AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A LOST YOUTH

VERTIGO is the Polish co-producer of AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A LOST YOUTH (2x52’) directed by Jonathan Hayoun. Developed in France by ZADIG PRODUCTIONS for ARTE France, the documentary focuses on autobiographical competitions organized by YIVO (Institute for Jewish Reaserch) in Poland in the 1930s. These lost voices of young people aged between 16 and 22, rescued from oblivion and remnants of a world soon to disappear, give us a glimpse into the concerns, inner conflicts and dreams of the last generation of Yiddishland teenagers - a world that is no more.

Composed mainly of largely unpublished archives, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A LOST YOUTH has received support from numerous institutions in France, the United States, and Poland. VERTIGO is particularly proud and pleased to be accompanied on this project by FINA (Filmoteka Narodowa Instytut Audiowizualny), TVP (National Polish TV) and Lutetian Arabians Productions. Alongside editing in France and the composition of an original score by Antoni Lazarkiewicz in Poland, VERTIGO is currently supervising several days of filming with the Polish DOP Piotr Niemyjski at the National Library of Vilnius and at YIVO headquarters in New York.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A LOST YOUTH is expected to be completed in May 2026.