>>> Up on the Roo (Poland)
Stefan Makowski (36), a Polish immigrant in London, lives a life of complete bliss and freedom. Once a successful businessman and a never-do-well writer, his business went bust as foreign competition moved in. Now he has left the rat race and he is happy with it. But he tells his estranged wife Emily and parents back home that he has been a big success, while in reality he supports himself off doing small menial jobs. He and his friends rent a cheap attic apartment in central London. When out of money they all camp out on the roof of a Chinese restaurant. Then he finds out that Emily will be coming to London to talk about the hard things between them. He is too proud to tell her the truth, and he embarks on a series of quick-scheme efforts at creating a successful front for himself. However, he only ends up getting cheated out of the little money he had. Emily arrives and Stefan is forced to tell her the true story. They end up back on the roof, where – surprisingly to both of them - the newly-found truth brings them together again.
Rafał Kapeliński
Rafal Kapelinski worked as Director of the Festival Office of the Camerimage Film festival in Torun, Poland. After studies in American and English literature at the Nicholas Copernicus University in Torun, Poland, and at the London Film School he founded Aurora Film Production. His first short film after school, Emily Cries won numerous awards, including the Best Mid-Length European film at the Brest Short Film Festival in France. His documentary credits include Calling BH-Q and The Spitfire from Occoches. He has written extensively about the European cinema and television industry for trade magazines, including Screen International.
In 2009, Rafael’s feature project Up on the Roof was selected for the 2009 Cannes Film Festival’s Residency Programme. His short feature To Bury the Horse was a finalist in the 2010 Bosch Stiftungs Co-Production Prize competition in Stuttgart, Germany. Most recently he finished a short feature title The Informer, which was co-produced with the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing in Warsaw and the Andrzej Munk Film Studio. At present he works as an AD on Jan Kidawa-Blonski’s feature The Guard of the Vineyards.
