“Vika” on HBO Max. An extraordinary documentary about an 84-year-old DJ who plays all-night parties in clubs

“flaw!” It is a documentary whose main character is 84-year-old DJ Vika, also known as Wirginia Szmyt – a star of music clubs all over Poland. The charismatic DJ surrounds herself with young people, telling herself that age is just a number. He plays until the morning not only at parties, but also participates in parades and meetings with the elderly. He tries to convince his peers that aging doesn't have to be bleak.

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– It is definitely a trip of a lifetime, because the production of the film took nearly five years. Vika and I know each other well. It's a rollercoaster ride of all things. (…) But it is also a journey that taught me a lot. I think we rarely have the opportunity – in the world of documentaries – to make a film that Americans call a “feel-good film,” says Agnieszka Zwiwka, the film's director.

DJ Vika is well known to Warsaw club goers. He impresses with his energy and openness. It proves that life can be celebrated at any age. The documentary shows not only the highlights but also the shades of DJ Viki's life. Although she feels like a colorful bird, when her health begins to deteriorate, Vika notices her death and feels lonely. – There is no doubt that in order for a film to be made, I would say about aging, it must be authentic. It's not as if it has to be sugar-coated, because our life does not consist only of joy – says Wirgenia Szmit. He finds meaning in motivating other seniors to take action and overcome loneliness.

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DJ Fika is a retired special education teacher. She was a teacher, correctional school administrator, and educator, and worked for several years with children with severe disabilities. -I have worked with difficult youth for almost 30 years. When I retired and realized what a place seniors were, I rebelled. I wanted to show that aging exists only in our minds, which is when a person stops caring about life, stops exploring and learning. I always want something – she said on the program “Ostatnie Piło”.

She wanted to spend her retirement with her husband on a plot of land, taking a break from waking up in the morning, from calls to the police, and from visits to court. “I stayed like this for about a year, I did everything in my garden and I started to miss connecting with people. It's not just that this guy is next to me and we'll go for a walk and look at the surrounding trees.” Maybe I will live another 30 years and then what? What then?” What will I do? And although the place was really beautiful around me, with forests and lakes, it was not enough for me. My husband traveled all the time. DJ Vika said in an interview with Eks Magazyn magazine: “I traveled to All over the world, so he wanted to rest there. I was a prison teacher behind bars and I wanted to travel and travel. I wanted more.” Everything changed when one of her friends offered her an artistic activity for the elderly. She started working in the seniors' club, founded the Vrajna cabaret, and then started managing discos for the elderly. – In 2000, she played the role of DJ for the first time in the Bolek bar in Warsaw. Over time, I began to become well-known and recognizable, because DJ work is almost exclusively associated with young people. I was hailed as “the oldest female DJ in Poland”, and recalled the beginnings of her DJ career in Onet.

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