Based on the acclaimed investigative report “A Tiny Swamp”, Kamila Tarabura’s debut feature TRAVEL ESSENTIALS is a nuanced story about confronting the past and challenging societal perceptions. Featuring brilliantly written female characters, the film stars Polish-American actress Dagmara Domińczyk (best known for her role in HBO's “Succession”) and Katarzyna Warnke, who also co-wrote the script.

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A mysterious package arrives for Ada (Dagmara Domińczyk), a renowned American journalist of Polish descent living in Hamburg. Inside is a memoir, written under a pseudonym by a woman requesting a meeting. To Ada’s surprise, the author turns out to be her old school friend, Roksana (Katarzyna Warnke), who invites her to return to their childhood hometown.

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The reunion is anything but simple. When the heavily pregnant Ada travels to Poland, she is drawn into Roksana’s painful story — one of childhood abuse, long-buried trauma, and a desperate search for truth. Roksana is determined to confront her mother (Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik), who, she claims, turned a blind eye to the abuse inflicted by her husband. She hopes that this long-awaited confrontation will finally force her mother to acknowledge what she allowed to happen.

But Roksana’s mother refuses to acknowledge any wrongdoing, acting as if nothing Roksana speaks of ever took place. As Ada becomes entangled in the emotional fallout, she begins to question what is real and what isn’t — and whether some secrets are better left buried.

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The screenplay for Kamila Tarabura’s debut feature is based on Katarzyna Surmiak-Domańska’s well-known investigative report, “Mokradełko” (“A Tiny Swamp”). 

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KAMILA TARABURA

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Kamila Tarabura is a Polish director and screenwriter born in 1990 in Rybnik, Poland. She graduated from the Warsaw Film School and the Wajda School. Her short film debut, "Into the Night" (Chodźmy w noc), produced by Munk Studio, won the Best Live Action Short Film Award at the 2020 Warsaw Film Festival and received both the Ecumenical Jury Award and a Special Mention at the Kyiv International Film Festival Molodist. The film's success led to a collaboration with Netflix on the six-episode coming-of-age series "Absolute Beginners" (Absolutni debiutanci), co-created with Nina Lewandowska. The series earned them nominations for the 2023 Polityka Passports. Tarabura has gained experience working on various productions, including assisting Claire Denis on "High Life" and serving as the second director on Agnieszka Holland’s award-winning film "Green Border".