Director

Piotr Domalewski

Poland, Ireland | 2020 | 100 min | Polish, English

• Producer Jan Kwiecinski, Julie Ryan
• Production Company Akson Studio, MK1 Productions
• Screenplay Piotr Domalewski
• Cinematography Piotr Sobocinski Jr.
• Editing Agnieszka Glinska
• Sound Karol Adamczyk, Aleksander Berezhnyi, Krzysiek Chodkiewicz
• Cast Cosmina Stratan, Arkadiusz Jakubik, Kinga Preis, David Pearse, Nigel O'neill, Zofia Stafiej
• Contacts

  Wide Management

  lm@widemanagement.com

About the Film

In his second feature, Polish director Domalewski blames Europe for its racism, selfishness, and the ‘slavery’ of its citizens who are traveling from one home to another, seeking income for children and grandchildren. These ‘forced laborers’ are facing social and bureaucratic bondage, rendering them mere sacrifices to brutal capitalism and isolation.

Ola, a 17-year-old girl who lives in a small town, is one of the victims of these common estrangements among Polish workers, who ‘sell’ their working power in rich countries for the lowest wages. The girl is waiting to fulfill a dream—promised to her by her father, who works in Dublin Port, Ireland—to buy a luxury German car, a trademark of prestige and a source of pride. Unfortunately, he is involved in a fatal accident, forcing Ola to travel to a strange land, described in the film as “the farthest possible spot from here,” to return his body.

The protagonist is introduced to a whole different world, meeting people who would change her entire approach to life. Away from the family assignment, the heroine tries to find out if the late man saved the promised car money, which leads her into a series of malice, repulsion, mistrust, conspiracy and lies, to eventually discover that the essence of her journey was not the fulfillment of a promise, but rather the recognition of a man who remained a mystery, even when he was in a container that preserved his ashes!

Domalewski's drama radiates with the spirit of British educator Ken Loach and his critical social cinema; full of emotions, tenderness, and sorrow. It is fraught with hidden anger about family injustice, its members surrounded by want that ignites their rage. The young heroine struggles to cast away all of this in an attempt to save her family, while preserving her own personal pride, about to explode in the face of her friend’s encouraging words: "You will be fine. Don't cry," to which she pledges decisively: "I will never cry." Will she keep her word?

Ziad Al Khozai