“Brama Cafe” (“Gate Cafe”) is Praga’s first fantasy soap opera, produced by the “Praga” Culture Centre in Warsaw thanks to a grant from the National Centre for Culture.
The series (7 episodes available on YOUTUBE) tells the story of the mobilisation of the inhabitants of an old tenement house in the face of impending threats: a second wave of the plague, increased rents by the new owner and a demonic tenement house cleaner. Thanks to the supernatural talents of the head of the community, the fortune-teller Yaga, and the creativity of the residents, the apocalypse is postponed in subsequent episodes and a joint initiative of the residents develops: the improvised Brama Café in the courtyard.
The series’ cast includes residents of Praga Północ, amateurs, musicians and artists. The plot of the individual episodes of the series is set in a theatrical-musical convention. The series deals with national themes and is created in the Praga reality with the local community. Non-institutional actors play with extras connected to the Praga Culture House on a daily basis. The series features original songs about Warsaw’s Praga district.
The series was shot mainly in the courtyard of the tenement house at 11 Listopada Street, in the post-factory space where the former Franciszek Anczewski Sugar Factory is located, in September 2020.
Brama Café (“Gate Cafe”) is a meeting place improvised in the backyard of a Praga tenement house from armchairs, lamps and rubbish cans, where Prague friends come together for concerts, feasts, games, dances and also arguments that the tenement community needs to resolve. It is a backyard scene, a space between – the city and home, isolation and community, a portal through which one must pass in order to understand the strangest district of Warsaw – Praga Północ, whose symbol is an old tenement house – an urban labyrinth of times and people.
DIRECTION – Michał Walczak
COPPING, EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION – Paweł Wiszomirski
SOUND on set – Tomasz Mizinski
SCENOGRAPHY – Alicja Kokosińska
MUSIC – Wiktor Stokowski
FEATURED:
Marta Janik – MARYJKA
(At the time, I was the communications specialist at the “Praga” Culture Centre)
Zofia Waszkiewicz – YAGA
(day-to-day manager of the Senior Citizens’ Activity Place at the Praga Culture House)
Agnieszka Makowska – HENNA
Marcin Sitek – BARTEK / “MACIEK” / EGZOTIC DANCER
Łukasz Wójcicki – DZIKI / TARZAN
Łukasz Długi Wójcik – BORDER
Bartosz Szpak – DEWELOPER / MARIUSZ WILCZAK
Aleksandara Pisula – WICCA / WIKTORYNA
Miron Jagniewski – XAWERY
Tomasz Drabek – ZDZISŁAW / DIRECTOR OF THE METRO
Karol Bulski – WAITER / STALKER
Justyna Jary – BIANKA / “ADA”
Tomek Piotrowski – BIAŁY KRÓLIK/WHITE RABBIT
Kasia Sołtys – DOKTOR KLIN
Czesław Mozill – CZESŁAW
Henryk Woźniak – KAZIMIERZ
Conrado Moreno-Szypowski – HUBERT (EPIDEMIOLOGIST)
Wiktor Stokowski – WIKTOR
Marta Wolska – PANNA MŁODA
I am also the author of the visual identity for the series.
Taka okładeczka mi się zrobiła. A potem na serio “Świat Seriali” objął patronatem cały serial.
