Vika, the 85-year-old DJ from Poland. Photo: Agnieszka Zwiefka
Grandmother DJ Vika, 85, is one of Warsaw’s most popular DJs - spinning techno at nightclubs by night and ‘70s hits at a senior citizens club by day.
DJ Vika’s vibrant, self-directed approach to life is pretty radical for a Polish octogenarian, says Agnieszka Zwiefka, director of the new documentary Vika!
The filmmaker tells Music 101 how her own fear of ageing plus the rare opportunity to make a feel-good documentary drew her to Vika’s story.
“She's a colourful girl. She lives her life the way she wants it and she's not going to apologise for that.”
Listen to the interview
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Vika! screens at the Doc Edge festival this June and July.
As a young woman, Vika wanted to pursue a life in music as a young woman, Zwiefka says, but Polish people born before World War II had little choice in their careers.
After decades working as the head of a juvenile detention centre, Vika retired at 65 but grew restless and her husband suggested she find something else to pass the time.
“Of course, at the age of 60+ [music] is rather difficult to learn, so she turned into a DJ.”
In Poland, “quite a conservative country”, people are expected to sacrifice their dreams and focus on family life, Zwiefka says.
For decades, Vika - a woman both outspoken and “very flashy” - was estranged from her biological family, including grandchildren much older than her 20-something nightclub fans.
Although in Vika! she mentions feeling sad that her granddaughter was embarrassed by her, Vika’s family members now realise “their grandma is kind of cool”, Zwiefka says.
Like any DJ, she is a performer with the ability to take people into “a special world” with her song choices - in this case mostly '70s, '80s and '90s pop, as well as some techno and electronic music.
Yet despite her love of the spotlight, at first Vika wasn’t keen to show her vulnerable side on camera, Zwiefka says, and told the filmmaker to “get lost”.
Over four and a half years filming, Vika relaxed into revealing a much deeper picture of her life.
“This film took so many years to make because the first years we could have the celebrity, the public Vika, but getting into her weak spots, that took trust from her side, from our side.
“But she's undirectable, actually … Vika is very original. She easily gets irritated, which is very difficult to direct. She is a diva, a true diva personality.”
When it comes to getting older, Vika’s greatest fear is not being able to live independently, Zwiefka says.
“This is her biggest worry, that one day she will not be her real self, that she will lose some mental capabilities. This is a worry we can all relate to when we stop being ourselves. That was the ground for the documentary.”
Vika’s courage to throw herself into life without concern for age inspired Zwiefka to shake off her own fear of birthdays and she hopes documentary viewers will experience the same effect.
“Deep inside, she's still the same girl as she was when she was 18. She's unstoppable and but I think that's also makes her go on at the age of 85, she still has so much energy and appetite for life.
“That's what's inspiring about Vita, [how she shows] that you can really always start over and do something new.”