When I went to Vietnam to make the movie "Artists of Science", I expected to make a typical science movie. About Polish geologists who built a network of geophysical stations in the 1950s. About Polish and Vietnamese archaeologists who spent years studying tombs in the middle of rice fields, analyzing pottery unearthed from the wrecks of old junks. And about conservators who, after the Vietnam War, saved temples, citadels, and even entire cities from destruction and oblivion.
However, it turned out that this is only half of the story of Polish-Vietnamese research and scientific work. The other part is... the great friendship that has bonded scientists from such far-flung places as the banks of Vistula and the Red River, the Oder and the Mekong. As I traveled with my camera, I met Vietnamese who spoke beautiful Polish and Poles who had learned to speak fluent Vietnamese. They all mentioned the cultural similarities and the bond that very quickly connected the fellow researchers. About friendship.
I am very pleased that our movie can also show this deeply human element of doing science. The element that turns pure science into an equally beautiful art.
Marcin Jamkowski, director of The Artists of Science