28/04/2025 - The coming-of-age drama follows a teenage boy navigating emotional and intergenerational turmoil against the backdrop of contemporary Eastern Europe

l-r: Director Yutaro Keino (© Csaba Szentgáli), and actresses Pola Geiger (© Piotr Skrzypczyk) and Anita Sokołowska (© Mateusz Turek)

Currently in pre-production, Mazurian Summer Story is the new feature by Japanese director Yutaro Keino, a graduate of the National Polish Film School in Łódź and a voice increasingly recognised across European arthouse circles. Set in the lush, historically loaded landscape of the Mazury region, the coming-of-age drama follows a teenage boy navigating emotional and intergenerational turmoil against the backdrop of contemporary Eastern Europe.

The film centres on Martin, a drifting teenager facing the prospect of repeating the school year. Seeking refuge from his fractured home life, he travels with his sister Gosia to spend the summer at their grandmother’s house in Mazury. There, he begins taking yachting lessons with Ewa, a quiet yet spirited instructor in her late forties. Martin soon becomes enamoured with her strength and enigmatic past, sensing layers of unspoken pain beneath her composed exterior. When Ewa shares her work with Ukrainian refugees, Martin glimpses her deeper compassion—but also her internal battles.

Keino’s script delicately explores the blurring of maternal, romantic and existential yearning, as Martin struggles to understand his feelings. A confrontation prompts Ewa to retreat, sending Martin spiralling. Lost in the woods, he is confronted by buried memories of his late mother. His journey eventually takes him to Wrocław, where Ewa introduces him to her daughter Pola, further complicating his emotional landscape. By summer’s end, Ewa's decision to move away marks a turning point, as Martin begins to reconnect with his own roots and sense of identity.

The film draws inspiration from the director’s personal experiences. “I’ve always felt like an outsider, wherever I’ve lived,” says Keino, who moved to Poland over a decade ago. “This film comes from a need to understand how our children are shaped by a fast-changing world, where identity can be easily lost.” The story also reflects his meditations on post-war trauma and guilt, influenced by his Japanese heritage and dialogues with Mazury locals with ties to Germany. The region’s layered history, including remnants of World War II and shifting borders, permeates the visual and narrative fabric of the film.

Stylistically, Mazurian Summer Story pays homage to Éric Rohmer’s portraits of youth in summer, but contrasts those idyllic tones with the tension of modern conflict – both geopolitical and personal.

The project will feature performances from Anita Sokołowska, starring as Ewa, and Pola Geiger as Gosia, with bilingual casting and on-location shooting set to enhance the film’s realism. Behind the camera is DoP Joanna Piechotta, working under the supervision of famed Polish filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski. Script consultancy is provided by Jan Wagner, with Nina Haun (previously attached to high-profile projects such as Toni Erdmann [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Maren Ade
film profile], Triangle of Sadness [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ruben Östlund
interview: Ruben Östlund
film profile] and Spencer [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) and Patrick Dreikauss (The Teachers’ Lounge [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: İlker Çatak
interview: Leonie Benesch
film profile], Evolution [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Never Look Away [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Henckel von Donners…
film profile]) handling casting duties for the German and young actors, respectively.

Wrocław-based band The Kurws will reunite to compose and perform a special track for one of the film’s key scenes. Known for their genre-defying mix of krautrock, punk and funk, the group’s involvement highlights the project’s commitment to local talent and a distinctive artistic identity.

Budgeted at €1.1 million, Mazurian Summer Story is a co-production between Poland’s Tobineko Films, Hasmik Avetisyan of Germany’s Nor Film and Alexey Zgonik of Ukraine’s ESSE Production House. Jakub Gogolewski serves as the production manager. The team will attend the upcoming Marché du film in Cannes seeking new partners.