Festival Season:
January 2026
RAP LIKE GRANDMA: SUNI & 7 PRINCESSES
Directors:
Writers:
Patrycja Skawska
Patrycja Skawska
Producers:
Promofilm Art
Run Time:
0:29:44
Awarded for the following Category(s):
Awarded Category(s)
"Rap Like Grandma: Suni & 7 Princesses" is a 30-minute documentary about loneliness - not as a vague emotion, but as a condition shaped by everyday life, routine, and silence. It follows a group of South Korean women from the rural town of Chilgok, aged 80 to 94, who spent most of their lives working in the fields, raising siblings, and living without access to formal education. In their eighties, they began learning Hangul, the Korean alphabet, which unexpectedly opened the door to poetry, music, and community. What started as a simple literacy class grew into a rap group. They now write their own lyrics and perform both locally and internationally. Their story has drawn attention from media outlets including the BBC and Reuters.
The film explores how loneliness often hides in plain sight, not only among the elderly, but across generations. These women do not claim to have solved it, yet their journey shows that isolation can be challenged when people create, connect, and find purpose together. Their rap is not a gimmick - it is a tool of expression, memory, and joy, built from lives that had long been overlooked.
What they have built together as a group that laughs, writes, and performs carries its own quiet truth. Staying alive is not only a matter of years but of connection. Joy, purpose, and the sense of being needed can stretch time in ways that no medicine ever could. Their story does not try to explain or instruct. It simply shows a path that works, one that is lived rather than declared.
Submitter Statement
I make films to uncover stories that move us — the ones we rarely hear, the ones that remind us we are not alone. As a first-time filmmaker, I am especially drawn to characters who navigate life’s transitions with strength, humor, or quiet determination. My focus is often on people in later stages of life who are rewriting what it means to grow older — through art, community, or unexpected passion.
My current project, "Rap Like Grandma: Suni & 7 Princesses", reflects this vision. Set in South Korea, the documentary tells the story of elderly women who found new life through hip-hop — writing lyrics, performing on stage, and challenging the silence that often surrounds aging. I follow them intimately: at home, in rehearsal, in hospitals, and on stage. Their courage to be seen, to speak up, and to rap their truth — at a time when society often forgets them — is both political and deeply personal.
Cinematically, I seek a poetic yet grounded language — with fluid camera movement, soft natural light, and unfiltered emotion. My goal is not just to document, but to create space for reflection, healing, and recognition.
This film is my debut, but the questions it raises — about connection, meaning, and creativity — have always guided me. I believe we can find power in vulnerability, and through storytelling, build bridges across age, culture, and silence.
Patrycja Skawska is a first-time filmmaker from Poland, working at the intersection of visual storytelling, documentary cinema, and humanistic reflection. With a background in directing, cinematography, and acting, she brings a deep emotional sensitivity to her work. Her films explore themes of loneliness, aging, and personal transformation — often focusing on individuals who have found strength, joy, or purpose against the odds.
She began her filmmaking journey after completing a professional directing and cinematography course in 2023. Her first short documentary, dedicated to the Władysław Reymont Literature Museum, served as a stepping stone to her current project: a full-length documentary titled "Rap Like Grandma: Suni & 7 Princesses". The film, shot in South Korea, follows a group of elderly women who found renewed meaning in life through rap music. By combining raw emotion with artistic composition, Skawska aims to elevate overlooked voices and challenge perceptions of aging and creativity.
In addition to filmmaking, she created the Danceventure project, combining her love of Chopin’s music with Korean culture and traditional dance. She speaks Polish, English, Greek, and Italian and is passionate about cross-cultural dialogue, memory, and the small moments that define our humanity.
This is her first submission to film festivals, however some nomination already applied as follow:
AWARD WINNER
• Hollywood Blood Horror Festival – Best Documentary
• Good Vibes International Film Festival – Best Female Writer Documentary Short
• Good Vibes International Film Festival – Best Jury Selection
• Good Vibes International Film Festival – Best Female Director Documentary Short
• Good Vibes International Film Festival – Best 1st Time Filmmaker
• Good Vibes International Film Festival – Best Documentary Short
• London Women Film Festival – Best Mobile Film
• Milan Indie Film Festival – Best Women Empowerment Film
• Berlin Short Film Awards - Best Mobile Film
OFFICIAL SELECTION
* Peloponnese International Documentary Festival – Official Selection - Greek (Europe) Premiere
* Vindhya International Film Festival - Official Selection - India (Asia) Premiere
* IndieX Film Fest – Official Selection (Documentary)
* Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival – Official Selection (Documentary)
* Indie Short Fest - Official Selection (Documentary)
FINALIST
• IndieX Film Fest – Official Selection (Documentary)
• Independent Shorts Awards, Los Angeles – Finalist (Documentary)
• Independent Shorts Awards, Los Angeles – Finalist (First-Time Director)
• Starlight International Film Festival – Finalist (Documentary)
SEMI-FINALIST
• Berlin Shorts Award – Semi-Finalist (Documentary)
• Dublin Movie Awards – Semi-Finalist (Documentary)
• London International Filmmakers Festival – Semi-Finalist (Documentary)
• New York International Women Festival – Semi-Finalist (Documentary)
• Dallas Shorts – Semi-Finalist (Documentary)
• Calgary Indie Film Awards – Semi-Finalist (Documentary)
• Detroit Independent Film Festival – Semi-Finalist (Documentary)
• Vienna Indie Short Film Festival – Semi-Finalist (Documentary)
• Atlanta Movie Awards – Semi-Finalist (Documentary)
• Rotterdam Independent Film Festival - Semi-Finalist (Documentary)
Key Cast
Other Credits