That Life Has Meaning

Black and white, 35mm
Poland, 2001, 87 min
Section: Forum of Independents

Synopsis

The film’s story takes place in a neighbourhood of a small town in western Poland. To fend off the boredom and grim reality of provincial life, a group of friends decide to try out some amateur movie-making. It looks like their latest production will finally make it outside the concrete blocks they inhabit. Then a boy from the neighbourhood shows up with fresh ideas. Unfortunately, these ideas also include drugs. Shot totally independently by amateur filmmakers, the film is a raw and unpolished case study of drug addiction, offering a non-idealistic and extremely authentic, almost documentary image of the contemporary young generation.

About the director

Grzegorz Lipiec (b. 1974, Zielona Góra) studied editing at the Lodz Film School while working as an editor for a local cable TV station. In 1990 he and some friends established the Sky Piastowskie amateur film group which, to date, has produced eleven (mostly short and medium-length) video films. That Life Has Meaning is their first film to be transferred onto 35 mm and sent into normal distribution.