Baltic

In the heart of Łeba, amidst the wind, salt and the smell of smoke, Miecia has been running an iconic fish smokehouse for four decades. This place is not just a business — it is its element, vocation and meaning of everyday life. Thanks to her, the smokehouse became a local legend, and she herself — a figure larger than life. For many residents, she is not just a neighbor or a boss — she is the Wolf Queen of blood and bone, with a character as sharp as smoke from a stove.

But even the strongest sometimes have to stop. As health begins to make itself felt, Mecia is faced with a difficult question: how do you find yourself outside the job that has been everything for years?

“The Baltic” is a story of strength, passion and a delicate moment of suspension — somewhere between what was and what may yet happen. In the background: unique seaside folklore and holidays that taste like freshly smoked fish — simply, firmly and truly. The whole thing is seasoned with a pinch of cut, characteristic of the heroine's sense of humor. Miecia lives the Baltic life to the fullest, guided by her own philosophy, developed over the years — because, as she herself says: “I will not live my whole life!”

Iga Lis's daring documentary debut is a bittersweet, warm and hilarious portrait of a woman who has been there for others all her life and is now trying to remember who she is to herself.

The film premiered in the Polish Competition of the Krakow Film Festival at the same time as the Opening Film, gathering enthusiastic reactions from the audience and critics, as well as winning the Jantar Award for Best Cinematography at the Koszalin Festival of Film Debuts Young and Film and the main prize at the Sopot Film Festival in the DOK.PL Competition, which is awarded by the festival audience.