News
New Feature by Jerzy Skolimowski
Last Saturday Jerzy Skolimowski began shooting his latest feature, The Essence of Killing (working title). This latest feature from the director of 4 Nights with Anna will be shot this winter in Israel, Norway and Poland (in Warsaw and the Pieniny mountains).
Eurimages Funding
Five Polish co-productions have received funding from Eurimages, the Council of Europe fund for the production, distribution and international promotion of European films.
Polish Films in the US
In this last month of the Oscar campaign, Polish films will be screened at prestigious film festivals in the United States.
Record Attendance in Polish Cinemas
Over 38 million tickets sold in Polish cinemas in 2009: numbers this high have not been noted in years! Polish films gathered a total audience of over 8.7 million.
Seven films crossed the 1 million mark in terms of admissions, with two Polish features among them: Love & Dance and Popiełuszko. The top box-office hits were sequels of popular animated films - Madagascar 2 (over 2 million viewers) and Ice Age 3 (almost 2 million), and the disaster film 2012 (almost 1.5 million).
The most pleasant surprise of the year is the cinema success of Mall Girls, with almost 550,000 tickets sold.
2010 Polish Film Awards
The final list of nominations for the 2010 Polish Film Awards (Eagles) will be announced in early January. December 23 is the deadline for film submissions.
Eligible are all Polish films at least 50 minutes in length that have had theatrical release and been screened in Polish cinemas at public screenings continuously for at least one week between January 1 and December 31, 2009.
The awards ceremony is to be held on March 1, 2010.
Nomination for Golden Globe
Polish composer Abel Korzeniowski received a Golden Globe nomination for his score to A Single Man. The complete list of nominations was announced yesterday.
Awards for Piggies
Piggies, the latest feature from Robert Gliński, received the Special Jury Prize at the European Film Festival in Les Arcs, France. The acclaimed Hungarian director István Szabó presided over the jury. The festival's artistic director is Frédéric Boyer, known for the Directors' Fortnight in Cannes.
Wajda and Łoziński Celebrate Awards Success
"I have the impression that my film will be much better received abroad. I think our audiences don't really like sad, melancholy films", said Andrzej Wajda, who received the European Film Academy Critics Award - Prix FIPRESCI for his film Sweet Rush last Saturday. On Monday he proudly presented his award to journalists at a press conference.
The second of Polish winners, Marcel Łoziński (whose Poste Restante received the award for Best Short Film), emphasized the rebirth of the short documentary form. "A lot can be told in 15 minutes; the documentary form is incredibly powerful", he said.
Awards for Wajda and Łoziński
Last night Marcel Łoziński received the prestigious European Film Award in the Best Short Film category for his documentary Poste Restante. Andrzej Wajda received the Prix FIPRESCI for Sweet Rush.
Awards for Infallible System
The debut feature from Izabela Szylko received another award - this time in Monaco at the 7th Angel Awards International Film Festival. Alina Janowska received the Best Actress award, while Izabela Szylko won the award for Best Screenplay. In early December Infallible System also won the main prize at a film festival in Armenia.
Echo Wins in Aix-en-Provence
Echo, the student film by Magnus von Horn, received the Grand Prix at the Tous Courts international short film festival in Aix-en-Provence, France.
Polish Golden, Silver and Bronze Frogs
Krzysztof Ptak received the Silver Frog for his work on Dark House, while Marcin Koszałka was awarded the Bronze Frog for Reverse. Both films competed in the Main Competition at the Plus Camerimage film festival, which ended last Saturday. The winner of the Golden Frog was the cinematographer responsible for Lebanon, Giora Bejach.
European Award For Wajda
The European Film Academy and the FIPRESCI International Federation of Film Critics announced on Thursday that the 2009 European Film Academy Critics Award - Prix FIPRESCI will go to Andrzej Wajda.
Agata Buzek - Shooting Star 2010
European Film Promotion (EFP) announced today the ten Shooting Stars of 2010, who will be introduced at its annual presentation of new acting talent at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale). This group of prominent young actors who come from across Europe have been chosen from a list of 21 potential candidates identified by the EFP's pan-European member organisations. Among the winners is Polish actress Agata Buzek.
Shooting Stars is supported by the MEDIA Programme of the European Union.
Krawczyk's Debut Awarded!
Six Weeks, the directorial debut from Marcin Janos Krawczyk, produced by Staron Film and TVP1, received the Best Short Film award at the IDFA International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam. Other awards went to Last Train Home by Lipin Fan (Canada/China) and Iron Crows by Bong-Nam Park (South Korea). The award for Six Weeks is the first award for a Polish film at the world's largest documentary film festival in several years.
Cinematographers Take Over Łódź
With a screening of Get Low, the 17th Plus Camerimage International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography was launched last Saturday.
"It would not be an exaggeration to say that Łódź is one of the capitals of world cinema today", these were the inaugurating remarks from Hanna Lis, who co-hosted the opening ceremony with Michał Lonstar. "I'm not sure if everyone is aware of the fact that Plus Camerimage has been listed as one of the world's 50 most important film festivals by Variety".
Polish Cinema in Cuba Once Again
Nine new Polish films will be screened in the second part of a series of screenings of Polish films in Cuba (December 3-13, 2009).
Volker Schlöndorff in Poland
A retrospective of films by the German director will be presented to audiences in six Polish cities. Volker Schlöndorff will accept a lifetime achievement award at the Plus Camerimage film festival, starting November 28 in Łódź. He will also meet with audiences in Łódź and Warsaw.
The Kinematograph Closer to an Oscar
The Kinematograph by Tomasz Bagiński is among ten films shortlisted for one of five nominations for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Bagiński has previously been nominated for an Oscar in the same category for his film The Cathedral.
Polish Candidates for EFA
Three Polish filmmakers are nominated for the prestigious European Film Awards. Voting ends on December 3. Members of the European Film Academy will select winners in 13 categories.
Time to Die in Japan
Time to Die by Dorota Kędzierzawska and Arthur Reinhart had its Japanese premiere on November 23 during the European Film Festival in Osaka. After the festival screenings, the film will be shown in Tokyo and is to be released in cinemas.