Experiencing Interruptions?

A Pack

'A Pack' enables the viewers to join a pack of dogs who live in true symbiosis with a human. Only a few words in the human language are spoken here.

  • Diana Aszyk
    Director
    God's Lake
  • Diana Aszyk
    Writer
    God's Lake
  • Diana Aszyk
    Producer
  • Marek Walaszek
    Producer
  • Sławomir Bergański
    Producer
  • Sławomir Bergański
    Key Cast
    "Cinematographer"
  • Rafał Stós
    Key Cast
    "Editor"
  • Radosław Ekwiński
    Key Cast
    "Main Consultant (dog behaviorist)"
  • Marek Walaszek
    Key Cast
    "Sound design"
  • Jan Szarecki
    Key Cast
    "Oryginal Music Composer"
  • Piotr Borkowski
    Key Cast
    "Script Doctor"
    Cold War by P. Pawlikowski
  • Jarek Sterczewski
    Key Cast
    "Color grading"
    Overturn: Awakening of the Warrior, Koyakatsi, Zajęcia Rekreacyjne
  • Klaudia Makowska
    Key Cast
    "Graphic Design"
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 2 minutes 12 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    85,610 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Poland
  • Country of Filming:
    Czech Republic, Poland
  • Language:
    No Dialogue
  • Shooting Format:
    4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Diana Aszyk

More than 12 years of experience as a documentary filmmaker. EDUCATION: Polish National FilmSchool in Lodz (Pastwowa Wysza Szkoa Filmowa, Telewizyjna i Teatralna im. L.Schillera w odzi),Film Art Organization Production Department, Master of Arts.

DOCUMENTARY STYLE: searchingfor the content beneath the surface of the main plot, working on several content layers of the documentary.
INDIVIDUAL METHODS: my working method is based on leaving more in a givenworld than we take away.
ADDITIONALLY: creating and running two original documentaryfilmmaking labs and providing artistic supervision to students’ film projects at Speakers’ AvenueEducational Film Collective (speakersavenue.com)
a. https://speakersavenue.com/en/basics-of-the-documentary-filmmaking-process/
b. https://speakersavenue.com/en/through-documentary-process/

EXPERIENCE: 5 documentaryprojects as director and screenwriter, producer or co-producer of these projects, in 1 of them –cinematographer and editor.

Filmography:
1. Debut GOD’S LAKE, 17' | 2013
Observational documentary about a Ukrainian family living by thelake. A litemotif of their everyday life is the fear of God.
Winner at 8th DOCSDF 2013, Mexico, 2013 (Best International Short Documentary)

2. NYC BY DIANA ASZYK, 5' | 2015
New York and New Yorkers in the moments just before and after their daily work. A documentary reflection on diversityand perception in the context of being overworked.

3. LET ME LIVE, 40' | 2017
Movie about divorce. For 5 years, I had been involved in documentary observation of a couple, from their engagement to divorce.
In the final version of the film, I decided to show their last day together as a family, superimposing on these images their statements about their relationship, right after separation, in order to “loop time", reflecting the mental state of my characters.

4. F.O.R.E.S.T 43' | 2019
An observational documentary of a group of kids from a forest preschool. What is the dimension ofteaching, in which LEGO bricks are mixed with sticks, modern plastic weather suits with wild natureand long walks in the woods with a straightforward path to traditional school desks?

5. A Pack, 62' | 2025

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Director Statement

In a small forest located just next to the 2-million-strong Polish capital, I had a series of meetings with a 64-year-old musher with an Arctic heart, who worked with 12 semi-wild giant dogs of great strength.
We spoke very little, but I could not take my eyes off him and the way he managed everything.
Soon, we began to communicate through actions. I gradually took on tasks, starting from the simplest (cleaning) to more complicated ones related to the sled team.
One day, Maciej installed a seat for me on his homemade cart (made from an old car). From then on, I could experience the incredible thrill of running alongside him.
In a sled team, you do not ride “well or poorly,” “fast or slow,” “in the forest or in the mountains,” or “at night or during the day.” You ride in communion with powerful dogs that are part of wild nature. Each journey taken together is therefore naturally unique.

The basis of this film is the participation in it of one of the best Polish dog behaviorists who shared with us his professional secrets and showed us how to work with dogs so that we could be “invisible” to them. Hence, I opted for a subjective narrative that allows the viewer to feel the emotions of the characters, both human and nonhuman, and experience their world up close.

After making this documentary, I feel wiser and more open to the world. I strongly believe that the way of interacting with animals which Maciej revealed to us has the potential to draw us back to a more balanced world, which so many of us desperately need.