DANCING BEARS

project in development

full-length animated film 

combined 2D, 3D animation

format 85 minutes 

based on Witold Szabłowski’s reportage:

“Dancing Bears: True Stories of People Nostalgic for Life Under Tyranny”

director: Anna Błaszczyk

script: Aleksandra Świerk, Witold Szabłowski

script consulting: Zofia Jaroszuk, Karolina Barciszewska, Maks Piłasiewicz

concept development: Zofia Jaroszuk, Karolina Barciszewska, Maks Piłasiewicz

illustration: Anna Błaszczyk

producer: Grzegorz Wacławek

executive producer: Maks Piłasiewicz

production: Animoon Sp. z  o. o.

co-production: Maciej Musiał, Witold Szabłowski

A Polish Film Institute Co-financed Script Development

/ Project description /

Ivan comes from a family of bear tamers. He took his bear Wela when she was less than one year old. For thirteen years they have been touring festivals from town to town, from village to village across the whole Bulgaria performing and making living for themselves. When, under a new law, introduced in Bulgaria in 2007, Ivan has to give Wela to a special bear park, his life turns upside down. Together with Wela, they decide to run away in search of the remnants of the old world they know. The journey to the land of childhood turns into a journey for freedom. Unfortunately – his home village is no longer what he remembers – the political changes have arrived here as well. The cost of living outside the system may turn out to be too high.