Grzegorz Dębowski It was a hit in Polish cinema! His feature debut “Absolutely nothing” conquered the Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia in 2023. The title delighted critics and the festival audience and received as many as six awards.
Grzegorz Dębowski was awarded in Gdynia for the best directorial debut and the best screenplay. The director also received the Golden Claw for the film in the Different View category. Playing the main role Artur Paczesny was named the best actor. Agnieszka Kwietniewska she won the award for best supporting actress. The film also received the Don Quixote Award of the Polish Federation of Film Discussion Clubs.
Additionally, during the Polish Film Awards ORŁY 2024 ceremony, which took place on March 4, Dębowski received a statuette in the Discovery of the Year category. A real “enter the dragon”!
However, before Grzegorz Dębowski took part in the film “Tyle co nic”, he worked mainly on television as the director of the series “Colors of Happiness” and “Przystanek Bieszczady”.
In an interview with Interia, the creator talked about his feature debut.
– Working on television has given me a lot. I learned a lot. These post-school years, which involve bouncing back and forth between one’s creative endeavors and the labor market, are also school, a second school. The debut was created as a result of the “60 Minutes” program at the Munk Studio, with which I had already had experience with “Trzydziestka” (“30 Minutes” program – ed.). Polish society became heated due to various strikes and one day I thought that this determination growing in various social groups was worth basing a feature film on. I saw potential role models for the characters in the news, said the director during a conversation with Tomasz Bielenia at the festival in Gdynia.
– I think there is a strong theme of human spirituality in the film. I tried to move from a social topic to a human subject. I tried to make as honest a film as possible with a group of friends, traveling around and meeting people. Poland is an extremely interesting place today. It was the first of this type of stories about Poland. We’ll see if we can do anything further, he added.
Where did the idea for the cast come from? For his debut, the director chose mainly theater actors, little known. What was the process of selecting actors like?
– In my opinion, there are big names here, but they are not recognized yet. While making “Trzydziestka” at the Munk Studio, when Dariusz Gajewski was the director of the studio, during one of the conversations, after being asked who would star in this film, I said that we would look for them. Then he said that it was my duty as a director to know the actors. From that moment on, I tried to know Polish actors. Agnieszka Skalska and I added casting to what I already knew, which involved traveling to different cities and inviting local actors. It was important that actors who don’t always go to Warsaw would come. And it bore fruit. It was an amazing adventure.
Dębowski confessed that Artur Paczesny, an actor at the Theater. Kochanowski in Opole, who played the main role in the film, was chosen before the casting began.
– I knew Artur earlier from the theater in Opole. I saw him in two performances, but I also observed him in the theater corridors. I knew him long before he knew me.
And where did the title of the film come from? It’s an interesting story.
– The title came from a conversation. Joanna Osyda (an actress known from such productions as “Majka”, “Korona Królów”, “M jak miłość” – ed.) said: “You should make a film with the title ‘Tyle co nie'”. I asked what the film would be about, and she said: “I don’t know, but that’s the title that came to my mind.” I decided to take advantage of it. This title brought us a lot of happiness.
Jarek (Artur Paczesny) is a farmer of flesh and blood who is not afraid of hard work or confrontation with the authorities. When a local MP betrays the interests of the locals, Jarek becomes the leader of the protest and organizes a picket in front of the politician’s house. Little does he know that he will soon find himself in the middle of a dark intrigue that will threaten his loved ones and put his dream future into question.
“It’s been a long time since the Polish cinema saw such a real image of the countryside with a strong hero – a cowboy – fighting against windmills. The social drama “Tyle co nic” by Grzegorz Dębowski is a very good Polish debut, gripping from beginning to end,” wrote Marcin Radomski about the production .
“Anything More” will hit cinema screens next Friday, March 8.