Next to Nothing
Award-winning, gripping social drama depicting the world of Polish farmers.
A group of farmers organizes a protest outside the house of an MP who, contrary to his earlier promises, voted against their interests. When a human body is discovered in the manure they dump in his front yard, suspicion immediately falls on Jarek, the leader of the protest, even though the deceased was his closest friend. Determined to clear his name, the man begins his own investigation, uncovering the truth behind his friend’s death and exposing the real mindset of the villagers around him. Against a world that prefers to forget the past, Jarek fights to uphold his friend’s memory and prove that no life is worth “next to nothing”.
Thursday, 28 November – 20:15
Saturday, 30 November – 19:15
ENGLISH SUBTITLES | 93 MIN
TYLE CO NIC | Grzegorz Dębowski | 2023 | Poland
PRODUCTION
Jacek Bromski, Ewa Jastrzebska, Jerzy Kapuscinski – Studio Munka; Canal+ Polska
SCREENPLAY
Grzegorz Dębowski
SOUND
Luka Barajevic
DOP
Oleksandr Pozdnyakov
EDITING
Anna Garncarczyk
CAST
Artur Paczesny, Monika Kwiatkowska, Agnieszka Kwietniewska, Artur Steranko
FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION)
Polish Film Festival, 2023 – Golden Claw Award, Best Debut Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Don Quixote Polish Film Clubs Federation Award | Odesa International Film Festival, 2024 – Best European Film | Koszalinski Festiwal Debiutow Filmowych Mlodzi i Film, 2024 – Best Feature Debut, Best Screenplay, Best DOP | Polish Film Awards, 2024 – Discovery of the Year
DIRECTOR’S BIO
Grzegorz Dębowski is a graduate of the Lodz Film School’s directing department. He gained experience as an assistant to film directors such as Paweł Pawlikowski, Leszek Dawid, Martha Coolidge, and Gary Romolo Fiorelli. Currently, he is finalising his debut feature film and developing scripts for further projects. He is passionate about addressing social issues and exploring cinema’s role as a contemporary form of mythology, offering glimpses of meaning amidst human suffering and loneliness. On February 27, 2022 he hitchhiked to Ukraine with José Andrés, supporting him in launching the largest humanitarian aid operation in history.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
When the protagonist’s best friend, Waldek, dies, everyone is quick to erase his memory. The only person grieving and fighting for his remembrance is Jarek. This is the key theme at the heart of my debut film, underneath its social and generic layers. Next to Nothing aims to portray a man’s journey to becoming a better version of himself, only to discover that sometimes solely being human can be too much to bear.
