Office for Monument Construction

a feature film dir. by Karolina Breguła

Office for Monument Construction tells a story of people who come from a city that ceased to exist. Deprived of their home, the protagonists attempt to find their way in the new situation. They find a temporary shelter, where their daily life is organised by strange rituals that generate the illusion of former security and define their new identity. One of the characters is a ticket seller who neglects her professional duties and personal life as she indulges her untypical passion for collecting teeth. With time, she comes to realise that her collection constitutes a symbolic capital which can be used, akin to the eponymous monument, to control other people’s emotions. Through a metaphorical reference to museum holdings, Breguła highlights the role of heritage in the life of a community and in sustaining the consistent identity of a group; she also re-examines the question of using the museum as an instrument of power. Office for Monument Construction also draws our attention to the situation of people suspended in non-places – thrust into a nomadic lifestyle, forced to search for a new living space and to build relations with their surroundings from scratch. The place where the residents settle is a Modernist giant undergoing – just like them – a transformation of identity, abandoned by its users for whom it was once erected.

CAST

Liz Kristiansen
David A. Allan
Duncan Chrisholm
Mari Itoh
Michael James
Patrick Queen
Johnnie Wales
Mary McCabe
Ruth Switalski
Anette Steward
Mary Wales
David Cooke
Stacey Maguire
Anna Lomas

CO-CREATORS

Script and directing: Karolina Breguła
Cinematography: Robert Mleczko
Sound: Weronika Raźna
Editing: Karolina Breguła, Stefan Paruch
Commissioned by: Market Gallery for Glasgow International
Production: touchFILMS, Market Gallery and Karolina Breguła
Co-financed by: Polish National Film Institute

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