A Bar at the Victoria Station
55'
dir. Leszek Dawid
Poland 2003
hustling for dough – Poles in London
Srebrny Smok za "puls i energie" - Krakowski Festiwal Filmowy 2004; Srebrny Lajkonik - Krakowski Festiwal Filmowy, Krakow, 2004; ”Zlota Rybka" w kategorii najlepszego filmu polskiego za "maksymalne zblizenie sie do swoich bohaterow oraz swobode w opowiadaniu o trudnych problemach w pogodny sposob" - Inskie Lato Filmowe 2004; Nagroda Glowna - Neubrandenburg (Festiwal "Dokument ART")
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A BAR AT THE VICTORIA STATION
Piotr is 26, lives with his parents and has never worked a day in his life. It's not that he is unwilling. On the contrary, he is full of plans. He would like to do something in the food industry, for example, ‘because people will always need bread every day'. But however often Piotr applies, he never gets any work.
After a great deal of deliberation, he and his friend Marek decide to make their dream reality. The two Poles decide to go to England , as they have heard that there is work there for the taking. Armed with a telephone guarantee of a job, the two young men set off on their journey. Having arrived in London , reality comes as a bitter disappointment: the promises made by their contact person turn out to be false, and without work permits their options are virtually zero. And all of the illegal work is taken. It is a hopeless situation, and the ever-cheerful, energetic Piotr begins to lose heart. Marek has been disheartened for a while already. The young men are homesick, but continue to cherish an ideal: to one day open a bar at Victoria Station in London . A BAR AT THE VICTORIA STATION, a graduation film from the renowned Polish film school in Lodz , shows how the prosperous Western Europe remains an unattainable mirage for many Poles – even after Poland has joined the EU.
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