Stronger Than Ever
Marcin Jamkowski
72 mins | 2024
Rock climber Maciek "Pastor" Kubera, 52, has a tragic fall while climbing. From his hospital bed, he vows to come back stronger than ever to tackle the toughest climb of his life.
Sponsored by:
Friday Harbor Film Festival
Rock climber Maciek "Pastor" Kubera, 52, has a tragic fall while climbing, breaking his arm, his leg, his pelvis, his heel, and four vertebrae. From his hospital bed, he vows to come back stronger than ever to tackle the toughest climb of his life - a super steep route called Andromeda on the Greek island of Kalimnos.
The film paints an intense portrait of a man of passion and dedication who imposes a draconian training regime on himself, with his life governed by the schedule in his training logbook. To his own surprise, he finds that his needs go far beyond physical strength - he is now limited by his psyche. Fear has taken over his climbing and he doesn't know how to tame this previously unknown beast.
We travel with our man from psychotherapy rooms to climbing coaching sessions to friends and family reunions in the mountains of Spain, England, Greece, and Poland. And even to the music studio, where he works on performing his own rap lyrics at a noisy concert.
Will it be enough to fulfill his great challenge and lifelong climbing dream? Will he emerge victorious from his vertical duel with the limestone and with himself? And what will he learn along the way about the crisis and about getting a second chance?
Marcin Jamkowski
Filmmaker and writer. Passionate rock climber and scuba diver. Marcin studied chemistry in Warsaw, Poland, and after graduation did research with lasers and organic dyes at the color science laboratory. In his mid-20s, he changed his career path and became a science writer for the science section of the largest newspaper in Central Europe. He penned about a thousand articles and shot his first two documentaries before being hired as editor-in-chief of National Geographic magazine in Poland. After five years in that desk job, he went freelance, wrote six books, and followed his passion by studying filmmaking at Harvard and MIT.
Marcin's favorite subjects have always been expeditions, exploration, and popular science stories. He has participated in or organized more than a dozen expeditions to five continents with exploratory, archaeological, or scientific goals. He has been a TED speaker and a recipient of a scholarship from the Polish Ministry of Culture. Marcin is a Fellow of The Explorers Club and is currently serving his second term as Vice Chairman of the Polish Chapter of the Club.
"Stronger Than Ever" is his second feature-length documentary.
CREDITS
Director
Marcin Jamkowski
River of Treasures, Against the Sands of Time
Writer
Marcin Jamkowski
River of Treasures
Producer
Marcin Jamkowski
Against the Sands of Time
Key Cast
Maciej Kubera
"Pastor"
Key Cast
Ewa Kubera
"Bibi"
Key Cast
Marcin Gala, Tom Randall, Adam Pracownik
Cinematography
Marzena Hmielewicz
River of Treasures
Cinematography
Adam Suzin
Over the Limits, Crocodile, Broad Peak
Cinematography
Marcin Jamkowski
River of Treasures, Against the Sands of Time
Editing
Natalia Jacheć
Krzyk: Loosing Control, Different Paths to Holiness, How to Swim and not to Drown
Editing
Maciej Pawliński
Over the Limit, Broad Peak, Fucking Bornholm
For me this is a film about crisis and a second chance in life.
We will all have some kind of crisis in our lives - financial, emotional, professional, health, etc. The interesting thing for me is how we will deal with the crisis. Will we fight? Or flight? Surrender?
This is a story about a guy who fights. Change is inevitable. Our actions will indicate the course our history will take; by learning one another’s stories we can work together to make positive change in this country.