Polonica at the 42nd PFF, that is, Polish filmmakers in the world
As many as seven selected films, international co-productions with large Polish artistic participation, will be presented at this year’s Polonica section at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia.
Polonica is the oldest, next to the Main Competition, section of the Festival. “The Polish filmmakers who are active abroad are yet another aspect of the development of the Polish cinema, which we cannot miss at our Festival. Especially that year by year, there is more and more international co-productions made with the participation of our filmmakers and producers. If we were to show all of them, there would be several of them in a yearly cycle. Hence, we propose an interesting selection of the titles that have been the most discussed and recognized at world festivals. The all set presents a wide film review, in terms of both theme and style,” Leszek Kopeć, the Director of the 42nd PFF, says.
During the 42nd Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, the following films will be presented: “Maria Curie” dir. by Marie Noëlle, “Animals” dir. by Greg Zgliński, “Clair Obscur” dir. by Yeşim Ustaoğlu, “Dawn” dir. by Laila Pakalnina, “Butterfly Kisses” dir. by Rafał Kapeliński, “November” dir. by Rainer Sarnet and “Garden Store. A Family Friend” dir. by Jan Hřebejk.
“Maria Curie”, with Karolina Gruszka in the title role, is an international co-production about the life of the famous Polish Nobel prizewinner. “I would like this film to show a woman of flesh and blood, invisible from her monumental façade; a Pole that had to leave her beloved fatherland to be able to devote herself to science; a person shaken with contradictions and dilemmas but never losing her aim from sight,” director Marie Noëlle said. In the film, next to the actress in the leading role, other Polish actors are present: Izabela Kuna, Daniel Olbrychski, Piotr Głowacki and Jan Frycz. Michał Englert is the director of photography, art directors are Eduard Krajewski and Ewa Skoczkowska, and costume designer is Małgorzata Zacharska. Mira Wojtczak and Waldemar Pokromski are responsible for the make-up. Mikołaj Pokromski (Pokromski Studio) is the producer of the film.
In his new film entitled “Animals”, the director Greg Zgliński has presented a story of a marital crisis of Anna and Nick, in the lives of whom, a series of unusual and mysterious events occurs after a car accident. The script, based on Jörg Kalt’s book, was written by the very director. The Austria-Switzerland-Poland co-production had its world premiere at Berlinale in the Forum section. Piotr Jaxa is the director of photography, and music was composed by Bartosz Chajdecki. Producers are Bruno Wagner and Łukasz Dzięcioł (Opus Film).
The always topical issue of violence against women, including the involuntary marriages of teenage girls, is taken up by the Turkish film “Clair Obscur”. The director Yeşim Ustaoğlu has made a portrait of two very different women who are united by the inability to discover their very selves, to love and be loved, in a country torn between modernity and tradition. Antoni Komasa-Łazarkiewicz is the author of music and Agnieszka Glińska is repsonsible for the editing. The co-producers include Klaudia Śmieja and Eliza Oczkowska (Areoplan Film).
During the Festival, it will also be possible to see a Latvian candidate for an Oscar of 2016. One of the great assets of “Dawn” by Laila Pakalnina is the photography by Wojciech Staroń. The Polish operator received, among others, the Latvian Film Academy Award for it. The director and screenwriter of the film has based the plot on a Soviet propaganda story. Among others, Wiktor Zborowski plays in the story about a little boy who grasses up his own father, an enemy of the system. Costumes in the film have been prepared by Natalia Czeczott. Staroń Film is the Polish co-producer of the film.
“Butterfly Kisses”, a full-length debut of the Polish director Rafał Kapeliński, received the Crystal Bear for the Best fillm in the Generation 14plus section of the Berlinale. Jacek Szumlas (Solopan) is the Polish co-producer of the film. A story about three teenagers from a British block of flats is a “film as beautiful as a dream and as cruel as a nightmare (…) a challenge for the viewer”, Anna Tatarska wrote in one of her reviews.
The Festival viewers will also see “November”, an Estonian-Polish-Dutch film directed by Rainer Sarnet. Music was composed by Michał Jacaszek, and editing by Jarosław Kamiński. Łukasz Dzięcioł (Opus Film) is the Polish producer of the film. The image is based on a bestselling Estonian novel “Rehepapp” and it combines threads of Estonian mythology with the European Christian mythology. The film had its European premiere in Karlovy Vary.
The Polonica section at the 42nd PFF will be closed by the Czech film “Garden Store. A Family Friend” by Jan Hrebejk, with photography by the unusually talented Polish operator Bartosz Cierlica. A story put in the reality of the Nazi-occupied Prague is the first part – next to “Deserter” and “Admirer” – of the film trilogy. Agnieszka Kurzydło (MD4) is the film co-producer.
More about the Polonica section (CLICK)
