Polish productions at the festival in Karlovy Vary
Co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, the film „Dear Ones” directed by Grzegorz Jaroszuk was included in the East of the West Competition section of the International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary. Its 55th edition will be held on August 20-28. Earlier, three productions will be presented as part of the KVIFF Eastern Promises.
„Dear Ones” is a captivating and melancholic story about everymen and their serious problems, and at the same time a mix of genres: crime fiction, comedy and drama. This is the second full-length film by Grzegorz Jaroszuk, a director of the young generation, who has managed to become famous as an artist who uses such risky means as absurdity, grotesque or slapstick.
The film was in the Main Competition at the 45th Polish Film Festival. The main roles are played by Olaf Lubaszenko, Izabela Gwizdak and Adam Bobik, as well as Piotr Żurawski. John Magnus Borge and Robert Lis are responsible for the cinematography, Petr Ostrouchov for the music, Krzysztof Komander for the editing, Magdalena Dipont and Paweł Baryła for the set design, Hank Podraz’s costumes and Michał Fojcik for the sound. The producers of the film are Agnieszka Kurzydło and Karla Stojáková. The film was produced by Polish MD4 and Czech Axman Production, in co-production with EC1 – City of Culture.
Film plot
Piotr (Adam Bobik) is a 30-year-old programmer. A loner who believes in the power of magic rituals and the energy that comes from stones. In life, he is guided by the hints from horoscopes. Piotr does not seem to miss people and does not show interest in the world around him, but rather avoids it. However, when his long-unseen father (Olaf Lubaszenko) calls to ask for a meeting, Piotr appears at the door of his family house the very next day. There he meets his sister – Marta (Izabela Gwizdak), whom he has not seen since her wedding many years ago. Despite the fact that the father himself invited, or actually called, the siblings to his place, he is now disappointed that they came and is trying to dismiss them. Depressed focuses on watering the plants.
Somehow between the lines, he reluctantly admits that his wife and the mother of his siblings is missing. Piotr and Marta spontaneously move to their father’s house, ignoring his protests and decide to help him in his search. They start an investigation. Initially – also literally – they go around looking for answers and traveling between the vending machine booth and market to the playground and blocks of flats. They learn each other anew, they talk to their neighbors about the missing woman and learn more and more surprising things about her, including the fact that the woman they knew so well led a double life – she was a gambler. Traveling around the estate, but also through the history of family relations, the three heroes meet many peculiar characters, one of them is the man, who takes on the role of a guide through the life of a missing woman. The forced, not entirely easy to understand circumstances, meeting of a father with long-lost adult children is uncomfortable for all three, if not for the common goal – finding the missing – they would never have given themselves a chance to rebuild and understand the importance of the relationships that bind them.
KVIFF Eastern Promises
Three productions will be presented at the KVIFF Eastern Promises online industry event from July 28 to August 12. In the Works in Progress section it will be a Polish-British-German project „Faggots, Friends” dir. Alex Baczyński-Jenkins, while in the Work in Development section it will be the Israeli-Russian-Polish „Aliya” by Dekel Berenson.
In the First Cut + part, the full-length feature debut of Grzegorz Mołda, „The Hatcher”, will be shown. The film is co-financed by the Polish Film Institute as part of the priority dedicated to micro-budget films. In its description, we read: A teenage Karol resides in the training apartment. The boy has just left the correctional facility and is learning to live anew. Marta takes care of him. Karol must follow the rules. One of them is the inability to go outside. Their lives are spent on chores, studies and games. The boy is trying very hard. Marta believes that Karol can be a better person. He goes through the stages of life education. As the relationship between them deepens, Martha’s lessons become more and more unconventional.
The role of Marta was played by the award-winning choreographer, dancer and performer – Agnieszka Kryst, and her partner will be Michał Zieliński, selected from over two hundred candidates. Grzegorz Mołda wrote the script for „The Hatcher” together with Monika Powalisz. The visual concept was developed with the German cinematographer Constanze Schmitt and set designer was Mela Melak. Małgorzata Fudala is responsible for the costumes, and Anna Buttny for make-up. Aleksandra Orzechowska-Madejska took over the production management. The producer of the film is Izabela Igel (Harine Films). The picture is created in co-production with Polish Television.
