Irish Film Institute -The Welts

The Welts

In the mid-1980s, 12-year-old Wojtek is being brought up by his strict father (his mother died when he was a baby), who punishes him severely for slight offences. The father’s violent behaviour is his way of showing emotion and an attempt to gain authority. Yet all Wojtek can feel is fear and hatred. Unable to find anyone to help, he rebels by playing truant and running away from home.

The film is divided into two parts, the first focusing on the hell Wojtek had to go through in his childhood, the second showing him as an adult. The 30-year-old Wojtek is perceived as a hard and cynical person who consciously isolates himself from people and has built a wall around himself. He feels best when he is on his own, which is why he devotes his time to cave climbing as a hobby. When he meets Tania, a girl who wants to help him to deal with his past, Wojtek at first revolts but later comes to realise that he needs to change his life. The Welts is a film about the need for love when struggling with old demons associated with physical and psychological abuse. It was awarded a Golden Lion at the Gdynia Film Festival.

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