POLISH FILM INDUSTRY Berlinale 2019 by Film Commission Poland

POLISH FILM INDUSTRY Mrs. Holland and Mr. Jones in Berlinaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Main Competition

All you need to know about the Polish cash rebate

Meet the next Roger Deakins

BERLINALE |2019

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CASH REBATE NOW IN POLAND ARE YOU IN?

EDITORIAL

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION It is truly a great time for Polish cinema! I am writing these words a day after the Academy Awards announcement that brought Cold War three nominations: for Foreign Language Film, for Paweł Pawlikowski in Directing, and for Łukasz Żal in Cinematography. And it is only four years ago that these talented filmmakers were celebrating their Oscar success with Ida, Pawlikowski’s previous film. The list of the recent successes of Polish filmmakers is much longer. Altogether in the last five years Polish films scooped seven Oscar nominations and 17 European Film Awards, as well as triumphing at prestigious international film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Sundance and Venice. Polish cinema is very much on the rise and this year brings even more substantial changes as, after many years of effort, the incentive scheme is being introduced. From February, a 30% cash rebate on qualifying Polish costs is available for foreign and Polish productions. Undoubtedly, this will bring new opportunities for collaboration with international filmmakers. Poland has talented filmmakers, internationally experienced producers, professional crews and state-of-the-art facilities available across the country. Our landscapes and architecture will delight location managers looking for undiscovered gems as well as affordable stand-ins. The cinematic potential is boosted by the dynamic pace of economic growth in the country. All in all, Poland is now the place to make films.

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Radosław Śmigulski General Director of the Polish Film Institute

Introduction

NEWS Production news

BERLINALE 2019 Mr. Jones 6 Story 10 Dawid Ogrodnik

MONEY BANK Poland Is Introducing the Cash Rebate Scheme

Get financed in Poland

TALENTS Dolce Fine Giornata

Magdalena Górka

Jarosław Kamiński

Broad Peak

Watchout Studio

Jacob, Mimmi and the Talking Dogs

ATM Grupa

LOCATE&SHOOT Steeling Beauty

Run to the forest, run!

REMAINS OF THE DAY Publication by Polish Film Institute, Krakowskie Przedmieście 21/23, 00-071 Warsaw email: pisf@pisf.pl

Graphic designer: Anna Myśluk Layout designer: Marcin Kiedio

Project coordinators: Ola Salwa, Anna E. Dziedzic

Photo editor: Marcin Kapica

Writers: Roberto Cueto, Darek Kuźma, Magdalena Maksimiuk, Marcin Radomski, Alex Ramon, Dagmara Romanowska, Sebastian Smoliński.

Special thanks: Anna Anosowicz, Krzysztof Brzezowski, Marzena Cieślik, Anna Kot, Zofia Horszczaruk, Hanna Sawicka, Karolina Zielonka.

Proofreader: Alex Ramon

Pearls in Shells

NEWS

WHAT’S COOKING? The Polish-German co-production Taste of Pho, the directorial debut of Mariko Bobrik, is currently in postproduction. Shot entirely in Poland, the film takes a dive into the Vietnamese community in

Warsaw. Long is a cook and a widower, who is raising his 8-year-old daughter Maja all by himself. The girl is trying to fit in and assume Polish identity, while her father misses Vietnam and wants

to go back there. The film is produced by Mariusz Włodarski (Hereafter, The Harvesters) of Polish Lava Films, and Benny Drechsel from Germany’s RohFilms Productions. The Polish cast includes Lena

Nguyen, Thang Long Do, Aleksandra Domańska and Bogusława Pawelec (from Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Blind Chance). Andrzej Wojciechowski is the DoP, while Anna Pachnicka is the production manager. New Europe Film Sales represents the film internationally.

Polish-Italian crying game The protagonist of Solo is Lena, who is seven months pregnant. She wants to sell her unborn baby to Fabio, who can’t have kids of his own. In order to do so, Lena has to fake a relationship with Fabio’s nephew Ermanno – this way she will bypass the Italian law that forbids surrogacy. Things

get even more complicated when real feelings start to appear within the fake couple. Solo is directed by Carlo Sironi and produced by Giovanni Pompili of the Italian company Kinoproduzioni and Agniesz-

ka Wasiak of Polish Lava Films. The Polish contingent includes actress Sandra Drzymalska (Lena) and sound designer and composer Teoniki Rozynek. Lux Box handles world sales.

