Film still
Thirteen year-old Bartek is captain of the school football team. His team is preparing for an important tournament. But for his failures at school, Bartek is viciously beaten by his unemployed and frustrated father. Bartek's mother, who earns money by assembling dolls, is a passive observer of the violence, as is the boy's frightened younger brother. Ashamed of his bruises, Bartek refuses to participate in practices. Unaware of the boy's situation, his coach forces him to train by threatening him.
Bartek, in pain and feeling humiliated, runs away from home to hide away in an animal shelter that is home to his best friend - a very ill mutt named Bouquet. The boy shuts himself in a cage with the dog...
"Sławomir Fabicki's A Man Thing is a film which hurts. It would be a truism to state that it is moving - we are affected and absorb the young hero's pain and humiliation. We assume them and exit the cinema feeling thrashed", Wojciech Kuczok writes for Kino magazine.
The film received a nomination for a Student Oscar and for an Academy Award in the "Live Action Short Film" category. It has won its author a number of prizes at film festivals in Poland and beyond.
- Męska Sprawa / A Man Thing. Directed and written by Slawomir Fabicki; cinematography by Bogumil Godfrejow; music by Barbara Kolago. Featuring Bartosz Idczak, Mariusz Jakus, Marek Bielecki, Katarzyna Bargielowska, and others. Distributed by Kino Swiat International Sp. z o.o. Duration: 26 minutes.
Editor: Marta Jazowska