i was there (2025)

If Loss Were a Currency - an artist chap book published by Delere Press.

Format: Super8, transferred to HD
Country: UK/Poland
Duration: 13 mins
A story by: Helena Kuc
As inherited by: Kamila Kuc
Directed by: Kamila Kuc
Sound: Ecka Mordecai, featuring Ecka Mordecai and Valerio Tricoli
Voices: Helena Kuc, Ecka Mordecai
Ending song: Ecka Mordecai, Kamila Kuc
Cinematographer: Reed O’Beirne
Choreography: Kym McDaniel
Sound engineers: Ecka Mordecai, David Knight
Colour correction: Shanna Maurizi
Graphics: Andrew Philip

I Was There is a haunting exploration of familial bonds, intergenerational memory, and the enduring impact of shared narratives. Filmmaker Kamila Kuc steps into the emotional stream of inherited family history as the lines between documentary, testimony, and fiction blur. She performs acts of bearing witness not just for herself but also on behalf of her grandmother. Together, they testify to their experiences and the reverberations these stories have over time. I Was There is a palimpsest - a layered tapestry where past and present intertwine in the intimate process of activating memory and vulnerability as forms of resistance. I Was There honours the testimonial object inherited from ancestors and the living connection that binds generations in the shared pursuit of justice and healing.

Screenings:
Cosmic Rays Film Festival, The Instability of Clouds programme, Chelsea Theater, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, 21 March 2025.
Portland Panorama, Experimental Shorts Programme, Bagdad Theatre, Portland, OR, USA, 16 April 2025.
The 27th Videoex Festival, 'Ghosts from the Past' International Competition programme, Festivalkino Cinema Z3, Zürich, Switzerland,  18th & 21 May 2025.
The 30th New Jersey International Film Festival, Voorhees Hall, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA, 6 June 2025. Winner of Best Experimental Film Award. 
The 14th Oak Cliff Film Festival, Dallas, TX, USA, Texas Theatre, 26-29 June 2025.
MIMESIS Documentary Festival, Dairy Arts Centre, Boulder, CO, USA, 9 August 2025.
EMAMI Art Experimental Film Festival, Kolkata Centre for Creativity, Kolkata, India, 14 September 2025.
Hawai’i International Film Festival, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 15-26 October 2025. 
The 28th Antimatter Film Festival, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 16-26 October 2025.
San Francisco Dance Film Festival, San Francisco, CA, USA, 24 October - 9 November, 2025.
Denver Underground Film Festival, Denver, CO, USA, November 2025.