Wapienna Street

Running water? Yes, but cold. Toilet? No. Shower or bath? No. An inquiry into the living conditions of the Polish inhabitants of Wapienna Street in the city of Lublin where everything is not uplifting. An inquiring pollster asks a mother of six about the happiest day of her life. Apart from her children's birthdays, she cannot think of any. One interviewee relates how a fire at the neighbours once spread to his house, because the street was too narrow to let a fire engine pass. An intolerable situation. The camera follows the poll-taker going from door to door. The outcome is the same everywhere: people live in poverty, without the prospect of improvement. When asked, people comment on the political changes that lie ahead: the entry into the European Union. We will become Europe's rubbish dump, an elderly miner predicts. Former farmers think that 'the Jews' will take the lot. The same note is struck in every living room: things used to be better. The only person with a positive attitude is a black shop-owner who allows customers to buy on credit because times are so hard. Although he came to Poland to study medicine but cannot find a job even with his degree, he would still like to be a Polish citizen.