Experiencing Interruptions?

My name is Joy

Rescued from a human trafficking network, 20-year-old Joy from Mozambique is placed in a refugee shelter in a small Polish town. There she must choose between rebuilding her life and letting the past silence her.

  • Alexandra Strunin
    Director
  • Alexandra Strunin
    Writer
  • Maciej Ślesicki
    Producer
    Oscar nominated: 'Our Curse' & "The Dress'
  • Warsaw Film School
    Producer
  • Chelsea Alfinete
    Key Cast
  • Kamil Małkowski
    Cinematography
  • Karol Konopka
    Editing
  • Kuba Jakubowski
    Sound
  • Stanisław Pańta
    Music composer
  • Maja Celmer
    Production manager
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    My name is Joy
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 31, 2026
  • Country of Origin:
    Poland
  • Country of Filming:
    Poland
  • Language:
    English, Polish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2,35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Warsaw Film School
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Alexandra Strunin

Alexandra Strunin is a director and audiovisual artist. She graduated in Photography from the University of the Arts in Poznań and is currently a third year Directing student at the Warsaw Film School. She has released five studio albums and leads her own jazz band. Her debut short fiction film I Gaze at the Sky (2025) screened in the official selection of the Gdynia Film Festival and at over 20 festivals worldwide, winning the Grand Prize at March On (Washington), the main award at Evolution Mallorca, and an award in London (Women and the World).

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The impulse behind "My Name is Joy" came from the story of one specific person I met, who moved me with her strength. Her tenacity, energy, and faith, despite experiences of violence and dehumanization, became my starting point for telling this story.

At the same time, Joy is not a literal portrait of a single individual. Her journey is built from many real experiences of women affected by human trafficking. I wanted to give them a voice, not as a collective of “victims,” but as people trying to reclaim agency and a sense of normal life.

From the very beginning, truth and responsibility were essential to me. That is why I consulted the entire film with the La Strada Foundation, to portray the realities, language, behaviors, and mechanisms faced by people after experiencing human trafficking as accurately as possible. I am most interested in the stage after “rescue,” when Joy is placed in a shelter in a small town in Poland and, for the first time, can try to live, not just survive. Instead of a dramatic catharsis, everyday life arrives, often harder than one might expect.

This film is an attempt to tell a story about reclaiming voice and identity with care. Without exploiting suffering. With respect for those whose stories became its source.