THE TOWN THAT DROVE AWAY

Rengin, a Kurdish shepherd, and Burak, the local barber, find themselves trapped in a political game where survival depends on obeying strange new rules: unmarried residents lose the right to a house, and farmers are forced to give up their animals. Each new restriction reminds them that their lives will never be their own—they are merely pieces in a system that demands obedience and submission. Everything they once knew has been torn away forever, leaving behind only family pride and a fragile sense of dignity.

THE FILMMAKERS

Natalia Pietsch is a graduate of Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School and the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice. She has received awards for titles “I’ve Got Something for You Too” and “The Frog King”. Recently, she has been working as a cinematographer for “New Mistakes” by Michel Franco and is working on her feature debut “Milk” which was screened in the Work In Progress section at New Horizons.

Grzegorz Piekarski is a graduate of Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School and Master of Science in Mechatronics at Warsaw University of Technology. He is a Scholarship holder of the „Młoda Polska” programme of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. His most recent feature film “The Slave” was screened at main Polish film festivals, including the Gdynia Festival, Warsaw Film Festival and Camerimage.

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS

Special Youth Jury Award for Best Medium-Length Film — Visions du Réel Festival, Switzerland
King Kong Award (Grand Prize) — Architecture Film Festival (AFFR), Netherlands
Asja Award — Cinemambiente Torino Festival, Italy
Grand Prize — CineEco Festival, Portugal
Audience Award — Ierapetra International Documentary and Film Festival, Greece