East of the West 2002 / Glosniej od bomb / Poland 2001
A debut film about the essential dilemmas and attitudes of young Poles trapped in a town with no prospects. On the eve of his father’s burial, Marcin, who has inherited the family car repair business, has to come to terms with the anticipated departure of his girlfriend Kaśka who intends to study in the USA. Their future is at stake – will they spend it together or is there no hope at all?
A shabby small town in southern Poland. Marcin gives up his university studies in order to help his widowed father run their family car repair business. His girlfriend Kaśka plans to leave her provincial environment and manages to get a coveted grant to study in Chicago. Marcin’s father then dies suddenly and Marcin’s concerns organising the funeral and also the arrival of his distant cousin’s offensive family prevent him from making arrangements with Kaśka in peace. He senses that their relationship will end with her departure and he has nothing to offer her but himself. The reality of their small-town life and Marcin’s present circumstances are hardly enough to persuade her to give up her more favourable career prospects elsewhere. Nevertheless, in spite of these unattractive circumstances, Kaśka accepts Marcin’s view and his faith in the fact that, even in this trivial environment, they have a chance to build their own world and live a dignified and worthwhile existence.
92 min / Black & white, 35 mm
Director Przemyslaw Wojcieszek
/ Screenplay Przemyslaw Wojcieszek
/ Dir. of Photography Jola Dylewska
/ Music Bartek Straburzynski
/ Editor Krzysztof Osiecki
/ Producer Pawel Radkowski, Monika Lenczewska
/ Production Skorpion Art, koprodukce/co-production: Canal+, Agencja Produkcji Filmowej Komitetu Kinematografii
/ Cast Rafal Mackowiak, Sylwia Juszczak, Magdalena Schejbal, Krzysztof Czeczot, Andzej Galla, Grazyna Krukowna, Michal Tarkowski, Robert Gonera, Lech Janerka
Przemyslaw Wojcieszek (b. 1975) studied journalism in Wroclaw. In 1998 he wrote a screenplay which was then used by Witold Adamek for the film Monday (Poniedzalek). He wrote and directed the film Kill Them All (Zabij ich wszystkich) which won the Grand Prix at the festival of amateur feature films in Zielona Góra (1999). In his feature-film debut Louder Than Bombs (Glośniej od bomb, 200l) he again shows his ability to precisely reflect the attitudes and feelings of the Polish people during a complex period of social transformation.
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