7 Polish Films in Cannes!
On 8 May 2018, the 71st International Film Festival in Cannes will begin. This year is an exceptional one for films supported by the Polish Film Institute – with as many as 7 titles being included in the most important sections of this prestigious event! The programme of the festival will also include industry events with the participation of Polish filmmakers.
“Cold War” and “Ayka” in the Main Competition
No fewer than two films co-produced by the PISF will be competing for the main prize along with 20 other productions. The films will be judged by a jury chaired by actress Cate Blanchett and consisting of Chang Chen, Ava DuVernay, Robert Guédiguian, Khadja Nin, Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart, Denis Villeneuve and Andrei Zvyagintsev.
More information about Paweł Pawlikowski’s “Cold War”: http://en.pisf.pl/news//zimna-wojna-at-the-71st-cannes-film-festival.
Dates of screenings:
10.05, 22:00 Grand Théâtre Lumière
11.05, 08:30, 14:00 Grand Théâtre Lumière
11.05, 12:00 Grand Théâtre Lumière – Salle du Soixantième
More information about the film “Ayka” by Sergey Dvortsevoy: http://en.pisf.pl/news/the-little-one-at-the-71st-cannes-film-festival.
Dates of screenings:
18.05, 16:00 Grand Théâtre Lumière
“III” in the Short Films Competition and “The Other” in the Cinéfondation competition
The production of the Animoon studio entitled “III”, directed by Marta Pajek, has qualified for the short films competition of the 71st Cannes Film Festival, where it has the chance to win a Palme d’Or. Out of the 8 presented titles from around the world, the Polish film is the only animation in the competition.
Dates of screenings:
18.05, 11:00 Grand Théâtre Lumière – Salle Debussy
The films in this competition will be judged by a jury chaired by director Bertrand Bonello and consisting of Valeska Grisebach, Khalil Joreige, Alanté Kavaïté and Ariane Labed. The same group of jurors will also evaluate the films in the Cinéfondation competition, which presents works from 17 film schools from around the world, including the animation “The Other” by Marta Magnuska from the Film School in Łódź.
More information about “III” by Marta Pajek and the movie “The Other” by Marta Magnuska http://en.pisf.pl/news/iii-and-inny-in-cannes.
Dates of screenings:
15.05, 14:30 Grand Théâtre Lumière – Salle Buñuel
“Another Day of Life” – Official Selection, Special Screening
“Another Day of Life”, directed by Damian Nenow and Raúl de la Fuente, will be presented out-of-competition as part of the Special Screenings. Platige Films is the Polish producer of the film, which is based on a book by the legendary Polish war correspondent, Ryszard Kapuściński.
More information about “Another Day of Life” http://en.pisf.pl/news/another-day-of-life-at-cannes.
Dates of screenings:
11.05, 20:00 Grand Théâtre Lumière – Salle du Soixantième
“Fugue” in the Semaine de la Critique competition
Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s “Fugue” is among seven full-length feature films from around the world to be included in the Semaine de la Critique section. The producer of the movie is MD4. The Semaine de la Critique competition features full-length and short films which are a director’s debut or second film and have their international or world premiere during the Festival. The short film category of this section last year included Aleksandra Terpińska’s film “The Best Fireworks Ever”, which received the Canal+ award and also the Grand Rail d’Or award.
More information about the film “Fugue” http://en.pisf.pl/news/fuga-at-the-71st-cannes-film-festival.
Dates of screenings:
15.05, 11:30, 17:15, 22:30 Espace Miramar
16.05, 08:30 Espace Miramar
“The Harvesters” in the Un Certain Regard section
“The Harvesters” [“Die Stropers”] is the debut of Greek-South African director Etienne Kallos and it will be shown in the Un Certain Regard section. The Un Certain Regard section [literally ‘a certain glance’] of the festival presents a “different look” at contemporary cinema, placing an emphasis in its selection on the originality and freshness of the presented works. The Polish producer of the film is Mariusz Włodarski – Lava Films, and the director of photography was Michał Englert.
