The film by Dorota Kędzierzawska, which won many film awards at international film festivals, is a story about three homeless young boys living at a railway station, in one of the Russian cities.
They decide to cross the border illegally and get to Poland. They believe the Poland is a promise of a better life – home, school, and friendly people.
Liapa, 11, a homeless boy living at a railway station somewhere in Russia, talks his friend Pietia, 10, into going on this journey together. Waska, Pietia’s younger brother, learns about the plan and decides to join them. His brother, the only living relative has left, would not leave him behind, anyway. First, the boys take a freight train to get near Kaliningrad, and illegally cross the border into Poland. Liapa sees Wasia as superfluous cargo, but when he tries to persuade Pietia to abandon his brother, a fight ensues. Finally, being filthy, ragged, and exhausted beyond measure, all three of them cross entanglements on the border. They turn themselves in to the police in the first village they encounter.
They are in for a painful disappointment instead of a school, the warmth of a family, and human kindliness, they are forced to return to Russia.
Aleksandrów Kujawski in the film
The film was shot in the historic rooms of the railway station in Aleksandrów Kujawski, i.e. in the former inspection room, the Tsar’s rooms, in the former restaurant, and in the main lounge area. In some of the shots, you can also see the railway station from the outside.
The railway station in Aleksandrów Kujawski is a historic building from the 19th Century, and the most-precious example of railway architecture preserved in Poland. It is also the longest railway station in Europe. The original building of the railway station was erected in the years 1860-1862. In the 1880s, it was extended in the Neo-Renaissance style. Many crowned heads stayed within the walls of the railway station. On 3rd and 4th of September 1879, the railway station became the meeting place between the German Emperor William I and the Russian Emperor Alexander II. Both monarchs of the two superpowers at the time talked in a number of rooms of the railway station, while the German Emperor spent the night in guest rooms prepared particularly for that purpose.
Trivia
- In addition to in the Province of Kujawsko-Pomorskie, the film was also made in Eastern Poland. Several locations in the Suwałki Region were used, including Suwałki, Wiżajny, Sudawskie, Żytkiejmy, Stankuny, Dubeninki, Hańcza, Kiepojć, Błąkały, Jurkiszki, Marlinów, Ejszeryszki, Poszeszup, Puńsk, Folusz, and Jaczno, as well as a number of locations in the Białystok Region, including Zubki, Gródek, Waliły, Gobiaty, and Straszewo.
- Pioniwa Film, a Japanese film distributor, was a partner in the Polish film-production company Kid Film from Warsaw.
Information on the film
Jutro będzie lepiej / Tomorrow will be better
Poland/Japan 2010, 118′
Directed by: Dorota Kędzierzawska
Screenplay: Dorota Kędzierzawska
Cinematography: Artur Reinhart
Producer: Artur Reinhart
Produced by: Kid Film
Cast: Oleg Ryba, Jewgienij Ryba, Akhmed Sardalov, Stanisław Sojka, Aleksandra Billewicz, Zygmunt Gorodowienko, and others.
Selected Awards
Berlinale – Deutsches Kinderhilswerk – Grand Prix for the Best Film, the Peace Film Award for Dorota Kędzierzawska, nomination for Golden Lions; the Camerimage Festival – nomination for participation in the competition; The New Horizons IFF – nomination for the New Polish Films competition; the Ale Kino! Festival – an award of the Children’s Jury for Best Film for children with live actors, and nomination for the Golden Goats Award; the Hollywood Eagle Awards – nomination; the “Vistula” Polish Film Festival in Moscow – Best Polish Film and Audience Award; the Unicef Award for the best film about children’s immigration; and others.
