URBAN COWBOYS

POLISH TITLE: MIEJSCY KOWBOJE

REPRESENTED BY KFF

Clondalkin is a notorious district in West Dublin inhabited by labourers’ families. Many are now on the dole as a result of the crisis. The neighbourhood seems decent: renovated houses, cars parked in front of most of them. Every Dubliner knows, however, that the district is seamy, dangerous and full of drugs. Clondalkin still preserves the cultural phenomenon of so-called urban cowboys – teenagers illegally keeping wild horses. In spite of the ban, cowboys spend all days riding their horses bareback. Dylan is a good-looking 14-year-old Dubliner with blond hair and blue eyes. A day before his mother died in May, she gave him money to buy his first horse. In spite of the tragedy, Dylan soon bought a little white mare he had dreamt of, and called her Shelly, after his mother. Dylan’s grandparents, who raise him, try to maintain discipline. They’d love to get rid of the horse but they realize just how much the animal means to the boy.
 

GENRE:
documentary
COUNTRY:
Poland, Ireland
RUNNING TIME:
29'
YEAR:
COLOUR:
colour / black and white
DIRECTING:
Paweł Ziemilski
SCRIPT:
Paweł Ziemilski
DOP:
Maciej Twardowski
EDITOR:
Przemysław Chruścielewski
PRODUCTION:
Wajda Studio

Paweł Ziemilski »

Paweł Ziemilski Born in 1981, graduated from the the Łódź National Film School and from the Wajda Schoolin Warsaw. Short documentary and fiction films he made so far received wide publicity at numerous film festivals around the world and got many prestigious awards. His documentary “Rogalik’ got IDFA nomination in 2012. It has also been shown and awarded at festivals such as Zagreb Dox, Alcine Festival (First Prize), festivals in Oberhausen, Beijing, Bucharest, Cracow and others. Apart from directing, Paweł Ziemilski is involved in social animation, organizing workshops for so-called troubled youth. His latest “In Touch” documentary got Paweł Ziemilski a Mid-Length Special Jury Award at IDFA 2018.