Experiencing Interruptions?

Józefa's Letters

In 1940, from a location in remote Kazakhstan, Józefa Bujdo writes a collection of barley legible GULAG letters in an obscure borderlands dialect.

In 1972, Józefa's grandson will compose a piece of music that is recorded to cassette with no sheet music.

In 2016, following the clearance of a dilapidated garage in South Wales, Józefa's great grandson discovers both the letters and music and works with a philologist to decode the letters and a musicologist to transcribe the music which restores a chapter of lost family history.

"Józefa's Letters - Extraction from Oblivion" is a documentary exhibition performance that shows how the ‘echo’ of ancestral trauma transmitted through generations, can surface in the creative expressions of descendants.

  • MICHAEL DANIEL SAGATIS
    Director
  • MICHAEL DANIEL SAGATIS
    Writer
  • MICHAEL DANIEL SAGATIS
    Producer
  • MICHAEL DANIEL SAGATIS
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 51 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 21, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    Ukraine
  • Language:
    English, Ukrainian
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - MICHAEL DANIEL SAGATIS

Michael Daniel Sagatis is an independent researcher born in London, raised in South Wales and made from Slavic and Celtic ingredients. He has travelled and lived in former Soviet republics and accumulated various media including original archive material that has enabled him to premier his documentary exhibition performance "Józefa’s Letters - Extraction From Oblivion" that unites his family history with his own creative expressions.

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Director Statement

A collection of Gulag letters survived various post war transferences between descendants before becoming lost. The letters are found years later along with a piece of haunting music which reveal the shocking history that connects the fates between generations of family members.