East of the West 2002 / Jutro bedzie niebo / Poland 2001
The story of the frictional but gradual rapprochement between a rootless small-time smuggler and a similarly uprooted twelve-year-old girl who has run away from home. Their shared journey through the summer countryside in the Czech-German border region, once they manage to break down mutual barriers of mistrust, leads to true friendship and understanding.
This unusual road-movie set in the Polish-German-Czech border region begins with a spectacle common for this area. The hero meets his Czech partner at the roadside and, as usual, concludes a business deal with an agreed measure of alcohol. Satisfied with the transaction, he sets off for home. Then a dog scampers out onto the road which he accidentally runs over, and his life is suddenly made more complicated for him by its twelve-year-old owner. First they spend a long time looking for a suitably dignified burial site for the dog, but then it turns out that the girl is actually on the run. Although she tells him one lie after another, the man begins to feel a certain responsibility for her. The more the girl fills him with distrust and continues to cause trouble, the more this forty-year-old with no family and seemingly no scruples, finds himself growing fond of her. Particularly since, in her helplessness, she counters his every inquiry – she also lacks emotional ties and a sense of belonging. The atmosphere of the ride through the summer landscape is intensified by the border scenery – a world of rootlessness, without positive values, but one which this unlikely pair manage to discover and appreciate – at least for themselves.
77 min / Black & white, 35 mm
Director Jaroslaw Marszewski
/ Screenplay Jaroslaw Marszewski
/ Dir. of Photography Wojciech Todorow
/ Music Jerzy Mazzoll
/ Editor Dariusz Zdziennicki, Jaroslaw Ostanówko
/ Producer Waclaw Wiszniewski, Jerzy Kapuściński
/ Production Cinepol, koprodukce/co-oproduction: Agencja Produkcji Filmowej Komitetu Kinematografii, Telewizja Polska
/ Cast Ola Hamkalo, Krzysztof Pieczyński, Rostislav Kuba, Ryszard Ronczewski, Henryk Talar, Janusz Chabior
Jaroslaw Marszewski (b. 1967) studied English language and literature in his native Wroclaw (1993) and then was awarded a grant to attend a course in film and television direction at Prague’s Film Academy (FAMU). He then continued with post-graduate study at the WRiTV Uśl. in Katowice (1997). He has established himself as a director, screenwriter and creator of feature etudes which have been awarded at a number of international short-film festivals (amateur, non-commercial, educational and professional). He has made several television programmes and documentaries: To Remain as People (Pozostać ludźmi, l996), Mission (Misja, l998), Machine and Touch (Maszyna i dotyk, l999), Seven Meditations (Siedem medytacji, l999, musical film), The Promised Land (Ziemia obiecana, l999, film for a ballet performance), Madame Butterfly (2000, TV opera), DUST or the Lost Worlds of R. A. (2000, DUST czyli utracone światy Roberta Ashley´a), and Heaven Comes Tomorrow (Jutro bedzie niebo, 2OOl), his feature debut.
First-hand brews throughout the year.
Be among the first to learn about upcoming events and other news. We only send the newsletter when we have something to say.
