When Sven Larsson decided to take up studies in Wroclaw, he knew his life would change beyond recognition. A different world, a different lifestyle, a different culture, different people and different weather. "My first days in the city were really strange. The rules at the university proved to be stricter than those at home while people and the entire environment were completely different," recalls Sven. "I think that the majority of Swedish people who come to Poland are slightly... spoiled."
WROCLAW - Recall the years from Success Defined on Vimeo.
"I come from a wealthy, stable and safe society. That's why I found it very hard to settle here at first. I tried to adapt myself, but I felt a little alienated. It took me some time to change this.”
Skateboarding in the Old Town
Sven feels he is from Wroclaw now. He has his favourite spots. old haunts, pubs and restaurants. "I love Rynek. This place is virtually teeming with life, and it's full of colourful, friendly and nice people. We don't have places such as this in Sweden," says Sven. "When I was a student I would take a skateboard, turn my IPod on and roam the city for hours at night. I spent a lot of time at "Cocofi", "Bułka z masłem", "Cafe Vinyl" and "Hotel Monopol". I spent many hours at the hotel café during the last three years of my studies. The place was as silent as a church. I had the place only for myself so that I could concentrate and revise for my exams.
How the film was created
Sven came up with the idea to shoot "Wroclaw - Recall the Years" about three years ago. The picture was created between October 2013 and the beginning of June 2014. The period proved to be very intense. "Shooting, editing, revising, research, applying for a job, shooting, editing, job interviews so that the film was ready for the formal dinner to celebrate my graduation," he recalls. "Before I started shooting I checked the type of camera I needed. I worked in the Norwegian fjords in the summer, and I spent all the money I had managed to earn to but the necessary gear. I knew I had to shoot the film because I didn't want to leave Poland without memories that I could later return to. I was after something more than just regular Instagram photos. It had to be something real. Something unexpected," he adds. It is no wonder, then, that the film, in which he put so much heart and passion, would find so many lovers. The news about the picture reached the Town Hall. On seeing the picture, Mayor Rafał Dutkiewicz decided to personally distinguish Sven and gave him a photographic album of Wroclaw with his own dedication.
"They felt it"
"This is awesome, really. I am really taken aback that something small and personal would resound so well with other people. I have received a lot of emails from all around the world. I have never completed any film school, no one has taught me how to shoot a picture, and I was left to my own devices. People were really moved, they asked me where I shot the film and they told me they wanted to visit the place, that is, Poland, to see and feel it for themselves. A lot of people wrote that they cried and really felt the picture. They didn't know that Wroclaw is so beautiful and fascinating. This was really moving. Really positive. I had almost 100 thousand hits on Vimeo over just one week," recalls Sven.
Six unforgettable years
Sven admits that he can see how Wroclaw has changed over the years. "When I came here six years ago, the city felt very Eastern-like. Now it is more European," he says, When asked if he intends to return to Wroclaw, to says he will whenever an opportunity arises and he is able to do so. The question he finds the most challenging is what his best moment in Wroclaw was. "If you spent six years in one place, it is simply impossible to answer this. There were plenty of such moments. The fact that I passed the Pharmacology exam in the fourth year of my study gave me two years of happiness and bliss. My gradual learning medicine. Each and every trip, party and meeting with great people from all around the world. Spending time together on the roofs of the houses and spring barbecues in the park. Sharing remarks on life, which helped me to feel what real happiness is all about. Which is why I am a grown-up now," says Sven. "The very shooting of the documentary "Wroclaw - Recall the Years" gave me a lot of pleasure, but it also made me include a number of social or environmental interludes that brought a five-year-old in me. It was a great time."
Deep down he is from Wroclaw
Last weekend, Sven formally completed his studies in Wroclaw. But deep down he is from Wroclaw now, especially after all these years he spent in the capital of Lower Silesia. "The stories that took place in the city... I will remember them fondly all my life. Like when a friend of mine called to tell me that she couldn't get to her apartment because the police had blocked the street. They found an unexploded bomb in the cellar. It is in Wroclaw that I first saw the King of Sweden in person as he strolled around Rynek with Wroclaw's Mayor. This is funny because I never got the chance to see Carl XVI Gustaf live in Sweden. Or the moment when soldiers woke me up at the dead of night and I helped them to carry sandbags to stop the Oder from bursting its banks. I remember standing at 2 o'clock at night, wearing a military uniform from the 1950s, surrounded by hundreds of sandbags. I would stack one upon the other all night," he recalls pensively. "Or the plane crash in Smolensk," he adds. "The entire Wroclaw fell silent, and I remember that I walked across Rynek at night, it was foggy, some choir was singing, the banners were flying in the air, and the entire area was strewn with flowers and burning candles. Rynek and me, the choir and the fog. You can only hear such stories from your grandpa while sitting in his lap. I can now proudly tell these stories to my children and show them the picture I've made. That's a hell of a story! My story!
