Humour that brings people together: the actor, director, and screenwriter Monika Anna Wojtyllo
The original plan was to travel on to England, where an aunt lived. However, Manfred persuaded them to seek political asylum in Germany. Monika Wojtyllo remembers the period after their registration with the authorities in Hamburg in 1983 as being the most absurd in her whole life: “I probably have an obligation to make a film about our escape and what came afterwards. For all the refugees who are currently going through the same experience.”
In her eyes, it was a tough time that shaped her. Suddenly, her largely carefree, innocent childhood was a thing of the past. Since Monika of course learned German much faster than her parents, she had to translate, fill out application forms, and stand her ground with officials. Naturally, her parents were also not idle, and joined a loosely connected Polish theatre group. Under the direction of Ryszard Wojtyłło, this became the P.I.K.A. (Polska Inicjatywa Kulturalno-Artystyczna), a group that performed Polish cabaret which portrayed the problems faced by Polish emigrants in a humorous way. Monika didn’t just spend her days and nights in school or in the playground like the other children, but also backstage and under tables. It was at these tables that her parents sat with the other Poles. “They drank vodka and cried,” she remembers. “After all, every one of these actors, musicians, and artists missed their homeland.”
Later, her parents began working in film. Her father was given a fixed role in “Lindenstrasse” (a popular German TV soap opera – translator’s note), while her mother worked finding bit-part players for the Studio Hamburg production company. She worked on crime series that were often set in St. Pauli (a district of Hamburg with a gritty reputation – translator’s note). Monika Wojtyllo has a direct way with words: “At 14, I had already seen every brothel in Hamburg from the inside.” And ultimately, she was also given her first major roles, such as “a kidnapped Polish girl refugee who is to be sold as a prostitute”. She was told to speak with a particularly strong accent for the role. “That’s how things were in German TV at the time,” she explains.
After numerous work placements behind the camera, her higher school leaving exams, and a brief surge of interest in studying medicine, Monika Wojtyllo ended up in the place that has been her professional home ever since: the world of film. She studied film direction in Babelsberg (a major film production centre in Potsdam – translator’s note), but continued to act during this time. This enabled her to learn about both sides of the camera, which she considers an advantage: “As a director, I can feel a particular degree of empathy for the actors. I know what it feels like to give everything you have in front of the camera.”
She also began writing scripts at an early stage, following in the footsteps of her father in all the three major areas of theatre and film: author, director, and actor. On the subjects she uses as material, she says: “They’re just as bizarre as I am. We don’t really belong anywhere. I’ll probably spend the rest of my life split between Poland and Germany.” Wojtyllo’s favourite genres are satire and comedy. In her eyes, they’re dramas in different packaging. For her, they also include political subjects, which “don’t ring the big emotional bells,” but rather question what is happening from a different perspective and with humour. She likes to draw on a quote from Billy Wilder when it comes to her own approach: “If you have something important to say, dip it in a little bit of chocolate.” She is also inspired by Roman Polański, Andrzej Wajda, David Lynch, and Woody Allen. However, every so often, they are joined by others. “The things I admire keep changing”, she says, and finally also mentions the influence her father has had on her work. After his death in 2022, Ryszard Wojtyllo left hundreds of unsorted works in Polish behind. “There really are a few wonderful things in there,” she says, and hopes that in the near future, she will be able to find a researcher who would be interested in taking on this mountain of plays.
