The video features a dialogue between the artist and a sculpture-portrait created by sculptor and performer Paweł Althamer, with whom Filipka has long collaborated as an assistant. The portrait depicts her as a kind of mythological figure emerging from sea foam, where the foam itself symbolizes the fluidity of sexual identity. Filmed at the Foksal Gallery Foundation, the video shows Filipka interviewing herself—essentially conversing with her own artistic incarnation. In the conversation, she blends a personal, humorous perspective with philosophical questions about emancipation, visibility, and the history of the queer community.

'The Reflection I Can't Escape'
30:18 min.
2024

The work is a conversation between the artist and her conservative father, in which she tries to find common ground despite their differing worldviews. The setting is her father’s metal workshop, where he spends his free time crafting and tinkering—something the artist treats as a form of artistic activity. During the interview, the artist draws on the format of previous interviews she conducted with other artists, bringing up themes of their working-class background, class consciousness, and its relationship to sexual emancipation.

The film is framed compositionally so that at the start, the father is shown performing a series of physical tasks in his workspace—tasks like moving coal or laying bricks. At the end of the interview, Filipka repeats these same tasks in her own way—'queering' them by performing them in a dress. This additional detail highlights that the film takes place in the very location where her father is building a new utility room or workshop space—symbolizing that they are, in a way, building something together.

The work was prepared for the exhibition We Want the Whole Life. Feminisms in Polish Art at the State Gallery of Art in Sopot—the largest survey of feminist art in the history of Polish art.

'Work out with Filipka'
4:00 min.
2020

Against the backdrop of skyscrapers stilled by the coronavirus pandemic, Filipka Rutkowska presents a set of physical exercises designed to maintain a healthy figure during lockdown. Dressed in sportswear and high heels, she works out on a pink stepper on the rooftop of the Institute of the Avant-Garde in Warsaw—the former studio of Edward Krasiński and Henryk Stażewski, where the video was filmed. Her queer, partially revealed silhouette contrasts with the towering yet deserted office buildings, emphasizing the fragility of both bodies and systems. With humor, the film explores the challenge of keeping balance in uncertain times, while also offering hope that stability can be found despite insecurity. 

The video was presented as part of the New Horizons Film Festival in Wrocław.

'To You, Mommy'
4:00 min.
2021

The video filmed in an abandoned bar during the pandemic. The space, once a vibrant cornerstone of the queer community, known for new connections and adventures, is now deserted. In this chilly, empty bar, the artist performs a drag act as a bartender, paying homage to the lip-sync tradition that is a classic element of queer culture. For Filipka, the aesthetics of club life are a point of departure for many of her artistic explorations.

She performs the song "To You, Mummy," originally by the great Polish opera diva Violetta Villas, in a subtle and intimate manner. Dressed in a way that partially reveals her body, she creates a tender, nostalgic atmosphere, emphasizing the fragility of both bodies and the systems that once sustained the community. As she lip-syncs, you can see her breath in the cold air and notice her legs trembling, highlighting her vulnerability in the face of a phenomenon that temporarily erased her queer family. In this humorous yet poignant exploration, the film reflects on the difficulty of maintaining balance in isolation and the longing for a family—both the one you’re born into and the chosen queer family that’s been lost.

The video was commissioned by Boiler Room TV and presented by Mohamed Al-Musibli as part of the extra video program curated by Isabelle Cornaro at Fondation Pernod Ricard in Paris.