„25 years of innocence” awarded in Genoa and Tallinn

Co-financed by the Polish Film Institute „25 years of innocence” received two awards at the Festival Nuovo Cinema Europain Genoa.Its director Jan Holoubek got also a First Feature Competition Special Jury Prize at the Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn.

Jan Holoubek’s film has already received two awards at the 45. Polish Film Festival, for directing debut and the main male role (Piotr Trojan). During the 39th Koszalin Festival of Young Film Debuts and Film „25 years of innocence” was awarded for the best director (Jan Holoubek), the best actor (Piotr Trojan), the best screenplay (Andrzej Gołda), the best cinematography (Bartłomiej Kaczmarek) and the Audience Award. Then it won the Director’s Debuts Competition and got a Special Mention in the Polish Films Competition during teh EnergaCAMERIMAGE.

In the film cast are Agata Kulesza, Jan Frycz, Andrzej Konopka, Magdalena Różczka, Dariusz Chojnacki and in the leading role – Piotr Trojan.

Plot of the movie

It is a moving thriller drama which is based on real events that lived throughout Poland. This is a story about Tomasz Komenda whose life was destroyed forever on a tragic night. A young man was arrested, accused and wrongly sentenced to 25 years in prison for rape and murder of a teenager. Subsequent expert opinions confirmed his participation in the crime, and any evidence was against him. Despite nearly two decades of humiliation, violence and injustice, Komenda kept his hope and humanity. Finally, after 18 years of imprisonment, prosecutors and a policeman appeared on his way, who decided to discover the truth behind the mysterious case of the detainee.

Jan Holoubek and the filmmakers try to find answers to the questions that the public asked while watching the process: how could a thing like that happen? Why did an innocent man have to wait 18 years in a cell for justice? It is also a moving story about the steadfastness of the human spirit, perseverance and the strength that lies in the family. Full of tension and strong, expressive characters – Komenda’s mother who not doubting her son’s guilt and supported him all those years.