Polish co-production in the Main Competition in Cannes

The film “The Zone of Interest” directed by Jonathan Glazer, co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, was included in the Main Competition of the Cannes International Film Festival (May 16-27). This is a British-Polish co-production that will compete for the Palme d’Or. The Polish producer of the film is Ewa Puszczyńska (Extreme Emotions).

“There are producers and projects that are destined for success from the very beginning. Great joy, but a little surprise. Ewa Puszczyńska is the best producer in Europe”, believes Radosław Śmigulski, director of the Polish Film Institute.

Film plot and filmmakers

It is a story about the everyday life of a German family living next to the German Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz during World War II. At the same time, the film introduces the character of a Polish teenager who helped the prisoners of the camp.

All photos for the film, by Łukasz Żal, were shot in Poland, most of them in Oświęcim, in close cooperation with the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. Its creators conducted extensive, long-term historical research, also based on interviews conducted with the inhabitants of Oświęcim. Jonathan Glazer wrote and directed the film, inspired by Martin Amis’s novel. The producers of the film are James Wilson and Ewa Puszczyńska (Extreme Emotions). Małgorzata Karpiuk is responsible for the costumes, and Waldemar Pokromski for the make-up.