{{ mainName }}

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

    • New Talents Open Call
      Eastern Neighbours Film Festival (ENFF) began in The Netherlands in 2008 with the idea to offer Dutch and international audiences a unique glimpse into the cinema of their neighbors from Eastern and Southern Europe. This annual event presents the most recent, exciting, and thought‐provoking films, from countries with small, but often powerful film industries, that… Read more: New Talents Open Call
    • ENFF 2023 On Demand!
      Unable To attend the festival in person? No problem! From November 27th to December 3rd, we’re thrilled to bring you a curated selection of this year’s films available for online viewing! Catch our captivating Opening Film Ivan’s Land, or the touching Closing Film Seventh Heaven. Or explore a collection of shorts from the New Talents Competition! Follow along… Read more: ENFF 2023 On Demand!
    • What’s up in Slovak Cinema? A conversation with Monika Lostakova
      We talked with Monika Lošťáková about contemporary Slovak cinema.
    • ENFF and the Eastern European Film Festival Network!
      The Eastern European Film Festival Network brings together five film festivals dedicated to promoting and showcasing Eastern European cinema, alongside one partner organisation.
    • Masterclasses
      Through these masterclasses we approach two memory in film from different angles: memories from a personal or collective recollection through archive material.
    • Work in Progress
      In Work in Progress, emerging filmmakers and artists will present their works in development to the audience and engage in discussions with Dutch experts.
    • Festival Timetable Available!
    • Check out the catalogue for our 2023 edition!
    • Music at ENFF
      Every year, ENFF brings special musical guests who bring beauty to the program and further represent the rich cultures of their countries to a Dutch audience.
    • Film Marathon
      Join us for the Film Marathon, a new concept in which we merge two components, Short Films, Big Stories, and New Talents Competition into a whole-day screening of short films!

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.