A BAR AT THE VICTORIA STATION / BAR NA VICTORII
POLAND 2003
DIRECTED BY: LESZEK DAWID, 56 MIN

A block of flats. People hanging out: talking, drinking, and fighting. Pjotr and Marek are among them, debating all day about everything and nothing – but mostly about how they can find employment. Thanks to the intimate camerawork, the audience is right there with them and seems to be part of their conversations. At some point, the two even come up with an idea: Pjotr and Marek want to go to England. There they hope to find work and a better life – and it doesn’t take long until they find someone who promises them a job. They study English and – amazingly – manage to travel to the West. What happens then is something that has happened to many immigrants before: their great expectations clash with reality. A work-permit costs money; the job they came here for is as nonexistent as all the other job-offers. So they hit the streets, hungry for food, work, and appreciation. Desperately homesick; but with the dream of owning a little bar at Victoria Station one day. For them, a public telephone giving out additional coins is a stroke of luck – more money to call and look for work. Director Leszek Dawid follows their every move on this restless search.

Caligari: 24.04. / 3.30 p.m.

Double programme with A LIVING FORCE.