Alex Pettyfer, Alice Eve and Charlotte Le Bon are the international presences complementing the Polish cast of this science-fiction anthology film set on a futuristic Earth. The interweaving plots focus on loneliness, death and the meaning of life. Warning is directed by Agata Alexander, who co-wrote the script with Jason Kaye and Rob Michaelson. The film is produced by Cybill Lui of Anova Pictures, Staszek Dziedzic of Film Produkcja from Poland in association with NEM Corp, a new venture of producers Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska, Ewa Puszczyńska and Jan Naszewski.

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Polish-Canadian -US Warning

3 Academy Award nominations for Cold War After spectacular success in France (where Paweł Pawlikowski won the Best Director award at Cannes) and Spain (where the film took home 5 European Film Awards), it’s time for Cold War to conquer American soil. Paweł Pawlikowski has a nomination in the Best Director category, and his DoP Łukasz Żal competes for the Best Cinematography prize (he was previously nominated in this category with Ryszard Lenczewski for their work on Ida). Cold War is also nominated in the Best Foreign Film category, and, if it wins, Paweł Pawlikowski will be the first Polish director to have two Oscars (having already received one for Ida in 2015).

Sunburned finishes postproduction

WE ARE ALL PEASANTS The co-writer and co-director of the Oscar-nominated animation Loving Vincent Dorota Kobiela talks about her new projects. Dorota, what are you working on now? Developing three more painting animation films, which we – me and my husband, Hugh Welchman, who co-wrote and co-directed Loving Vincent with me - want to complete over the next 9 years. My main focus is The Peasants, based on the Nobel Prize-winning novel by Władysław Reymont. Hugh is concentrating on a horror film inspired by the paintings of Francisco Goya. That project is scheduled to be the second film to come out of our studio. Why did you choose The Peasants? It is a very primal story of sexual passion, vying for power

and the will to survive and thrive in a tough world, and it is set at a time (the late 19th century) which coincides with the zenith of the most articulate and expressive movements in painting: the early-impressionists, the realists and the impressionists. The agricultural era in history held sway from before the rise of the pyramids until a couple of generations ago, and at that time the majority of people were peasants, yet most of the stories are written about the royals, the rich or soldiers of fortune. It is time that there was a story that comes out of the great masses, that made us who we are today. No one observed them better and more beautifully than Reymont. Also, I like the fact that the strongest and most interesting characters in his novels are women. They live

in a world that is stacked against them, but they fight hard for their dignity and independence. What stage is the project is at and when do you expect it to be completed? Do you have a sales agent already? I am working on a one minute concept trailer, that will be ready by June. I want to have the script completed by the end of the summer, have the whole project financed and ready for shooting on the 1st January 2020. We haven’t reached out to sales agents yet.

Carolina Hellsgard’s film revolves around a lonely 12-year-old, who during a family vacation in Spain, meets a teenage immigrant from Senegal. She promises him that she will help him to return to Africa. The film’s Polish crew includes DoP Wojciech Staroń (Refugiado, A Sorf of Family), as well as the entire lighting and camera department. Sunburned is produced by Nicole Gerhards of Germany’s NIKO Film and co-produced by Johanna Aust (Germany), Małgorzata Staroń (Poland), Jan van der Zanden of Waterland film (Netherlands) and Ineke Kanters (Netherlands). The release of the film is set for June 2019. World sales is open.

NEWS

Polish presences at Sundance The Tough by Marcin Polar and Acid Rain by Tomasz Popakul had their world premieres in Park City in January. The Tough is a documentary that follows a man, who discovers a cave in the Tatra Mountains. On the other hand, the animated Acid Rain focuses on a couple who hit the road together and find themselves in an increasingly strange environment. Popakul’s previous short, Black, was presented at Sundance in 2018.

Unforgettable co-production

Polish Legions charge to the screen They were the first active Polish army of the 20th century and a driving force that helped to regain Polish independence in 1918. Now, they’re the focus of the new film by Dariusz Gajewski (the director of Strange Heaven), which combines epic period production with an intimate love story. The budget of the film exceeds 6 million EUR and Polish

Legions is one of the biggest local productions in recent years. The protagonist is Józek, who joins the Polish Legions soon after they are formed. His love interest is Ola, an agent of Brigade I of the Polish Legions, who is engaged to someone else. The cast includes Sebastian Fabiański, Wiktoria Wolańska, Bartosz Gelner (Floating Skyscrapers), Jan

Frycz and Borys Szyc (Cold War). Polish Legions is produced by Picareseque’s Maciej Pawlicki and co-produced by The Documentary and Feature Film Studios, National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute and Polcar. The release of the film is set for September 2019. The Polish distributor is Kino Świat.

