert has left us an immense, universal work, a work that today remains an inspiration for artists and writers around the world.


Plus de vingt ans après la disparition du poète, HERBERT. UN BARBARE DANS LE JARDIN est le premier long-métrage documentaire consacré à Zbigniew Herbert.

Une campagne de financement participatif consacrée à la diffusion internationale du film a été lancée sur la plateforme Proarti. Pour plus amples informations, cliquez ici.

 « Je n’ai jamais eu l’ambition de réaliser un film encyclopédique au sujet de Zbigniew Herbert. Ce qui m’a par contre intéressé, c’est que ce grand humaniste a toujours été profondément ancré dans la culture polonaise, viscéralement attaché à son pays, tout en affirmant avec force son identité européenne. Alors que la Pologne est malheureusement devenue depuis quelques années l’un des pays les plus ouvertement nationalistes et l’un des moins ouverts à l’idée d’une communauté de valeurs au sein de l’Europe, il m’a semblé plus que jamais nécessaire de remettre en lumière l’héritage d’une telle œuvre et de son auteur. » Rafael Lewandowski

Rafael Lewandowski
Rafael Lewandowski

A graduate of the directing department of La Fémis, he has directed numerous documentaries and short films that have been distributed internationally. In 2011, his first feature film, La Dette, won numerous festival awards (Best Supporting Actor at the Polish Film Festival, Hollywood Eagle Award at the Los Angeles FF, Best Actor Award at the Montreal World, nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Chicago PFFA and at the Camerimage festival). He is currently finishing the post-production for Arte and INA of a 6 x 52 min documentary series on the survivors of the Algerian war. Herbert. A Barbarian in the Garden, was selected at the Millenium Docs Against Gravity in Warsaw, the PFFA in Chicago and the Mescalito FF in Rome.

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