Warszawa / Warsaw, the feature film debut of Dariusz Gajewski, won five Golden Lion awards at the 28th Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia in 2003. It was one of the films in the "Pokolenie 2000" / "Generation 2000" series produced by Program 2 of Polish State Television.
Warsaw is a film with many storylines, all of which play out during a single day in winter. The main characters are linked through the city in which they find themselves. They also share the fact that they all come from the provinces. Each of them has different plans and objectives upon arriving in the capital. Victoria (Dominika Ostałowska), on her way to Andalusia, passes through Warsaw and is held up by her hope for love, something she actively seeks. Paweł (Łukasz Garlicki), upon coming of age, leaves the orphanage where he has lived and decides to find a job in Warsaw. Klara (Agnieszka Grochowska) arrives in the capital with the aim of moving in with her fiancé. Other storylines focus on a fruit-farmer who has come to Warsaw in his van filled with apples to look for his daughter, and a war veteran who loses his way in the city when the street layout of the new Warsaw proves markedly different from that from the time of the Warsaw Uprising. The protagonists pass each other in the streets without noticing, until the evening, when they are all brought together through a traffic accident.
"Showered with awards, 'Warsaw' has something in it of Tadeusz Konwicki's 'Wniebowstąpienie / The Ascention' - a rather gloomy city where the main characters lose their way and wander aimlessly. In that film we had the Polish People's Republic in full bloom, while here we have a flourishing Capitalism, which ultimately tames each of the young protagonists who arrive in the capital to pursue their dreams of a better life. (...) They quickly abandon their illusions, but not all is lost, for they say 'no' to duplicity, lies, and hypocrisy. There is a beautiful scene in the film that might be viewed as a metaphor: Dominika Ostałowska, betrayed by her lover, awaits at a bus stop and keeps herself warm by fervently practicing Flamenco steps, this Spanish dance form being the realm in which she seeks perfection." (Zdzisław Pietrasik, "Polityka" weekly, September 27, 2003)
"The authors of the screenplay of 'Warsaw', Dariusz Gajewski (born 1964) and Mateusz Bednarkiewicz, have entwined several parallel storylines in a manner that brings to mind Altman's 'Short cuts'. We know neither the beginning nor end of each. The authors of the screenplay wanted the heroes and heroines of 'Warsaw' to be viewed as variations on a single character. It is noteworthy that Warsaw is in fact lacking from 'Warsaw' - the city itself must be found. It appears to us through the eyes of strangers who wander around with no particular intent. This film demonstrates the chasm that has opened between the Polish past and the Polish present, between generations, between people. The Citadel, a wall pock-marked with bullet holes, the statue of the Mermaid, the monument of the Uprising, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier all loom up suddenly in front of the main characters - as if they were surrealistic objects, traces of a forgotten culture with which we have lost touch." (Tadeusz Sobolewski, "Gazeta Wyborcza" daily, September 22, 2003)
"The jury of this year's festival in Gdynia clearly wanted to redeem itself for last year, when Trzaskalski's 'Edi' lost with Koterski's 'Dzień świra' / Day of the Whacko'. Koterski himself, as the jury chairman, voted for youth this year, and rightfully so, because the voice of young Polish cinema was the most resounding and persuasive at this year's festival. Why then was the awarding of the Golden Lions to Dariusz Gajewski's 'Warsaw' greeted with boos during the ceremony? 'Warsaw' is not a realistic story about life in the capital city. Rather, it brings to mind a fable in episodes about the city, where young people arrive with dreams, after severing relationships with their loved ones, with lives that only now might acquire meaning. During a single day - the time-span of the film - nothing can be completely resolved or completed. Gajewski avoids preaching, capturing instead a series of moments showing the identities of both the characters and the city forming." (Paweł T. Felis, "Gazeta Wyborcza" daily, September 22, 2003)
Awards at the 28th Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia:
- "Golden Lions" for Best Film,
- Best Director: Dariusz Gajewski,
- Best Screenplay: Dariusz Gajewski, Mateusz Bednarkiewicz,
- Best Editing: Jarosław Barzan,
- Best Supporting Actress: Dominika Ostałowska
- Warszawa / Warsaw, Poland, 2003. Written by: Dariusz Gajewski i Mateusz Bednarkiewicz, directed by: Dariusz Gajewski, cinematography by: Wojciech Szepel; music by Kormorany (Michał Litwiniec, Paweł Czepulkowski, Jacek Fedorowicz); Featuring: Agnieszka Grochowska, Łukasz Garlicki, Dominika Ostałowska, Lech Mackiewicz, Sławomir Orzechowski, Katarzyna Bujakiewicz; Produced by Telewizja Polska S.A. - Agencja Filmowa; Andrzej Serdiukow, Janusz Kijowski, distributed by Gutek Film. Duration: 104 min. Theatre Premiere on November 14, 2003.