"11 MINUTES" POLAND'S OSCAR CANDIDATE

Members of the Oscar Committee, appointed on July 10, 2015 by Minister of Culture and National Heritage Małgorzata Omilanowska, included Paweł Pawlikowski (head of the committee), Jacek Borcuch, Izabela Kiszka-Hoflik, Aneta Kopacz, Agnieszka Odorowicz, Ewa Puszczyńska, Grażyna Torbicka, and Anna Trzebiatowska. The Committee unanimously selected 11 minut (11 Minutes) by Jerzy Skolimowski to be Poland’s Oscar candidate in the Best Foreign Language category.

“We selected a film by one of Poland’s best and most original film directors. He himself and his works are well-known and appreciated in the United States. 11 Minutes is a universal story told using very edgy film language; a film that portrays chaos, cacophony and emptiness in today’s world. The film was nominated for the Golden Lion award and this year’s Venice International Film Festival, and received the Special Jury Prize at the 40th Gdynia Film Festival,” said Paweł Pawlikowski, chairman of the selection committee. “We believe Jerzy Skolimowski’s 11 Minutes is the best choice to represent Polish cinema in the Oscar rivalry,” he added.

The Oscar Committee did not consider Małgorzata Szumowska’s Body/Ciało (Body) and Jerzy Stuhr’s Obywatel (The Citizen). These two films had been withdrawn by their producers from being considered for the Polish candidacy for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nominations.

11 minut (11 Minutes)

The same eleven minutes in the lives of various protagonists are shown through parallel storylines.  Before the last second of the eleventh minute is up, their fates intertwine in an event that will have a huge impact on their lives. The film was written and directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, lensed by Mikołaj Łebkowski, and features performances by Andrzej Chyra, Dawid Ogrodnik, Wojciech Mecwaldowski, Agata Buzek, Jan Nowicki, Piotr Głowacki, Richard Dormer, and Ifi Ude.

Co-Production Co-Financed by the Polish Film Institute

11 minut (11 Minutes) was made as a co-production between Poland and Ireland. The film was produced by Skopia Film, co-produced by Element Pictures, Telewizja Polska, Orange, HBO and Fundacja Tumult, and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, Eurimages, and the Irish Film Board

Translated by Karolina Kołtun