Immerse yourself in the daily life of this international artist with Apollonia Apollonia, now in theaters

The journey of a born artist

In 2011, Danish filmmaker Lea Globe, then a film school student, was preparing to graduate. To complete the course, he still had to make a short film, which he wanted to dedicate to the young artist. It was in this context that he met Apollonia Sokol, a young Parisian artist of Danish and Polish origin, whose bohemian life immediately fascinated the director.

Very quickly, the style exercise goes beyond the academic framework. The touch of this talented, extraordinary everyday artist, Leah Globus Decides to extend the experience: a 20-minute graduation project will be turned into a feature film that will follow Apollonia’s daily life for 13 years.

A student, a feminist, an acclaimed artist… Immerse yourself in the art and intimacy of an emerging artist and discover her unforgettable evolution over a decade.

Portrait of a girl on fire

A graduate of the Paris School of Fine Arts, now internationally recognized, Apollonia Sokol leads a bohemian life whose originality captivated her. Leah Globus And it will not fail to charm the viewers of his feature documentary. Because before being offered a residency at the prestigious Roman Villa Medici, Apollonia grew up in her parents’ theater in Paris, where she spontaneously filmed from an early age. A fertile ground for the birth of a young creative shoot, where he rubbed shoulders with the new artistic scene and emblematic figures of the feminist cause. Among them, the famous Oksana Shachko, the founder of the Femen movement.

“I entered their lives at a time when Oksana and Apollonia were very close– says the film director, they were together all the time. The three of us met in Paris – we were all young artists with different backgrounds and methods. Our lives crossed.“

Therefore, it seemed clear that the fate of Apollonia Sokol was closely related to the struggles of her time, especially since the female figure is the heart of her figure painting. Self-portraits or depictions of women in soral, even romantic, unity are Apollonia’s main subject, a mirror that holds an entire generation.

“Apollonia has to be a mirror of peopleAnalyzed by Lea Glob. But it is also a burden. I’m not the only person who sees this in him. People get very angry with him, fall in love with him or become obsessed with him. There is something special about it. As I said in the film, I don’t know who captured who, actually – I captured Apollonia on film or she captured me in her theater.“

Apollonia’s portrait, like a mirror held by the artist herself, combines elements of the story of her director, but also the elusive Oksana Shachko, and finally gives birth to a new image of a woman, modern and with countless aspects. .

A charming and glowing figure, director Lea Dunham said “It is impossible to forget“, Apolonia Sokol can be found in art and intimacy with the documentary Apolonia Apolonia, in theaters this week.