– Iga Lis’s debut feature is a heartwarming portrait of a place and a woman with a tireless work ethic, set in a charming corner of the Baltic coast
Miecia would not be herself away from the romantic seaside resort town of Łeba on the Polish coast, but Łeba would be even less without Miecia and her smoked fish stall, which she has been running there for the last 40 years – like the Mona Lisa and the all-encompassing landscape around her, which could hardly make sense without each other. The protagonist of Iga Lis’s The Queen and the Smokehouse, currently showing in the competition of the goEast Film Festival in Wiesbaden, is popularly known as the Queen of Łeba, for serving the finest fish in town and for her determination to run her legendary smokehouse “till death do them part”, whilst even the tourist train recommends her as the best sight in the area.
Working in the smokehouse from dusk till dawn, in her private space she prefers to be on her own and not to depend too much on men’s will, especially during the drinking season, seemingly shaped by memories of her alcoholic father. With frequent cigarette breaks to sustain her chain smoking, the smoke itself has consumed her, yet Miecia has passionately surrendered to its magnetic aura. Her tireless work ethic, which has also spread to her tight-knit team, can only be interrupted by worrying lung tests that almost forcibly bring her to spa rehabilitation, where, perhaps for the first time, she can put herself first. Not in a narcissistic bout of self-care, but because, in the end, she is hungry for life – the life and the loving community she has built around her smokehouse.
From a very close range, yet tenderly and delicately, Iga Lis sketches Miecia’s daily cycle: from transformative moments such as the renovation of her stall to intimate details – we see her in bed with her dog, applying night cream in the mirror, half-naked for an X-ray – while DoP Kacper Gawron’s minimalist camera is never intrusive, always finding the right tone for each sequence. Through rhythmic montage and energetic music in some passages, and more contemplative pacing in others, Miecia’s everyday routine unfolds on screen like a carousel in a funfair into which tourism has transformed Łeba. As the film’s original title, Bałtyk, suggests, it is not so much about Łeba itself, nor only about Miecia’s singular personality, but rather about the fading authentic Baltic spirit among the attractions, and about one of the last Mohicans standing guard over the gates of real-life experience on a continent that has slowly but surely turned itself into an amusement park.
In times when people roam the world in search of meaning and happiness, filling themselves with ambitious career goals to feel “successful” and “important”, The Queen and the Smokehouse pays homage to a woman who never leaves her place, spending her life in relentless work, and affirming the timeless wisdom that a simple existence in service of, and for the joy of, others can be the most generous source of inspiration, fulfilment and a sense of completeness. In this sense, the film feels like a comforting refuge of true essence, which may turn out not to be as complex or as inaccessible as we imagine.
The Queen and the Smokehouse was produced by Poland’s Munk Studio – Polish Filmmakers Association in co-production with Canal+, Silver Frame and MX35. Its world sales are handled by KFF Sales & Promotion.
