Sylwia, a 30-year-old fitness motivator living in Warsaw, has gained celebrity status thanks to her avid use of social media.
She has inspired thousands of women to lead a healthier life but also attracted a stalker. When she tries to confront him, he takes it as an invitation for further contact and sends her a video, expressing his admiration. Feeling threatened, Sylwia takes refuge at her mom’s place. But when she is removed from her everyday fame by spending time with her family, she gets on an emotional roller coaster seeking attention.
Getting none, she returns home. When she finds the stalker waiting for her she beats him up. The stalker disappears from her life and even if Sylwia manages to return to her successful fitness world, her inside is cracked. Unable to forget the stalker’s destroyed face she considers leaving her career.
But with the meeting of a grateful fan she gets a glimpse of the goodness that inspired her to become a motivator in the first place.

Emotional exhibitionists fascinate me, probably because I am on the opposite side: I keep my emotions on the inside and rarely share them because I fear being judged. On social media I am a passive observer. I observe those who are active, fantasizing about their real lives. How much is truth? What are they like when their cell phone is sleeping?
I started following a fitness motivator on Snapchat. The amount of photos and videos she posted each day amazed me. I believe social media has given us the perfect tools to be in touch without being in contact. We are desperate for each other, but also fear each other.
“Sweat” takes a look at what happens to Sylwia when she realises that her seemingly perfect life is fractured. It raises dilemmas of intimacy in her: wanting to be close but also keeping distance; loving her family but not wanting to be part of it; making the stalker disappear and then missing him. If the closest relationship you have is with your phone, can it still satisfy your need for human contact?
Sylwia’s lifestyle provides us with a bent mirror in which I hope we can take a look at ourselves. Eventually I believe that Sylwia’s need to share is the same as ours.