Polonica on the 43rd Polish Film Festival – Polish contribution to international cinema
Seven international film co-productions created with significant participation of Polish filmmakers will be presented this year’s Polonica section at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia.
Polonica is the oldest Festival section along with the Main Competition. During the 43rd Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, the following films will be presented:
“Scaffolding”, dir. Matan Yair
“Winter Flies”, dir. Olmo Omerzu
“A Sort of Family”, dir. Diego Lerman
“Frost“, dir. Sharunas Bartas
“Under the Tree”, dir. Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson
“The Harvesters”, dir. Etienne Kallos
Production of the films was subsidized by the Polish Film Institute. In the PFI, minority coproductions are an important tool for cooperation with other countries, and soon the international market will open to us even more thanks to the new law on financial support for audiovisual production being prepared. The so-called “incentives” will significantly increase the investment in the film industry and boost the potential and competitiveness of the Polish film market in relation to the markets of other European countries – says Radosław Śmigulski, Director of the Polish Film Institute.
“Scaffolding” (Poland, Israel) is a compelling coming of age story with an intense father-son relationship motif. The cinematographer is Bartosz Bieniek and the Polish producer is Stanisław Dziedzic.
“Winter Flies” (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia) is a modest and subtle road movie about two 14-year-olds who drive through the Czech Republic in a stolen car. The Polish producer of the film is Natalia Grzegorzek, and the music was composed by Paweł Szamburski.
Wojciech Staroń was the cinematographer for “A Sort of Family” (Poland, Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Denmark). This is a story of a woman who, having lost her own child, intends to adopt a newborn from a poor Argentinean family. The producer on the Polish side is Małgorzata Staroń
Andrzej Chyra and Weronika Rosati played in “Frost” (Lithuania, France, Ukraine, Poland), and music was was composed by Paweł Mykietyn. The film tells the story of two young Lithuanians who, along with a humanitarian convoy, get to a war zone in Donbass. The Polish film producer is Maria Blicharska.
The film “Under the Tree” (Iceland, Poland, Denmark) shows the adventures of two families, the seemingly peaceful inhabitants of Reykjavik, engaged in a neighbourly dispute over the title tree, growing on the border of their property. The cinematographer in the film is Monika Lenczewska. The group of co-producers included Klaudia Śmieja and Beata Rzeźniczek.
The plot of “Harvest” (South Africa, Greece, France, Poland) takes place in South Africa. It is a story of two boys who compete for their status in the family and for their mother’s attention. One of them being her own, and the other being adopted. Michał Englert worked on the cinematography. Mariusz Włodarski is the producer of the film on the Polish side.
Additionally, the section’s program includes the movie “Escape” (Great Britain, Zimbabwe), directed by Agnieszka Piotrowska and Joe Njagu. The co-director, Agnieszka Piotrowska, is also the author of the script, Anna Dobrowodzka edited the film. “Escape” tells the story of a 20-year-old man of a mixed ethnicity looking for the truth about his own identity.
Selected screenings will be accompanied by meetings with the filmmakers. The 43rd Polish Film Festival will take place on 17-22 September 2018. We will announce the detailed schedule of festival screenings and meetings on September 5. The sale of tickets for individual screenings will start then.