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Shooting has wrapped on the Greek-Polish film Apples, directed by Christos Nikou. The subject of the film is the selectivity of human memory. It’s an allegorical and “somehow funny story”, that tries to explore the way memory functions and how this affects our being. Producers on the Greek side are Hercules Mavroides and Angelo Venetis, while Nikos Smpiliris has an executive producer credit. Mariusz Włodarski from Polish Lava Films is Apples’s co-producer. Bartosz Świniarski is the DoP and Warsaw-based DI Factory did image postproduction. Worlds sales are open.

Polish period film The Messenger has finished postproduction Władysław Pasikowski (Pigs, Jack Strong, Aftermath) is one of the most popular directors in Poland and is vividly interested in genre films, as well as the country’s recent history. His new film, The Messenger, revolves around a real-life hero: Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, journalist, writer and member of the Polish Home Army, who got his famous nickname (“Courier from Warsaw”) thanks to delivering top secret messages out of Nazi-occupied Poland. “Our goal is to tell a thrilling story based on real events, one that James Bond’s screenwriters probably wouldn’t come up with,” said Pasikowski in a press release. The Messenger is produced by the Museum of Warsaw Uprising and Scorpio Studio. Producers are: Jan Ołdakowski, Dariusz Gawin, ADVERTISMENT

Sylwia Wilkos and Klaudiusz Frydrych. The principal cast include Phillippe Tłokiński, Patrycja Volny (Mr. Jones, Spoor) and Tomasz Schuchardt (Warsaw’44). The DoP is Magdalena Górka, whom you can read more about on page 22. The Polish distributor is Kino Świat, and the film hits Polish theatres in March 2019.

Platige Image for Netflix Warsaw-based production (Another Day of Life) and postproduction studio created one of the short films for the new Netflix series Love, Death & Robots. It consists of 18 episodes, each of which has a different theme and animation style, and was made by a different artistic team.

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SHE

& MR. JONES Agnieszka Holland returns after two years to Berlinale’s Main Competition with her new film Mr. Jones, a co-production between Poland, United Kingdom and Ukraine Alex Ramon

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Now in the fourth decade of her storied career, Agnieszka Holland shows no signs of slowing down. On the contrary, the last few years have seen the esteemed Polish filmmaker grow increasingly prolific, producing characteristically varied work that ranges from the Olga Tokarczuk adaptation Spoor (which won the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize in 2017) to the opening episode of the Sean Penn-starring series The First and Poland’s hugely ambitious Netflix extravaganza 1983. Holland’s new feature, Mr. Jones, demonstrates again the political and historical commitment that has often been part of her cinema. The title character, the Welshman Gareth Jones, was a Barry-born journalist who - against considerable pressure from various sides - was the first writer to bring to international attention the Holodomor: the devastating “famine-genocide” perpetrated in Soviet Ukraine in 1932-1933, which resulted in millions of deaths. Despite allegedly inspiring Orwell’s Animal Farm, Jones’s story is still less known than it should be. Holland’s compelling and moving film is certain to change that. Gareth Jones’s story remains much less well known than it ought to be. I wonder when you first heard about him and whether the cinematic potential of his story was immediately apparent to you. It was only a few years ago that the first documentary appeared, and some publications. Of course, he’s a hero in Ukraine. He’s mentioned in Timothy Snyder’s book Bloodlands, in the chapter that refers to the famine, and I read that about five years ago. But I didn’t know so much about him until I received the script by Andrea Chalupa. What I liked about it was not only the subject matter, and Jones as the hero, but also the way that it

was written and presented. The language of the script was very inspiring to me as a filmmaker. The film is very much about journalism: its function, value and ethics. I know this was your parents’ profession as well. How important was it for you to have this debate about journalism - which feels very current - at the centre of the film? We’ve been trying to put the film together for a few years and during this time the story became more and more relevant. Questions of the reliability of the press, of the corruption and manipulation of the media, of “fake news”, have become very prominent. We’ve seen the decline of standards which have always been incredibly challenging to maintain, but which are increasingly difficult to uphold in this time of social media and the internet: the notion of objective journalism. The decline of that, and the danger in communication and the misuse of information in the contemporary world, is very strong. The opposition that Gareth Jones came up against in telling the story was very hard and felt very actual. What I realized is that you have three factors or players which can lead to wars, disasters, genocides, or autocratic terror: the corruption of the media, the cowardice of government, and the indifference or apathy of the society. So yes, the film is asking questions about what journalism is, what it should be, and the price we pay for cowardice or courage.

