ŁUKASZ KOWALSKI

"The Pawnshop" director.

Director, journalist, creator of television programmes. A graduate of social communication at the University of Silesia in Katowice and the Wajda School. Author of more than 170 short documentaries and intervention and investigative television reports. In his works he touches upon difficult and controversial topics, always putting the human being in the foreground. He has won many awards in the most prestigious national journalistic competitions, including the PAP Ryszard Kapuściński Award. Since 2018 he has been involved in television and film production as a co-owner of the production studio ‘4:30 Pictures’.

‘The Pawnshop’ is his feature film debut, and straight away in the MDAG Main Competition. In it, he presents the story of Jola and Wieśek - a couple in life and business from Bytom. Together with their three employees they run what is probably the biggest pawnshop in Europe. However, the time of its glory passed with the closing of the local mines and the growing unemployment in the city. Deprived of a livelihood, the inhabitants of the "Polish Detroit" pawn increasingly absurd and useless objects. Neither Wieśek's crazy marketing ideas nor Jola's tender heart can help the crumbling business. She supports her customers not only with a kind word, but also with hot soup or a warm sheepskin coat. Although the pawnshop makes losses, it becomes an important centre of life for the local community.