"Fear of Falling" at 35th Montreal IFF

Lęk wysokości (Fear of Falling). Krzysztof Stroiński and Marcin Dorociński. Photo by Mateusz Skalski

Lęk wysokości (Fear of Falling). Krzysztof Stroiński and Marcin Dorociński.

Photo by Mateusz Skalski

 

Lęk wysokości (Fear of Falling), the feature debut from Bartosz Konopka, will screen in the First Films World Competition at the 35th Montreal International Film Festival. This festival section features a lineup of 26 films from 21 countries.

 

The description of the First Films World Competition on the festival website states that the festival selection committee was particularly impressed by the maturity of these debut films. “The directors of these works have this in common: they seem more interested in human stories than in gadgets or special effects. Many have trained in film school and have clearly learned their lessons well; their technical skills are remarkable.”

 

Further details about the 35th Montreal IFF are available at: www.ffm-montreal.org. The event will run from August 18 through August 28, 2011.

 

Fear of Falling Screening Schedule:

 

August 23, 2011 – 11:30 Cinema Quartier Latin
August 24, 2011 – 13:10 Cinema Quartier Latin
August 26, 2011 – 20:00 Cinema Quartier Latin

 

Lęk wysokości (Fear of Falling) previously won awards at the 36th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia (Award for Best Film by a First-time or Second-Time Director), and at the 38th Ińsko Film Summer (Best Polish Film). The screenplay written by Piotr Borkowski and Bartosz Konopka received an award in the Hartley-Merrill screenwriting competition in 2009. Fear of Falling is the first full-length feature film produced by Munk Studio of the Polish Filmmakers Association. The film’s artistic supervisor was Agnieszka Holland.

International sales of Fear of Falling will be handled by Wide Management (the Eye on Films Label, established in January 2011). The film’s production was co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.

 

Bartosz Konopka, a graduate of the Jagiellonian University, also a graduate of film directing at the Radio and Television Department of the University of Silesia and of two courses at the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing, is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of the young generation. His film Królik po berlińsku (Rabbit a la Berlin) received awards at multiple film events, including Hot Docs in Toronto, and was nominated for an Academy Award in the Documentary Short Subject category in 2010.

 

Translated by Karolina Kołtun

09.08.2011