More information about the film “The Harvesters” http://en.pisf.pl/news/zniwa-an-international-co-production-at-the-71st-cannes-film-festival.
Dates of screenings:
14.05, 11:15, 16:30 Grand Théâtre Lumière – Salle Debussy
16.05, 22:00 Grand Théâtre Lumière – Salle du Soixantième
There will also be a special showing of the film “The Departure” by Jerzy Skolimowski as part of the screenings taking place on the beach at Cannes: made in Belgium in 1967 and awarded the Golden Bear at the Berlinale, the film will be shown on 12 May at 9:30 pm as part of the Cinéma de la Plage series.
Promotion of Polish documentary film as part of Doc Alliance
The Polish-German co-production entitled “Scars”, directed by Agnieszka Zwiefka, has been selected by the organisers of the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival for the “Work in Progress” presentation, which will take place as part of the international Doc Alliance initiative. The presentation of the 7 selected projects will take place on 12 May.
Poles in the Producers Network programme
Five producers from Poland will take part in the Producers Network meetings. This event, of which the Polish Film Institute is a partner, is attended annually by about 500 representatives of the film industry from around the world. Polish producers will also be present at the Breakfast Meeting on 15 May (Tuesday), which will have a special focus on Poland.
List of Polish producers in the Producers Network:
- Agata Szymańska (Balapolis)
- Natalia Grzegorzek (Koskino)
- Sebastian Petryk (PS Film)
- Jan Pawlicki (Jutrzenka Studio)
- Zuzanna Król (Next Film)
Producer Radosława Bardes will also participate in the programme
More information http://en.pisf.pl/news/polish-producers-attending-15th-producers-network.
Presentation of Polish films during New Horizons’ Polish Days Goes to Cannes
At the initiative of the Polish Film Institute, the New Horizons International Film Festival is one of the nine international film festivals to present selected films in the prestigious The Goes to Cannes at the biggest film market, Marché du Film.
The program of the New Horizons’ Polish Days Goes to Cannes on May 13 consists of six films, including:
- Fisheye – a fiction debut by Michał Szcześniak,
- Huray, we’re still alive! – a fiction debut by Agnieszka Polska,
- Of Animals and Men – a documentary film directed by Łukasz Czajka,
- The Language of the Birds – a fiction film directed by Xawery Żuławski (co-directed by Jan Komasa, Jacek Borcuch, Piotr, Kielar),
- Werewolf – a fiction film directed by Adrian Panek,
- Pardon, the latest film from Jan Jakub Kolski.
New Horizons’ Polish Days Goes to Cannes screening will be held on May 13 at 10 AM – 12 noon at Palais K- level 4 in the Festival Palace during the 71th Cannes International Film Festival. Entrance for market badge holders.
More information www.en.pisf.pl/news/presentation-of-polish-films-during-new-horizons-polish-days-goes-to-cannes-at-march-du-film.
Polish films in the Short Film Corner
The 15th edition of the ‘Short Film Corner’ film review at Cannes will feature seven Polish productions, including “I’m Writing to You, My Love” by Magdalena Szymków and “Laundry Card” by Greg Zgliński. The SFC review attracts many directors, agents, producers and film institutions from around the world every year.
More information: www.shortfilmcorner.com.
Co-production meeting with partners from Wallonia and Brussels
A meeting between Polish producers and partners from Wallonia and Brussels will take place on 12 May from 14:00 to 16:00 at the Plage des Palmes. The meeting is organised in cooperation with the Wallonia Brussels Federation.
Film fair – Marché du Film
Over 10 Polish films and co-productions will be shown this year at Cannes as part of the Marché du Film fair. Among others “Nina” dir. Olga Chajdas (Rotterdam VPRO Big Screen Award), “Silent Night” dir. Piotr Domalewski (The Grand Prix of the 42nd Polish Film Festival in Gdynia “Golden Lions”) and coproduction “Dovlatov” dir. Aleksey German jr. (Silver Bear for production design at Berlinale).
