Hamburg (dpa) – fatherless Stefek lives with his mother and sister in a small town near Warsaw. He won’t accept the fact that his father ran off before he was born.

Stefek is looking for ways to find him and bring him back to the family. In order to consolidate his strengths he tries all manner of things. For instance, he tries persuading pigeons to leave their loft. Or he goes trainspotting and tries to bribe fate with the coins that he throws on the railway tracks. Because in one of the trains is a man who Stefek thinks is his father. The director, Andrzej Jakimowski, guides his amateur actors through the action with a gentle hand, and presents the old mining town where the family live exactly as it is. There’s no place here for beautifying the miserable surroundings. But still the camera immortalises life’s beauty and magical moments with sensitivity.

(Tricks, Poland 2007, 95 min. “U” certificate, starring Damian Ul, Ewelina Walendziak and Ivona Fornalczyk)

online version:
http://www.zeit.de/newsticker/2009/7/19/iptc-bdt-20383216-21-21845778xml