A Broadcast From Somebody Else’s Life?: Katarzyna Jabłońska Talks with Wojciech Szumowski

Katarzyna Jabłońska

Abstract

Jabłońska talks with Wojciech Szumowski, the author of the first Polish documentary teleplays, The Infant Jesus Hospital and The First Cry. Each episode of the latter begins with the words: Our film is a story of the miracle of birth. Each episode tells the story of new authentic childbirths in various families and conditions. Jabłońska doubts whether camera’s intrusion into women’s intimate experience of childbirth is ethically legitimate. She claims that women’s consent is not a sufficient argument because they sometimes do not realize consequences of the consent. Defending himself, Szumowski says he does not cross the lines he has set for himself. The film has been popular with the so-called wide audience not only because it has fulfilled an ordinary curiosity but it has evoked emotions, he adds. Jabłońska takes note of the fact that the series authors have not shrunk from showing dramatic situations, including death or illness. Szumowski says they have not done it to boost the viewing ratings but to evoke compassion. He claims that in this way he has approached the secret of life and recorded elusive moments.