I Never Cry

Ola is a 17-year old force of nature from Poland whose top priority in life is passing her driving test and getting a car. After her father dies while working in Ireland and her mother is forced to stay behind with her disabled brother it is Ola who must travel there to bring his body back. Armed with only a backpack and a dwindling pack of cigarettes she bounces around Dublin, chasing down information about her largely unknown father and battling the various layers of bureaucracy that stand in her way.

A Polish – Irish co-production, this film tackles the subject of mass economic emigration that began when Poland joined the European Union, after which thousands if not millions of people moved aboard for work – often separating them from their children, referred to as “Euro-orphans”. The result is an engaging comedy of teenage rationale and angst.