"NEW WORLD" IN MONTREAL

Nowy świat (New World), a vignette film directed by Elżbieta Benkowska, Łukasz Ostalski and Michał Wawrzecki and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, will screen in the First Films World Competition at the 40th World Film Festival in Montreal.

First Film by Three Polish Directors

The feature debut by three Polish directors will screen in the First Films World Competition at the 40th World Film Festival in Montreal. The festival programmers have selected 20 films from around the world, and the competition will be judged by jury members Mariangiola Castrovilli, Maurie Alioff and Pierre-Henri Deleau.

In previous years, the First Films World Competition has screened a number of Polish films, including Lęk wysokości (Fear of Falling) by Bartek Konopka, and Zdjęcie (The Photograph) by Maciej Adamek, winner of the Silver Zenith Award.

Polish films screening in other sections of the Montreal film festival have also received acclaim in recent years. In 2011, Borys Szyc received the award for Best Actor for his performance in Kret (The Mole) by Rafael Lewandowski (Main Competition). In 2013, Maciej Pieprzyca’s Chce się żyć (Life Feels Good) won the top prize at the 37th edition of the festival, along with the Ecumenical Jury Prize and the Audience Award.

Further details about the 40th World Film Festival in Montreal are available at www.ffm-montreal.org. This year’s edition of the festival runs from August 25 through September 5.

Nowy świat (New World)

Produced by Akson Studio, Nowy Świat (New World) is a take on Oda do radości (Ode to Joy), a film made ten years prior, which focused on young Polish people emigrating to Western Europe. Nowy Świat (New World) is the story of three young immigrants trying to find their place in Poland. Directed by three young filmmakers, the film was released theatrically in Poland on August 12. Elżbieta Benkowska and Łukasz Ostalski are graduates of the Gdynia Film school. Michał Wawrzecki studied at the Radio and Television Department of the University of Silesia. Nowy Świat (New World) was produced by Jan Kwieciński of Akson Studio.

Co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, Nowy Świat (New World) had its world premiere at the 40th Gdynia Film Festival, screening in Main Competition. The film went on to receive the Second Prize in the Polish Feature Film Competition at the 9th Netia Off Camera Film Festival in May this year.

Marta Sikorska

Translated by Karolina Kołtun