Synopsis
In the 1960s, an anthropologist thinks he has discovered the existence of a vampire woman in a Kashub community in Wilno, Ontario. Kinga Michalska returns to the village still recovering from the trauma of this coverage, using a skilful blend of archival footage and performance to question the relationship between lived reality and scientific “truth”.
A word from Tënk
Like a true investigative piece with feminist, queer, and decolonial undertones, Vampires, It's Nothing to Laugh At offers a captivating dive into Kashubian territory — a Slavic diaspora settled in a rural region of southern Ontario — in search of a woman who self-proclaimed as a vampire.
Initially centered around local folklore and its truly fascinating rumours, the filmmaker’s approach naturally intertwines it with another story — this time, a colonial one — originally sold to these newly arrived Kashubians to convince them to settle on Algonquin lands, far from their homeland. In this sense, and through their discoveries, Michalska inevitably reexamines our relationship to stories, what we pass on, and what defines us.
This vampire legend, like many others, is nowhere near the truth. Over 50 years old and still drawing curious visitors to the village of Wilno, this so-called "mini Canadian Transylvania", it attests to a reality that has been embellished, severly altered. But why? Or rather: for whom?
Who benefits from perpetuating these stories, at the expense of a small community still suffering from such a label? A careerist anthropologist from the 1960s? The sensationalist press who has recycled the story ever since? This young filmmaker whose film premiered at Vision du Réel? Tënk, perhaps?
Jason Todd
Artistic Director
Tënk
