Krakus Mound, Pilsudski Bridge, Hevre restaurant and an atmospheric Krakow townhouse. These places will be seen in Andrzej Piaseczny 's latest music video for the song "Love," which has been in the news a lot lately due to its strongly emphasized LGBT+ theme. The directors wanted the background of the story to be associated with love, togetherness and equality. That's how it fell on Krakow, which, no doubt, became the main character of the clip.
Krakow, due to its unique atmosphere, has more than once served as a background in TV series, films or music videos. This time, several locations and places typical of Krakow appeared in the music video for Andrzej Piaseczny's latest single "Love" from his album "50/50," which hit the web in late June. Admittedly, the main plot of the story is the love of two men, but watching the clip you can't take your eyes off the Krakow aura! This image strongly opposes the vision of Krakow as a touristy, overcrowded, commercial city.
a place of love, togetherness, equality
Why exactly Kraków? Helena Ganjalian and Bartosz Szpak, who directed the clip, explain that they were looking for places that would be atmospheric, credible, but above all associated with love and togetherness. And so it fell on Krakow, where they sense these values.
What Krakow places do the creators of the clip take us to?
The story begins with a few shots taken during a late summer afternoon on Krakus Mound, located in the Podgórze district, on the right bank of the Vistula River. It is a frequent meeting place, a place for walks and bicycle trips for residents of Krakow and nearby towns. In summer it is extremely charming there. Such an image of the mound is shown by scenes from the "Love" clip. The cinematographer there captured a romantic sunset in an engagement scene. The frames from Luca Guadagnino's "Call me by your name" come to mind, where a romance between young men blossoms in an Italian town during the hot summer.
We move on to a modern apartment in a well-kept Krakow tenement. On the staircase you can see the patterned floor, where the characters carelessly run around. Speaking of the tenement, there is also a scene from the roof of a building located near the center, where the urban landscape can be seen in the distance.
Also shown is the distinctive, dark blue Pilsudski Bridge, which connects Podgórze with Kazimierz, where a car driving scene was recorded on a sunny day. There is a shot of a vinyl store in Kazimierz. In fact, we stay in the Jewish quarter until the end of the clip - the wedding and reception, which was arranged in the Hevre restaurant, one of the most famous atmospheric meeting places in all of Krakow. It's where events around culture and literature take place, including events as part of the Jewish Culture Festival. The place also boasts an original gastronomic offer.
Krakow committed to equality
The city boasts that it cooperated in the creation of the clip, specifically the Krakow Festival Office, which provided organizational and logistical support to the team during the work. The equality theme of Piasek's music video is also not insignificant for the social policy implemented in Krakow. In recent years, the local government has been heavily involved in supporting the LGBT+ community. In May 2019, Mayor Jacek Majchrowski established the Equal Treatment Council, which implements the equality policy program.
We are glad that Krakow has become part of this story. We are a city of open gates, where everyone can be themselves. Respect, the right to be oneself, the right to love - these are values that are close to us ," commented Piaska Nina Gabryś, Plenipotentiary of the Mayor of Krakow for Equality Policy.
Inspiration for filmmakers
Recall that Krakow has been an inspiration for many musicians and music video directors. The Old Town was the backdrop in music videos by Manaam ("Ocean of Free Time"), Myslowitz and Marek Grechuta ("Krakow"), Artur Rojek ("Beksa") and Grzegorz Turnau ("Bracka"), among others. In Nowa Huta, for example, the band Akurat decided to make a video for the song "Piewcy". Krakow has also attracted foreign formations, such as Editors, a band from the UK. The video for the song "You don't know love" was made at Alchemy in Kazimierz.
In recent years, Krakow has also produced such productions as "Czerwony Pająk," a film depicting the story of serial killer Karol Kot, directed by Marcin Koszalka, and "Prime Time," one of Jan Komasa's recent films available on Netflix. The platform recently announced that in 2021, the shooting of the fantasy series "Axis mundi," directed by Katarzyna Adamik and Olga Chajdas, will start in Krakow.
I am extremely pleased with the development of Krakow as an attractive and friendly film location for filmmakers and audiovisual producers. Only recently, a number of music videos, documentaries, as well as Netflix series have been produced in Krakow, " said Robert Piaskowski, the Krakow mayor's plenipotentiary for culture.
