Czesc Tereska

Veteran Polish filmmaker Robert Glinski takes a DV camera in hand to film this grim drama about "blockers," a generation who grew up in the gray soulless blocks of flats that mushroomed throughout the Eastern Bloc during the 1970s. Though she has fond memories of her childhood, Tereska's (Aleksandra Gietner) current living condition is less than ideal: her father is an unemployed alcoholic and her mother is a cold, distant factory worker. Having dreams of becoming a fashion designer, the shy, introverted Tereska enrolls in a trade school dedicated to tailoring and soon becomes fast friends with the brassy, rebellious Renata (Karolina Sobczak). With Renata's help, Tereska soon is smoking her first cigarette, having her furtive sexual encounter, and engaging in her first crime. At the same time, she befriends an elderly custodian named Edek (Zbigniew Zamachowski). This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. - Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide