We're Leaving

All her life, Anna's lies have kept her family apart – now, with little time left, she spins one final deception, hiding her illness as she leads her teenagers to Spain, where the truth about their long-lost parent could either shatter them forever or bring them together at last.

Anna (46), a chaotic small-town hairdresser and widowed mother, is raising well-behaved Julka (18) and rebellious Daniel (16). Though they share a home, they've grown distant. Diagnosed with a terminal illness, Anna hides the truth and proposes a road trip to Spain, hoping to reconnect with her children. As emotional walls fall, the family begins to support one another – yet Anna conceals the trip's real purpose: their father, whom they believed dead, now lives in Spain as Maria, a woman. Years ago, Anna cut ties after he came out as transgender. Now, facing the end of her life, she must confront the past and entrust Maria with her children's future.

Director's note

For me, cinema is above all about people – their emotions, their relationships, the paths they take and how those paths change them. In'We're Leaving' I place Anna at the centre: a chaotic hairdresser in her forties who rarely bites her tongue and who carries a polished mask for the world. The film begins where that mask starts to slip. When Anna loses control of her life she must reveal what she has been holding inside: her fears, her fragility, and the mistakes she thought she could bury.
Anna raises two teenagers on the brink of adulthood. They live under the same roof, but they cannot talk to one another. You cannot build a family on a lie – and that lie is the fragile foundation of their home. Anna has been living with the consequences of the secret she created, and she has never had the chance – or the skill – to attend to her children's emotional needs. Illness and the vision of death force a turning point: one last chance to step out of the lie, to try to repair the damage, and to do so on her own terms.
I approach the subject of society's hostility towards transgender people indirectly: by showing its effect on a family. Too often in public debate – in Poland and beyond – we hear that LGBTQ+ people 'destroy' families. The truth is frequently the opposite: it is exclusion, fear, and rigid social expectations that break relationships. Anna is terrified by the person she once loved not because she hates them, but because she does not know how to respond. Is it easier to bury someone than to accept them?
Visually, I want to be as close to my characters as possible – sometimes even closer than is comfortable. I want to capture the tiny, passing emotions that would otherwise slip away. Handheld camerawork will follow them: dynamic and breathing, but punctuated by moments of stillness and quiet. Close-ups will allow the audience to read the smallest changes in expression, to feel as if they know these people intimately. Some sequences will be naturalistic; others slightly stylised – I imagine moments with the emotional cadence of Mommy.
The palette will be slightly faded, with warm, sandy contrasts. I want to film the Europe of late spring – just before the summer rush – and to root the story in the visual grammar of American and Latin road films such as 'Thelma & Louise' and 'Y tu mamá también.' Landscapes and nature are characters: the open road, parking-lot motels, sunlit beaches. The more picturesque the surroundings, the more evident the characters' interior dramas become. Formally, the film will balance the feel-good energy of 'Little Miss Sunshine' with the weight of intimate dramas like 'To Leslie.'
Before shooting we will hold extensive improvisational rehearsals so the actors truly inhabit their roles. I want the siblings – their language, their gestures, their silences – to feel like real young people today. I maintain contact with teenagers through my sister and her circle; that raw familiarity informs the dialogue, but I will give the actors freedom to shape the truth of each moment. Because we are filming on the road, I will remain open to chance and 'found' life on the journey; many of the truest moments in film appear in silence and in shared glances.
I am especially glad that Maria will be played by a transgender actress. Giving this role an authentic voice is vital to the film's honesty. As a gay man from a small town in Podhale, I carry memories of stigma, gossip, and violence from my youth – experiences that informed my debut 'Elephant.' In Poland, stories like these remain underrepresented. With 'We're Leaving' I want to invite viewers to be more mindful, more humane, and more attentive to each other's inner lives.
In the end, Maria is the one who dared to live honestly. Her family turned away, but she chose life on her terms – at great cost and with no regrets. That question hangs with me: are our choices really only to conform or to disappear? I hope this film opens a different answer: that courage, truth, and tenderness can create new possibilities for love and for families.

Producer's note

'We're Leaving' is the second feature film by Kamil Krawczycki. His micro-budget debut 'Elephant' won numerous awards at festivals both in Poland and abroad. Among them are the Best Micro-Budget Film award at the Gdynia Film Festival and the Jury Award at the 40th edition of the Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival. Kamil was also nominated for the Polish Film Institute's Debut of the Year award.
What captivated us – Lava Films – in Kamil Krawczycki's project is the fact that he wants to create warm cinema that talks about meaningful topics, going beyond the traditional concept of drama. The addition of ethereal elements gives the film a lightness that, in our opinion, is extremely necessary in this type of story. As producers, we paid attention to the uplifting ending that offers hope in the face of loss.
We also found it interesting that the director, by introducing an LGBTQ+ character, does not make her storyline the core of the film; thus, it is not the father himself but the mystery surrounding him that becomes the vehicle to tell a story about a family which, to build a true bond, must overcome the lie that marks it. Despite its heavy subject matter, the film adopts a light narrative form. Setting the story within the road movie genre allows the 'heavy' theme to be diffused, letting us momentarily forget where we are going and simply enjoy the journey itself.
The director locked the characters inside an old car and sent them travelling across almost all of Europe to sunny Spain. The more picturesque the surroundings, the more dramatic their journey becomes. The varied characteristics of each character – a chaotic, energetic mother, a rebellious teenage son, and a composed daughter – clearly show that it is the human being, the complexity of their character and relationships with others, that interests the director most, and that this kind of thematic exploration forms the main axis of the film.
Cinema history shows that portraying characters 'on the road,' who themselves are on an emotional journey, can be deeply engaging and turns the viewer into a natural fellow traveller. Notable examples include 'Thelma & Louise,' 'About Schmidt,' and 'Little Miss Sunshine.' Following these examples, we believe Kamil has found the right genre to tell his story. Reading the screenplay, both in terms of atmosphere and the original portrayal of family dramas, we were repeatedly reminded of films like 'Summer 1993' by Carla Simón, 'Babyteeth' by Shannon Murphy, and 'Mommy' by Xavier Dolan.
The screenplay envisages a journey through Poland, Austria, Switzerland, France, and Spain. To keep production efficient, filming will take place in Poland, Austria/Germany/Switzerland, and Spain. French scenes will be shot in Spain, while the mountain and lake scenes will be filmed in Switzerland, Germany, or Austria. The whole post-production (visual, sound and score) we intend to conduct in the fourth co-production country. We envisage the Netherlands, Lithuania, or Estonia, taking into account the co-production possibilities and resources these can offer.
The film's cinematographer will be Bartosz Świniarski, with whom we have worked multiple times, including on 'Silent Land' (TIFF Platform 2021), 'Apples' (Venice Orizzonti 2020), and recently on 'The Things You Kill' (Sundance 2025). Each time, he has presented a distinct visual storytelling style. His work on road movies like 'Vadio' by S. Cayette demonstrates his talent and ability to effectively portray intimate settings and capture real emotions between characters.
Costume designer Małgorzata Fudala, known for her work on recent films by Magnus von Horn such as 'Sweat' or the Oscar-nominated 'The Girl with the Needle,' has expressed interest in joining the project. We believe Kamil has a keen eye for his characters, and his sensitivity in capturing difficult themes, along with the honesty of the screenplay, will also be recognised by our partners.
At Lava Films, we've always believed in strong, character-driven narratives led by singular talents who give them a quality which resonates with international audiences. 'We're Leaving,' in our opinion, represents exactly that.

Subjects:
child parent relationships, sibling relationships, motherhood, journey, LGBTQ, coming of age, women, interpersonal relationships