Mr. Jones is a co-production between three countries. What were some of the challenges of the shoot and the location work, as the story moves from London to Moscow, Ukraine and Wales? We started in Ukraine, which I anticiQuestions of the reliability pated would be the most difficult part of the press, of the corrupof the shoot: not only practically, but tion and manipulation of the also from a conceptual point of view: media, of “fake news”, have how to present the sequence which become very prominent. is the heart of the story in the most economical way - economical in terms the filmmaking language. We expected that it would be difficult to shoot in Ukraine, a country which isn’t used to working within the structure of a Western production. Of course, there were some everyday issues, but the shoot there proved to be very friendly and the Ukrainian crew and actors were absolutely committed to giving their best. They wanted to pay tribute to Gareth Jones as a hero, and to tell the story of the famine in a way that the wider world could understand and feel involved in. By a strange

BERLINALE 2019

coincidence it turned out that we were shooting on the 85th anniversary of the days that Gareth Jones had been in Ukraine. The pace of the film changes in the Ukraine scenes, slowing down, without music, allowing us to observe quietly with Gareth. Yes, this was absolutely deliberate. The change of pace was already suggested in the script, but we pushed it even further. I was adamant that there would be no music, sparse dialogue, a different approach to the editing, and so on.

The character of Gareth Jones is important because he’s the audience’s guide through the entire film. How did you come to cast James Norton in the lead role? When it came to casting we found ourselves in a vicious circle for a while. With projects that need substantial

British thesp James Norton, who plays Gareth Jones, is accompanied by a group of Polish actors: Michalina Olszańska (The Lure, 1983), Beata Poźniak (JFK), Krzysztof Pieczyński (Chain Reaction, The Pianist) and Patrycja Volny (Spoor).

financing, but that are not commercial, you can finance them if you have talents who are bankable, but you can’t approach those talents until you have the money. So it’s a process that I hate. A talented actor agreed to do the film, which accelerated everything, but then he got another offer and dropped out. At that time we thought that the project was going to fall apart. But that actor’s agent, who I think felt somehow concerned, helped us a lot, by sending the script to other clients of his, among them a lot of interesting British actors. And suddenly from having no actors we had three or four who were interested. I watched everything that I could of their work, and I decided that James was the best choice. When we met I found that he’s a very intelligent young man, very eloquent in his discussions. He understood the character on many levels and also brought some humour to the role. It’s challenging to create the character of a good young man. Playing a villain can be easier than playing a decent person. So I wondered if he’d be able to carry it throughout... Other characters come and go but naturally Gareth is the core of the film, linking the various stages of the story. When we put it together in the first edit I realised how great his performance was. Consistent, but at the same time colourful. Regarding the other roles, after James was cast, Vanessa Kirby showed interest in playing Ada Brooks and we then connected with Peter Sarsgaard to play Walter. He agreed pretty much immediately. Of course I knew Peter from his previous roles, and I love

→ POLISH ODYSSEY The filming of Mr. Jones took place in Poland, Ukraine and Scotland. Polish location included socialist realist Zagłębie Palace of Culture in Dąbrowa Górnicza, the monumental modernist Silesia Province Office in Katowice, Goetz Palace in Brzesko, Dietel Palace in Sosnowiec, Pyskowice; Wielopole and Zyblikiewicza streets in Krakow, as well as Krakow City Hall and Polish National Opera in Warsaw.

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How did you and your DoP Tomasz Naumiuk discuss those shifts in relation to the visual style? And what was your collaboration like? You already worked together on 1983. I also knew Tomasz before because he’d worked on films by my daughter, Kasia Adamik, and also by her wife, Olga Chajdas, who helped me on Mr. Jones as a Second Unit Director. And Tomasz himself was also a Second Unit Cinematographer for me on Spoor. So I’d had opportunities to observe his way of working. He’s fantastic, not only from the point of his talent and his skill at accommodating different directing styles but also as an “organiser” on the set. He gives a lot of energy to everybody. He’s wonderful, and quite young, so I think he’ll go on to do lots of very interesting things. He’s learning all the time. Together we discussed how to bring different qualities to the different sections of the film while also achieving a stylistic unity. For the more extravagant sequences, such as the train journeys, we were inspired by the Soviet avant garde, especially Dziga Vertov. We watched a lot of films from that period. We wanted to convey that experimental energy which was the other side of the Soviet regime. On the one hand you had the terrible growing crimes of the state, and on the other this building sense of motion and movement. We wanted to give that energy, in a cinematic way, to the story.

