Le Muranow de Varsovie

I have always felt that cinema has the power to preserve what history tries to erase.

Muranów Cinema is a place where this tension becomes visible. Built on the ruins of Warsaw’s former Jewish district, it carries within it layers of memory – of absence, destruction and reconstruction. For me, it is not only a cinema, but a space where past and present coexist, where images hold traces of lives that are no longer there. At the same time, Muranów is also where my own story begins. In 1961, my parents met there by chance. Their encounter – fragile, unexpected – became the starting point of my life. This personal thread led me back to this place, not only to explore its history, but to understand how deeply our lives are shaped by the spaces we inhabit.

In this film, I wanted to move between collective history and intimate memory. I work with archival materials – photographs, film excerpts, fragments of the past – not as static documents, but as living images. Through subtle movement and sound, I try to bring them closer to the present, to make them resonate again.

I chose not to rely on traditional interviews. Instead, I use my own voice, moving between observation and personal reflection. This allows me to create a space that is both historical and emotional, where the viewer can experience the film not only as a narrative, but as a memory unfolding.

Muranów becomes both a witness and a protagonist – a place where cinema continues to speak, where memory persists, and where even the most intimate stories are inseparable from history.

Olga Prud’homme Farges

Le Muranow de Varsovie is one of the films produced for Canal+ as part of the Mythical Cinemas series, which focuses on stories inspired by cinemas from around the world.

Olga Prud’homme Farges – filmmaker, film producer, and author. After completing postgraduate studies in Mass Media Sciences in Paris, she took part in archaeological excavations in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Italy, and Israel—an experience that led her to pursue a career in independent journalism. Her articles were published in major French newspapers, including Le Monde and Libération (1994–97), as well as in various weekly and monthly magazines and on television. In 1996, she also conducted market research for the Marie Claire Group on women’s magazines in India. She has been directing documentary films since 1997, when she created a series of 30 short portraits of children for French television, filmed in India, the Czech Republic, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Hungary. In 2003, she co-founded Kolam Productions, where she continues to work as a producer. The company has produced over 45 hours of creative documentary content. She is currently working on the series Mythical Cinemas.