An Interview with the Renata Gasiorowska, the author of Pussy

Still a student at the time, Renata Gasiorowska became a prominent young animator with her film Pussy (Cipka, 2016). The film that questions the representation of female sexuality on screen was in competition at the Sundance Film Festival and Renata Gasiorowska’s interview was published on the Criterion Channel website. We spoke to her at the Animateka.

Oskar Ban Brejc: How would you describe the Polish Film School for animation? Can you recognize it by a unique style?

Renata Gasiorowska: I don’t think we have unique style in terms of artwork, but we spend a lot of time developing ideas, so we have a lot of conceptual work. We talk a lot about the script, the storyboard, the animation and the whole concept. The artwork is, I wouldn’t say secondary, but it’s supposed to serve the story, not the other way around. I think that’s kind of important for our school.

Did you specifically like any of the movies we’ve just seen [Best European Schools 1]?

I’ve already seen The Other (Inny, 2018) by Marta Magnuska. I think it’s very powerful.

The artwork is, I wouldn’t say secondary, but it’s supposed to serve the story, not the other way around.

Renata Gasiorowska

Why?

Because I think it’s a very conceptual way to talk about xenophobia, but not in a direct or obvious way. It’s also very expressive and it provokes emotions.

Is all the work you’ve done in the same style or do you like to experiment with different techniques?

Not really, I always do 2D drawn animation, but sometimes I do it on paper and sometimes on the computer. And the stories are different from each other, but they always have a sense of humour.

Do you feel that you’ve adopted the idea that »form follows function« from your school?

Yeah, I think so. It’s also the fact that we do our films alone, we don’t work in teams like in some schools. So, you really have to figure out the style that you’ll be able to pull off within a year. It makes you think and figure out ways of animating and designing so that it’s not only pretty and it serves the story, but it’s also efficient.

Do you ever think of trying out different styles other that 2D drawing?

No, I’m not brave enough to do puppets. But I also like to combine liquids and other objects, as long as it’s all on the table, then it’s safe. But 3D animation isn’t really for me.

Thank you!