January 10, 2024
FILM: APOLONIA, APOLONIA
DIRECTED BY: LEA GLOB
STARRING: APOLONIA SOKOL, LEA GLOB, OKSANA SHACHKO
RATING: 4 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
There are some documentaries about subjects that many of us are unfamiliar with but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth making. For Lea Glob focusing on an aspiring artist, Apolonia Sokol, for thirteen years was fascinating enough. Maybe she didn’t realize how much time she’d spend filming her subject but consistently spending time with her over these many years has led to a really wonderful documentary, Apolonia, Apolonia.
Glob began filming her subject in 2009 when Apolonia had a dream of becoming a great painter. She was in art school and living in the theater her parents owned in Paris. Unlike Richard Linklater’s great fictional longitudinal study Boyhood, this one begins with a real artist at the start of her adult life and follows the various unpredictable turns in her life for well over decade. There’s even more here than that as Apolonia digs out Beta video tapes her parents recorded of her from birth and into her young life. Thus, the film also shares something in common with Michael Apted’s incredible Up series of films: it follows people for years well into their adulthoods without any degree of fictionalization.
What’s great about this project though is that the focus remains almost entirely on Apolonia and traces her journey from art school student to a “frontrunner in contemporary art.” Glob is there as Apolonia has her first art display, earns her diploma, and then struggles in the art world. We also see the development of her friendship with Oksana, a feminist from Ukraine who is unable to return to her home country. The two women spend a few years living together until Apolonia’s career takes her to New York, Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Istanbul, and Rome.
Both figures have their own problems and insecurities to face but it is the tough moments of turning thirty, having doubts about her talent, making the choice to not have kids, and fearing that she is selling her soul that make Apolonia a truly down to earth and relatable subject. This isn’t a glamorous portrait, nor is it a reality television show. Rather there’s maturity to Apolonia that makes her endlessly fascinating to watch. At first it is clear that Glob’s camera loves her face but as time goes one we see her grow into a woman who experiences her own physical and emotional difficulties just as all adults do. There’s a real ease in watching her especially during her quiet moments alone with her father and Oksana. Glob takes her time showing us Apolonia during all phases of her life in her twenties and thirties.
Watching the film I was reminded of the characters Lena Dunham created in Tiny Furniture and Girls. They struggle and are often filled with doubts and personal traumas in their young adult years. They’re fascinating and go through some major arcs over the works. However, since this is a real figure there isn’t any of the inflated drama that is often necessary in fictionalized versions of seemingly real characters. This is Apolonia experiencing real life.
Glob also gives herself some brief cameos here and one especially emotional section later in film. Her presence is important as it solidifies the care she takes in filming Apolonia and how strong of a relationship they developed over their many years together.
There are plenty of Apolonia’s paintings on view throughout the film too, some of which even she doesn’t think are that good. However, by the end we see how far she has come as an artist and how amazing it is that someone saw something in her at a young age that would lead to such a full and realistic portrait of her development as a woman and an artist.
Apolonia Apolonia is currently shortlisted for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar. It opens in New York City on January 12th.
FILM: APOLONIA, APOLONIA
DIRECTED BY: LEA GLOB
STARRING: APOLONIA SOKOL, LEA GLOB, OKSANA SHACHKO
RATING: 4 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
There are some documentaries about subjects that many of us are unfamiliar with but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth making. For Lea Glob focusing on an aspiring artist, Apolonia Sokol, for thirteen years was fascinating enough. Maybe she didn’t realize how much time she’d spend filming her subject but consistently spending time with her over these many years has led to a really wonderful documentary, Apolonia, Apolonia.
Glob began filming her subject in 2009 when Apolonia had a dream of becoming a great painter. She was in art school and living in the theater her parents owned in Paris. Unlike Richard Linklater’s great fictional longitudinal study Boyhood, this one begins with a real artist at the start of her adult life and follows the various unpredictable turns in her life for well over decade. There’s even more here than that as Apolonia digs out Beta video tapes her parents recorded of her from birth and into her young life. Thus, the film also shares something in common with Michael Apted’s incredible Up series of films: it follows people for years well into their adulthoods without any degree of fictionalization.
What’s great about this project though is that the focus remains almost entirely on Apolonia and traces her journey from art school student to a “frontrunner in contemporary art.” Glob is there as Apolonia has her first art display, earns her diploma, and then struggles in the art world. We also see the development of her friendship with Oksana, a feminist from Ukraine who is unable to return to her home country. The two women spend a few years living together until Apolonia’s career takes her to New York, Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Istanbul, and Rome.
Both figures have their own problems and insecurities to face but it is the tough moments of turning thirty, having doubts about her talent, making the choice to not have kids, and fearing that she is selling her soul that make Apolonia a truly down to earth and relatable subject. This isn’t a glamorous portrait, nor is it a reality television show. Rather there’s maturity to Apolonia that makes her endlessly fascinating to watch. At first it is clear that Glob’s camera loves her face but as time goes one we see her grow into a woman who experiences her own physical and emotional difficulties just as all adults do. There’s a real ease in watching her especially during her quiet moments alone with her father and Oksana. Glob takes her time showing us Apolonia during all phases of her life in her twenties and thirties.
Watching the film I was reminded of the characters Lena Dunham created in Tiny Furniture and Girls. They struggle and are often filled with doubts and personal traumas in their young adult years. They’re fascinating and go through some major arcs over the works. However, since this is a real figure there isn’t any of the inflated drama that is often necessary in fictionalized versions of seemingly real characters. This is Apolonia experiencing real life.
Glob also gives herself some brief cameos here and one especially emotional section later in film. Her presence is important as it solidifies the care she takes in filming Apolonia and how strong of a relationship they developed over their many years together.
There are plenty of Apolonia’s paintings on view throughout the film too, some of which even she doesn’t think are that good. However, by the end we see how far she has come as an artist and how amazing it is that someone saw something in her at a young age that would lead to such a full and realistic portrait of her development as a woman and an artist.
Apolonia Apolonia is currently shortlisted for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar. It opens in New York City on January 12th.