Poster designed by
Mike Sakamoto.
Photo courtesy of
Anie Leibowitz.

Rachel Rosenthal, through a performance art workshop, challenges a group of young Los Angelinos to a journey of self-discovery. What is real in our lives? How do we proceed with courage? Where does the source of our strength lie? Rachel asks us to look inward for truth without fear, as she believes that the "inner" shapes the "outer".

"A fascinating portrait of an intense and creative process."
- Leipzig Film Festival Catalogue.

"The clear standout of the evening is Pawel Kuczynski's "Rachel's Quest", a deeply touching examination of the work - both on and off stage - of performance-art priestess Rachel Rosenthal. Between snippets of her performances, we travel with Rosenthal and her workshop students on a quest to discover, embrace and illustrate their sense of self. The underlying notion that within us lies a singular statement, something no one else can share with the world is both daunting and exhilarating."

- LA Weekly (May 29, 1998)

2004 "New New Yorkers and their friends", a cultural festival organized in Warsaw by the US Embassy.

2003 The First Warsaw Jewish Film Festival

2001 Center for Contemporary Art, Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw.

1998 Documental, Gary Fialka curator, Santa Monica, California

1997 International Women's Film Festival, Minsk, Belorussia

1996 International Documentary Film Festival, Leipzig, Germany

1996 Independent Feature Film Market, New York City

Rachel in the eyes of others:

"Rosenthal bills herself simply as a performance artist. That's about as accurate as calling the Taj Majal a house. The woman is a monument and a marvel. She is a force of nature... She is timeless, ageless, gutsy, quirky, exotic, poignant."
- Los Angeles Times.

"Intellectual integrity, her laser clear artistic vision, her passion and candor, the genuine concern she manifests toward younger artists in her field, her compassion, grace and her love for all living beings have made her peerless among contemporary American artists."
- Ciel Bergman, former Professor, Painting and Drawing, University of California.

"As a survivor of Nazi persecution Rachel Rosenthal understands the meaning of time and timing. If today, yesterday and tomorrow are different points in space, Rosenthal finds terrifying truths to make time stop in the eternal present."
- Tony Angarano, Harvard Courant.

"RACHEL'S QUEST"
A Pacific Film Factory Production.
1996, 52 min. color, Betacam SP.
(16 mm version available)

Produced, Directed and Edited by
Pawel Kuczynski

Camera
Pawel Kuczynski

Co-producer, on-line editor and Creative Consultant
Chris Starr

Music
Thomas Barquee

Music Consultant & Additional Music
Craig Victor Fenter

Sound Design
Jon Oh

Projekt i wykonanie: Joanna Bartnik