HBO at the 39. Gdynia Film Festival

The co-organiser of the 39. Gdynia Film Festival, HBO Polska, invites to charge-free shows of full-length hits from the station’s catalogue, while HBO Masterclass about the development of television projects will be a real treat for the professionals.

Within the cycle, the viewers will watch three full-length HBO productions: “Temple Grandin” which received seven Emma Awards, “The Normal Heart”, an adaptation of Larry Kramer’s autobiographical play about the beginnings of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S., and “Behind the Candelabra”, the award-showered film about the brilliant and eccentric pianist of Italian and Polish roots, Liberace, whose real name was Władziu.

Entrance to the shows is free of charge!

“The Normal Heart” directed by Ryan Murphy casts, among others, Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts, Matt Bomer, Taylor Kitsch and Jim Parsons. The film’s plot is set in the environment of New York’s gays in the beginning of the 80., when subsequent instances of fatal infections with a mysterious virus that nobody can heal turn up. The writer Ned Weeks (Mark Ruffalo) together will a group of friends set themselves the aim of increasing the awareness of the disease, as well as changing the perception of the infected people. Doctor Emma Brooker (Julia Roberts) plays an important role as she deals with the treatment of those infected by the gay-environment-decimating illness.

“Temple Grandin” by Mick Jackson tells the story of a young woman of the title name and surname. Her perseverance and fortitude made it possible to overcome the limitations resulting from an autistic disease, and the support of a few key people helped her to gain education and achieve professional success. As an adult, she also became involved in propagating knowledge about autism. The film casts, among others, Claire Danes, Julia Ormond, David Strathairn, Catherine O’Hara.

“Behind the Candelabra” by Steven Soderbergh with an outstanding role of Michael Douglas is an award-showered story of a brilliant and eccentric pianist of Italian and Polish roots. The film tells the story of his stormy relationship with the several dozen years younger Scott Thorson. Douglas received a number of awards for his role, including the Golden Globe Award and the Emmy Award. The young lover of Liberace, Scott Thorson, is played by Matt Damon, who was nominated for, among others, the Emmy, BAFTA and the Golden Globe Award for that role. Alongside them, the film casts as famous actors as Dan Aykroyd, Scott Bakula and Rob Lowe. The film was shown at the IFF in Cannes. “Behind the Candelabra” received 11 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Miniseries or Movie, Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special (to Steven Soderbergh), and Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special.

HBO Polska invites professionals to participate in HBO Masterclass held by Anthony Root, Executive Vice President of Programming and Production HBO Europe, responsible for local productions in 15 countries, including Poland, Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary. Masterclass is organised under the following banner: “The Development of television projects – differences in the approach towards the development of feature film productions on the international market” and is supposed to answer the pragmatic question of how television projects should be developed to succeed. Anthony Root will talk about similarities and differences between the markets of Central Europe and America; he will also raise the issue of HBO production philosophy – what projects HBO is interested in. Masterclass will take place in Multikino (screening room 4), on Thursday, 18 September, at 17.00.

The Artistic Director of the Festival, Michał Oleszczyk, emphasises: “The presence of HBO as the co-organiser means a tremendously lot to us. There is no exaggeration in saying that it is HBO that the current series media revolution had its source in. From “Sex and the City” and “The Sopranos”, through “Six Feet Under” to “Game of Thrones”, HBO develops original feature and documentary film projects which rouse the imagination of the whole globe, at the same time highly consciously commenting the customary and ethical transformations of the contemporary world. I am convinced that both the film section and the unique Anthony Root workshops will enjoy great and well-deserved popularity at the 39. GFF.”