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Zwart goud onder het Noteckawoud

Short documentary, 2005, 58 min.

'Where can I go?' Andrzej wonders. 'This is my fate, it can't be helped. As the manager of restaurant 'In het Hert', Andrzej is the main figure in this documentary about a community that since recently comes under the European Union and lives around the Notecka forest in Western Poland, near the German border.
A cemetery with deceased western neighbours has become overgrown with weeds, but nobody tidies it up: 'You know what we think of those Germans'. An artist painting the picturesque surroundings finds it hard to join in with the other locals: 'Every social contact involves booze, and I don't drink.
It was discovered recently that the largest oil field in Poland lies below the forest. The exploitation has commenced; trees are cut down. As yet, the economic profit of the largely unemployed people in the area is minimal, but nobody worries about it. The illegal trade in fish, cigarettes and cars keeps the wolf from the door. For the rest, people manage to survive with the help of cynical humour and unruffled resilience.

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