More about the fair: www.marchedufilm.com.
Two Polish women have made the final of the international competition Nespresso Talents
Anna Zoll, with her film “Heart Therapy”, and Julia Ruszczyńska, with her film “7a+”, have been shortlisted among the 10 best films for the international competition Nespresso Talents. The theme of the competition this year is “The Difference She Makes”. The winner, to be announced on 11 May at the Cannes International Film Festival, will receive the main prize of EUR 5,000.
More information: www.nespresso.com/talents.
12th Edition of ScripTeast
As every year, the final stationary session of ScripTeast, the international script programme, will take place during the Cannes Film Festival. The creators of all the projects will be present in Cannes from 10-16 May. Of the 11 projects taking part in this year’s 12th edition, 4 are Polish:
- The Winter of the Crow – by Sandra Buchta & Kasia Adamik
- Priceless – by Piotr Domalewski
- Gregorius, The Chosen One – by Tomasz Mielnik
- In Person – by Arkadiusz Biedrzycki & Bartłomiej Konarski
The session, and the entire edition, will close with the awarding of the Krzysztof Kieślowski ScripTeast Award, which is what the authors of all 11 scenarios which qualified for the 12th edition of the programme have been competing for. The award will be presented during a ceremony in Cannes on 15 May. In the 12-year history of the programme, Poles have thrice stood on the podium in Cannes and received the prestigious Krzysztof Kieślowski Award: last year Kuba Czekaj won for his project “Sorry Poland”, in 2010 Jacek Bławut won for his screenplay “The Day of Chocolate” (currently in post-production) and in 2013 Bartek Konopka and Przemek Nowakowski won for their screenplay of “The Mute” (in production). Polish artists have been honoured with distinctions three times: Darek Błaszczyk in 2007 for the screenplay of “The House Of Merry Retirement”, Mitko Panov and Władysław Pasikowski in 2008 for the script of “The Witness” and Bodo Kox in 2015 for “Man With a Magic Box”. From all the projects participating in the programme to date, 33 films have been produced, and a further 11 are in production. This is undoubtedly a huge success for the programme methodology, the screenwriters involved and the creative consultants invited onto the programme.
The originator of ScripTeast is Dariusz Jabłoński, director and producer, who developed it in conjunction with his close associates, producers Violetta Kamińska and Izabela Wójcik. The workshops are organised by the Independent Film Foundation, with the support of the European Union’s Creative Europe MEDIA Programme, the Polish Film Institute and Apple Film Production in cooperation with, among others, the European Film Academy and renowned associations of international producers: Producers Network, European Producers Club, Transatlantic Partners and ACE as well as Film New Europe.
More about ScripTeast www.scripteast.pl.
The Polish Cinema Stand
The Polish Cinema Stand will be operating on the 7th floor of the Grand Hotel in Cannes (45 Boulevard de la Croisette) for the entire duration of the Marché du Film. It will be a meeting place where representatives of the Polish Film Institute and producers and partners will be able to speak with representatives of the international film industry, including festivals, sales agents, distributors and foreign press. The partners of the Polish Film Institute’s stand are: Polish Animation Producers Association – co-organiser of the stand, Film Commission Poland, TVP, DI Factory, Film Media (Jacek Samojłowicz) and the Netia Off Camera Festival implementing the Film in Małopolska project.
There is a guide entitled “Poles in Cannes 2018” on the website of Film Commission Poland which contains information about the representatives of the Polish film industry and film institutions present at the IFF in Cannes: www.filmcommissionpoland.pl/about-fcp/poles-in-cannes-2018/.
The new issue of Polish Film Magazine will be presented at the Cannes festival, which is also available online on the Film Commission Poland website: http://www.filmcommissionpoland.pl/about-fcp/polish-film-magazine/.
More information about the 71st Cannes International Film Festival: www.festival-cannes.com.
Marta Sikorska
Translated by Paweł Włochacz