INTRODUCTION (A WORK IN PROGRESS):

A [multi-media] experimental project challenging its author to face her eternal fears of a collapsing world. From the tightening grip on human rights and freedoms to the devastation of our natural environment, documentarian Malgorzata "Maggie" Padlewska reveals a deeply personal struggle through a body of work triggered by the world-altering reality that has been unfolding around the globe since January 2020. Set in the grim and deserted back alleys of the once vibrant Siem Reap, Cambodia, she finds solace and confronts the darkness that haunts her through a purposely imperfect, rugged and twisted series of images through which she channels, allows for and urges her own self-reflection and expression. 

UTOPIAN'S FALL - THE STORY:

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Seeking to understand the modern world, Utopian (main character) emerges from his cave and enters the dark space that engulfed, imprisoned and decimated much of the planet's natural environment and population. Now stripped of his personal freedoms, he traverses the grim, strictly controlled, monitored and manufactured world where he is forced to face the"new normal" while being secretly accompanied and guarded by Spirits of the Past. But he must heed their warnings in order to make it out alive. Will he listen? 

Utopian's story seeks to urge humanity to reflect profoundly on its current trajectory. It may be fiction, but it's not far off. Having travelled to meet and learn from Indigenous communities around the world, Padlewska has witnessed firsthand the muzzling of voices, ignorance and greed, human and environmental right violations and the lust for dominance of today's so-called powerful world leaders. 

With human and environmental rights eroding at an alarming rate around the globe, we are now at a critical juncture...  

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THE COLLECTION - AT A GLIMPSE: