{{ mainName }}

{{ newsTitle }} {{ newsVisible ? '✦' : '✧'}}

    • NTC Award Ceremony
      New Talent Competition gives young filmmakers from Central, Eastern and Southern Europe the opportunity to present their outstanding debut or second film to the public. Join us on Sunday 1 December at 19h
    • Music at ENFF
      The Eastern Neighbours Film Festival welcomes special musical guests each year to enrich our program. For this 16th edition, we’re thrilled to present two talented young musicians: guitarist Antonio Peršak (CR) and violinist İdil Yunkuş (TR). Together, they will perform a traditional Balkan dance and folk song, highlighting the beauty of this music through the… Read more: Music at ENFF
    • Masterclass with Janez Burger
      This masterclass presents a unique opportunity to explore Burger's distinct storytelling style, genre use, and exploration of contemporary social issues. Join us on Saturday 30 November at 17h - Room 5
    • Panel Discussion: Exploration of individual and collective memory in cinema
      Panel Discussion: Exploration of individual and collective memory in cinema on Friday 29 November at 18h

The Ugliest Car

DirectorGrzegorz Szczepaniak
ProducerGrzegorz Szczepaniak, Joanna Popowicz – Anagram; TVP
WriterGrzegorz Szczepaniak
CameraMarek Kozakiewicz
EditorJerzy Zawadzki, Grzegorz Szczepaniak
SoundMichal Fojcik
MusicMikolaj Majkusiak
CastKazimiera Rozycka, Bogdan Rozyck
ScreeningSaturday 10 November | 14:45 hours | Filmhuis Den Haag
Original TitleNAJBRZYDSZY SAMOCHOD SWIATA
Year2017
Length47 min
CountryPoland
SubtitlesEnglish
SectionPOLISH FILM PEARLS

A heartwarming, humorous documentary of a man who drives his 94-year-old mother in an old, rusty Wartburg, righty called ‘The Poland’s Ugliest Car’. Winner of Grand Prix for the Best Polish Film at the Krakow Film Festival.

Synopsis

The youngest protagonist of the documentary is Wartburg, almost museum-ready automobile over 50 years of age. The car is still on the road, driven by Bogdan, who’s accompanied by his mother Kazimiera. This road movie which takes place between the concentration camp of Majdanek in Poland, and a former Nazi labor factory in Germany is actually a journey into the past, retracing the memories from the war. It is also a portrayal of an extraordinary relationship between mother and son. Bogdan devotes almost all his time to Kazimiera – except for the moments when he proudly presents the quaint ugliness of the car to the people he accidentally meets.

Festivals & Awards (selection)

Krakow IFF, 2017 – Golden Hobby-Horse for the Best Polish Film; Student’s Jury Award | Gdynia FF, Poland 2017 | IDFA, Amsterdam 2017 | Watch Docs HRFF, Warsaw 2017 – Audience Award | Docpoint IDF Tallinn 2018 | Ljubljana IDF, 2018 | Vilnius IFF, 2018 | CineDoc Tbilisi, 2018 | Taiwan IDF, 2018 | Beldocs IDF, Serbia 2018 | Neisse FF, Germany 2018 – Special Award of Filmverband Sachsen | Shanghai TV FF, 2018

Director’s bio

Grzegorz Szczepaniak was born in 1984 in Lublin, Poland. He is a guitarist by education (graduate of the F. Chopin University of Music in Warsaw), and a film editor (graduate of the Film School in Lodz, Poland). His short documentary ‘Snails’ (2015) won many prizes, a.o. the Silver Eye Award at the Jihlava IDFF, the Audience Award at the GoShort and a Special Mention at the Traverse City FF in the United States. ‘The ugliest car’ is his first long documentary.