Ode to Joy

Colour, 35 mm
Poland, 2005, 110 min
Section: East of the West - Films in Competition

About the film

Three stories of young Poles from Silesia, Warsaw and Pomerania. Three visions of reality. The three debuting directors endorse their heroes’ final encounter on a bus heading for London with the following words: “We are the first generation from a free Poland. We grew up in an atmosphere of economic boom, open borders, an indomitable media circus, so many possibilities and prospects ahead of us. But Polish reality had us convinced that all authority has failed, which meant that we stopped trusting not only state bodies but also institutions of any kind. Despite our disenchantment, we don’t want to leave the country just yet. We believe that things can change. For this reason, we want to make a noise and expose everything which pains and concerns us, we want to cause a stir and make people uneasy! We’d like to create celluloid dreams to goad people into truly believing and hoping, like children; to love openly and without compromise.”

About the director

Anna Kazejak-Dawid (b. 1979) chose culture studies at the Silesian and Lodź universities, then film direction at PWSFTViT in Lodź. She won a series of awards for her films Et cetera (2000), View from the Top (2002), Pulse (2003), My Place (2003), You Are There (2004). 
Jan Komasa (b. 1981) studied philosophy at Warsaw university and film direction at PWSFTViT. He made the successful short features Off (2003) and It Is So Great That You Exist (2004), and the documentaries Łysy (2003) and Project the Family (2004). 
Maciej Migas (b. 1976) studied journalism at Wroclav university and film direction at the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing in Warsaw and at PWSFTViT. Awarded films: Birthday (2000), European City ( 2001), The Real Show (2003), Family Business (2003), The End of a Fairy Tale (2003), The Great Run (2003).