Private Project

The Rite, Raid, Ride

A group, led by a mystical medium, takes part in a ritual. In order to connect with their original emotions and instincts, uncomplicated by the civilisation, they channel a primal person. During the ceremony, however, things do not go as planned - the participants encounter personifications of contemporary human problems and collide with their tragedy.

The Rite Raid Ride is a poetic, surrealistic film balancing on the border of aesthetics - the arthouse, doc-cam performance, and theatre tv. It combines motives from different orders and times: rituals and technology, beliefs and science, mythologies and science fiction. The film explores themes of reality overload of networking, loss of contact with one’s own body and emotions, the search for transcendence and community through participation in rituals and ceremonies.

  • Weronika Wysocka
    Writer
  • Oskar Pawełko
    Writer
  • Weronika Wysocka
    Director
  • Oskar Pawełko
    Director
  • Weronika Wysocka
    Producer
  • Oskar Pawełko
    Producer
  • Malina Fiszer
    Producer
  • Katarzyna Szugajew
    Key Cast
    "The Mistress of ceremony"
  • Oskar Pawełko
    Key Cast
    "Sik"
  • Delfina Tkalka
    Key Cast
    "Aurora"
  • Marek Elas
    Key Cast
    "Man Child"
  • Andrzej Szpindler
    Key Cast
    "The Guardian of Algorithm Order"
  • Alicja Nauman
    Key Cast
    "Workshop Participant"
  • Mirka Krymska
    Key Cast
    "Information in Chainz"
  • Łukaszka Staszkiewicz
    Key Cast
    "Workshop Participant"
  • Olga Ostachowicz
    Key Cast
  • Antek Wysocki
    Key Cast
    "Guardian of Algorithm Order"
  • Jan Jurczak
    Pictures
  • Krzysztof Bagiński
    Soundtrack
  • Oskar Pawełko
    Soundtrack
    Information in Chainz, Sik, The Man-Child
  • Weronika Wysocka
    Soundtrack
    Information in Chainz, Sik, The Man-Child
  • Tymon Nogalski
    Second director
  • Grzegorz Wełnicki
    Gaffer
  • Weronika Zielińska
    Make-up effects
  • Planeta Kuz
    Costumes
  • Tomasz Umbras
    Costumes
  • Weronika Wood
    Costumes
  • Piotr Radzio
    Sound
  • Zofia Mazurek
    Sound
  • Michał Ścibor
    Sound
  • Weronika Wysocka
    Color
  • Louis Hay
    Color
  • Weronika Wysocka
    Location scouting
  • Justyna Chaberek
    Original music score
    Aurora scene
  • Michael Rauter
    Original music score
    inkl. Caccini Giulio; Amarilli, Mia Bella.
  • Oskar Pawełko
    Casting
  • Weronika Wysocka
    Casting
  • Oskar Pawełko
    Edit
  • Weronika Wysocka
    Edit
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Obrzęd, Atak, Jazda
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short, Student, Other
  • Genres:
    Fantasy, Horror, Drama, Comedy, Sci-fi
  • Runtime:
    26 minutes 22 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 11, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    6,520 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Poland
  • Country of Filming:
    Poland
  • Language:
    English, Polish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Weronika Wysocka, Oskar Pawełko

Oskar Pawełko & Weronika Wysocka

Oskar Pawełko (b.2000, Suwałki, PL) is an actor, photographer, writer and visual performance artist based in Berlin, Germany.
For the past years, Pawełko has worked between artistic disciplines, developing a hybrid practice across theatre, visual art and cinema.
His work critically reflects on a society where the dominance of white-capitalist patriarchy inhibits marginalized groups from flourishing. He also focuses on the roles that technology, written history, and language play in this process. Drawing from the experience being white homosexual man in a small town, migrant, poor, and homeless person, his work is in praise of people that are rejected by their queerphobic and racist society, “children of the working class”, painters, lovers, addicts, “cocksuckers,” “those homeless who are out on this night,” inhabitants of “the / poorhouses, the mad city asylums and re-/life worklines,” and “persons who felt they were never given a chance, had n-/o luck and were flayed at suffering’’.

He has worked for the artists Dorota Gawęda and Eglè Kulbokaite, Cassie Augusta Jørgensen, Matt Lambert and Michal Borczuch, and have performed at institutions such as Galerie Georges-Pompidou (FR), EPFL University, Lausanne (CH), Kunsthalle Mainz (DE) and Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki, Warsaw (PL).

Weronika Wysocka (b. 1994, Słupsk, PL) is a visual artist, director of experimental film forms combining feature film, video essay and theater.
Weronika address fantasy-inspired theory and science fiction, technology-related conflicting needs to both emancipate from it and with it; and the discursiveness of universe. The artist is deeply inspired by astrophysics and quantumphisics, particularly how they, in relation to humanity, highlights the extraordinariness or caricature-like nature of the world.
Drawing from concepts in fields exploring genesis-related theories, tapping into Slavic mythology; examining contemporary social make-ups; queer, eco and feminist theories - her works evoke speculative worlds and fictions.

Weronika currently study at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and is a fellow of the Universität der Künste in Berlin. Her work was exhibited at the Zachęta National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum in Frankfurt am Main, Lokal_30 Gallery in Warsaw, Kunsthalle in Osnabrück and the Bakehouse Art Complex in Miami, among others.

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Director Statement

Our collaboration began in December 2021, resulting from mutual support during a difficult transitional period for both of us, which consisted of the exploration of the subconscious meanings and symbolism of personal nightmares, which have become increasingly frequent due to our experiences and the socio-political realities of our respective environments. The idea for our collaboration emerged from our shared experiences of political turmoil and personal hardship.

In Poland, we faced severe restrictions on abortion, a far-right takeover of institutions, anti-LGBTQ+ campaigns, and the alienation exacerbated by the pandemic. These experiences shaped our desires and activism as young individuals confronting harsh realities. Moving to Germany did not alleviate these issues; instead, we encountered modern-day fascism and a sense of statelessness in Berlin. Despite the change in location, the lack of comfort and stability persisted.

That’s why our film delves into themes of alienation, identity, and resistance. We explore how contemporary nightmares, both personal and societal, reflect and distort our reality. By investigating Slavic mythology, we seek to recontextualize these fears, giving new meaning to the monsters and spirits of our cultural past. Our project addresses the impact of digitalization on thought, the decline of abstract thinking, and the pervasive influence of technology on art and culture. We juxtapose these modern horrors with the imaginative creatures of Slavic folklore, emphasizing the loss of imagination in today's society.

Our narrative approach integrates sticky drama with dark humor, addressing contemporary issues through pointed commentary on technology, sexuality, beliefs, and reality. We embrace an improvisational, collaborative process, allowing the project to evolve organically. This reflects our belief in the power of community, physical touch, and fantasy to transcend and transform reality.

The Rite Raid Ride is a labor of friendship and a testament to the power of imagination and community in confronting the horrors of our reality.