"BODY/CIAŁO" in Main Competition
BODY/CIAŁO, the latest film by director Małgorzata Szumowska, will have its world premiere in Main Competition at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival. The film was co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.
Szumowska’s latest feature will screen in Berlinale’s Main Competition alongside such films as 45 Years by Andrew Haigh, Cinderella by Kenneth Branagh, Queen of the Desert by Werner Herzog, and Taxi by Jafar Panahi.
Director Darren Aronofsky will serve as Jury President at this year’s Berlin IFF.
A Film Co-Financed by the Polish Film Institute in Berlinale Lineup
Małgorzata Szumowska’s latest film will be her fourth feature film to screen at the Berlin International Film Festival. Her two earlier films Ono (Stranger; 2004) and Sponsoring (Elles; 2012) screened in the festival’s Panorama section, while W imię… (In the Name Of…) screened in Main Competition in 2013.
Set in present-day Poland, BODY/CIAŁO is a story about three individuals – a prosecutor (Janusz Gajos), his teenage daughter (Justyna Suwała) suffering from anorexia, and their therapist (Maja Ostaszewska), a woman with paranormal abilities.
Tadeusz Sobolewski About the Film
“Szumowska walks us through this awful world – a world in which allegedly ‘all values have deteriorated’ – while at the same time introducing a different perspective. This perspective was already visible in her earlier films, but it’s not until BODY/CIAŁO that it becomes a principle. It’s about going through life – in all its nastiness – and not letting ourselves be blackmailed. Trying to come out even at the end. Not escaping into faith, while respecting it, even when it’s bizarre, like in the documentary A czego tu się bać? (Nothing to Be Scared Of) about rural funeral traditions. I am intrigued by Szumowska’s laughter. It has a unique quality of combining faith and lack thereof. This, I believe, is the defence she provides to her audience,” writes Tadeusz Sobolewski in Gazeta Wyborcza.
About the Filmmakers
The screenplay for BODY/CIAŁO was written by Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert, who also lensed the film. Starring Janusz Gajos, Justyna Suwała and Maja Ostaszewska, BODY/CIAŁO also features supporting performances by Tomasz Ziętek, Ewa Dałkowska, Adam Woronowicz, and Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik. The film was produced by Nowhere, co-produced by Kino Świat, D35 and the Mazovia Film Fund, and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. World sales are handled by Memento Films International.
Another Film by Szumowska in Main Competition
Małgorzata Szumowska, photo by Jacek Poremba
BODY/CIAŁO is the second film by Małgorzata Szumowska to screen in Berlinale’s Main Competition. In 2013, her previous feature W imię… (In the Name Of…) was also in the competition lineup, winning the Teddy Award – an award for films addressing LGBT issues.
The 65th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival will run from February 5 through February 15, 2015.
The festival website is available at: www.berlinale.de.
Translated by Karolina Kołtun