The Maharaja's Children – Brave Bunch in India

“The Maharaja’s Children – Brave Bunch in India” is an interactive webdoc, telling the authentic story of eleven-year-old Wiesio Stypuła and a thousand other Polish children who, thanks to an Indian Maharaja, regain the childhood lost during World War II. The documentary is adapted in form and content to the sensibility of the young viewer and presents the fate of the Polish children through a comic strip, interactive maps, animations, short films with child actors, archival photographs and audio recordings. Webdok takes the viewer on a journey to Wiesiek’s childhood: his deportation to Siberia, his crossing of Asia and his stay in India. Together with Wiesiek, the viewer travels through the settlement for Polish children built by the maharaja, getting to know Wiesiek’s peers and guardians, as well as local residents and the maharaja’s family.

See the webdoc

The Nil Desperandum Foundation runs two social media profiles dedicated to the story of Polish children deported to Siberia during the Second World War and evacuated from the USSR to the Camp for Polish Children in Balachadi. On both profiles (FB and IG) the Foundation publishes posts in three language versions: Polish, English and Hindi. On our profiles we post archival material, photos of events related to festival screenings, meetings in schools, ceremonies organised in Poland and India commemorating this history. Thanks to the support of the Polish Film Institute, the Foundation is carrying out a project called:  “The promotion and dissemination of Polish filmmaking through screenings of The Maharaja’s Children – Brave Bunch in India webdoc at international film festivals”. 

The webdoc premiered at the 61st Krakow Film Festival (2021). It has been screened at festivals at home and abroad, where it has received numerous awards:

  • Jaipur International Film Festival, India (2022)
  • Slamdance Film Festival, USA (2022)
  • O?PLA National Independent Animation Festival, Poland, (2022), HONORARY MENTION
  • Echoes of Katyn International Film Festival on Totalitarianism, Poland, (2022), AUDIENCE AWARD
  • Smile International Film Festival for Children, India (2022)
  • New Media Film Festival, USA (2022)
  • Aryan Children’s Film Festival, Jaipur, India, Webdok received AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM (2022)
  • Dytiatko International Children’s Media Festival, Ukraine (2022), FINALIST TITLE
  • International Chinh India Kids Film Festival, SPECIAL AWARD (2022)