KÜMMEL GOES EAST

“Kümmel Goes East” – living five years for a shopping centre. Five years with its developers and local residents. Five years between Germany and Poland. Five years until the dawn of the NEW WORLD.

Hermann Kümmel building a school house in Nicaragua. That was in the ‘80s. Today the born Hessian is working in Rzeszów, east Poland. He’s building the NEW WORLD shopping centre. At Kümmel’s side stands Polish manager Viola Wojnowski, who negotiates with trade partners and financiers. But she doesn’t want to continue living in Poland – she’s having her dream house built in the German capital. Investor and art collector Dr. Erich Marx works in the background.

The shopping centre project is controversial amongst inhabitants of the local prefab estate where it is to be built. But contracts have been finalised and construction vehicles are rolling in. Director Paul Hadwiger and his team followed the creation of the shopping centre over five years. He encounters developers and inhabitants, pursues their stories. Despite their differences, all concerned are united by one question – that of how one wishes to live.