"Life Feels Good" World Premiere in Montreal

Dawid Ogrodnik on the set of Life Feels Good. Photo by Marcin Kułakowski, Polish Film Institute

Maciej Pieprzyca’s Chce się żyć (Life Feels Good), co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, will have its world premiere screening in main competition at the prestigious World Film Festival in Montreal. The 37^th edition of the festival launches on August 22. The World Film Festival is the only competitive feature film festival in North America accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF).

A Performance by Dawid Ogrodnik

Chce się żyć (Life Feels Good) was inspired by the true story of Mateusz, a patient suffering from cerebral palsy. As a young child, he had been declared ‘a vegetable’ by his doctors, deeming him a person with whom no interaction would ever be possible. 25 years later, he turns out to be a perfectly normal and intelligent human being who, given the right conditions, is fully capable of communicating with the outside world. The film has been compared by its producers to Jim Sheridan’s My Left Foot, which also premiered in competition at the Montreal film festival, and to Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Chce się żyć (Life Feels Good) was produced by Tramway Studio and TVP.

Gabriel Screening in ‘Focus on World Cinema’ Section

The ‘Focus on World Cinema’ non-competitive section of the festival will feature Gabriel, a film directed by Mikołaj Haremski and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. The film’s protagonist is Tomek, an automobile buff who one day decides to run away from the home of his grandparents, with whom he had been living since his mother’s death, and sets off in search of his father. The film was produced by the Łódź-based production company Studio Filmowe Anima – Pol. The Montreal screening will mark Gabriel’s world premiere.

Short Films

Montreal audiences will also see three short films co-produced by Poland: the Polish-Swedish co-production The Big Leap, directed by Kristoffer Rus and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, the Polish-German animated film Czerwony papierowy stateczek (The Little Red Paper Ship), directed by Aleksandra Zaręba, both in the ‘Focus on World Cinema’ section and Żar (The Heat) (The Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School) directed by Bartosz Kruhlik in the ‘Best Student Films of the World’ section.

Screening Dates

Chce się żyć (Life Feels Good) dir. Maciej Pieprzyca

• 25.08.2013, 9:00 Cinéma Impérial (Pavillion Sandra & Leo Kolber, Salle Lucie & André Chagnon)
• 26.08.2013, 14:00 Cinéma Impérial (Pavillion Sandra & Leo Kolber, Salle Lucie & André Chagnon)

Gabriel dir. Mikołaj Haremski

• 26.08.2013, 17:10 Cinéma Quartier Latin 16
• 27.08.2013, 10:20 Cinéma Quartier Latin 16
• 28.08.2013, 21:40 Cinéma Quartier Latin 16

The Big Leap dir. Kristoffer Rus

• 23.08.2013, 14:10 Cinéma Quartier Latin 10 (Écran Air Canada)
• 24.08.2013, 17:00 Cinéma Quartier Latin 10 (Écran Air Canada)
• 25.08.2013, 21:30 Cinéma Impérial (Pavillion Sandra & Leo Kolber, Salle Lucie & André Chagnon)

Żar (The Heat), reż. Bartosz Kruhlik

• 25.08.2013 – godz. 18:50, Cinéma Quartier Latin 14 (Écran Bmw Canbec)
• 31.08.2013 – godz. 16:20, Cinéma Quartier Latin 14 (Écran Bmw Canbec)

Czerwony papierowy stateczek (The Little Red Paper Ship) dir. Aleksandra Zaręba

• 25.08.2013, 14:40 Cinéma Quartier Latin 15
• 26.08.2013, 19:30 Cinéma Quartier Latin 15

Montreal IFF

The World Film Festival in Montreal is the only international competitive feature film festival in North America accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). The festival aims to support the development of world cinema by encouraging cultural diversity and by promoting first-time filmmakers and innovative works.

Awards for Films Supported by the Polish Film Institute

Previous editions of the World Film Festival in Montreal have brought several awards for films co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. In 2012, Zdjęcie (The Photograph) by Maciej Adamek received the Silver Zenith Award. In 2011, Borys Szyc received the Best Actor award for his performance in Kret (The Mole) by Rafael Lewandowski, while Czarny czwartek. Janek Wiśniewski padł (Black Thursday) by Antoni Krauze received the FIPRESCI award of the International Federation of Film Critics. Both films screened in the festival’s World Competition. In 2010, Jan Jakub Kolski’s Wenecja (Venice) received the Special Jury Prize for Best Artistic Contribution.

Further details about the World Film Festival in Montreal are available at www.ffm-montreal.org.

Aleksandra Różdzyńska, Paulina Bez

Translated by Karolina Kołtun