his acting and way of creating characters. So suddenly, after all the problems, in a few weeks the main casting came together. How was the process of funding the film? We had support from Polish Film Institute, which was very important, since the amount of money they gave to the film was on the higher side. Then we had support from the Ukraine State Film Agency, which was considerable for that country. We also had some money from the UK - from Scotland - and from some private Canadian financiers which helped fill the gaps. What are your opinions about Polish cinema in the past year, and the success of Cold War and Clergy? 2018 was another great year for Polish cinema. I loved Cold War and it would almost certainly win the Oscar if it wasn’t for Roma. Alfonso Cuarón made a very warm film and Cold War...well, the title says it all! But I love them both. With Polish cinema I’m excited by the new generation of filmmakers and in particular the young women coming through. It feels like the female filmmakers really claimed the “trademark” of new Polish cinema and I’m very happy about that. The success of Clergy was also incredible and encouraged me about the kind of social impact films can have. We experienced that in the ‘70s and it’s happening again. ADVERTISMENT

What is your next project, Charlatan? It’s a period drama, but different to anything I’ve done before. It’s a Czech-Slovak-Irish co-production and will be made in Czech language and with Czech actors. I already started the production. We filmed for two days in Czech Republic in December and we’ll resume in April and June this year. Finally, are you looking forward to presenting Mr. Jones at Berlinale and do you enjoy the experience of that festival? Spoor won the Silver Bear in 2017 so that was a nice experience! The response to the film was great. This year Dieter Kosslick is ending his directorship of the festival; I’ve known him for years and will have the chance to say farewell to him. As for the reception of the film, one never knows, but I’m hopeful, and I look forward to screening it. Every film I make is important to me, but this one in particular, because of the story and how relevant the themes feel right now.

BERLINALE 2019

STORY OF MY LIFE

sketchbook, in which I write down situations that I observe on a daily basis. Although now I take notes more often with my phone,” says Bańkowska. “I like finding singular situation that present a more universal phenomenon of truth. That was a starting point for a film that comprises a few seemingly separate scenes that, combined together, create a social commentary on the contemporary reality,” adds the director. Asked about her attitude towards new technologies, Bańkowska admits that she is a fan and has VR glasses at home in order to “see the possibilities that technology gives and how to animate the VR environment.” As for constant internet access and social media, Bańkowska says that on the one hand it’s easier to have access to the entire world and to communicate. On the other hand “it’s easier to mindlessly scroll Instagram or Facebook than make something that requires effort,” she concludes. Story was produced by Munk Studio and Letko.

The clever and painfully ironic short animation Story by Jola Bańkowska will be presented in Generation 14plus at the Berlinale What is the first thing you do after you wake up? Stretch your muscles in bed? Start a zombie walk towards the coffee machine? No, you check your phone or tablet to see what e-mails, messages or other notifications came through while you were sleeping. This is exactly what one of the protagonists of Jola Bańkowska’s brilliant animation does. Through the course of 5 minutes we follow a few characters who immerse themselves in the virtual world and face, in time, all kinds of consequences. “Story is my animation debut and it originated in my

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1. MARTA PRUS Director 2. JAN P. MATUSZYŃSKI Director 3. ANIELA GABRYEL Director 4. S TANISŁAW BARDADIN Sales Agent, Distributor 5. ANDREA GUIZAR Animation Director

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2019 BERLINALE TALENTS FROM POLAND

MEET… PARTICIPANTS OF THE VISITORS PROGRAMME

ANNA WEREDA Autograf

MARTA GMOSIŃSKA Lava Films

MORE FROM AGNIESZKA HOLLAND!

→

DAGMARA PIASECKA MD4

JAN PAWLICKI Jutrzenka Studio

EYES ON… Polish projects at Berlinale Co-Production Market

Apart from presenting her latest film Mr. Jones in the Main Competition,

Agnieszka Holland is attached to directing the TV series Napoleon, which will be presented

at Co-Pro Series event at the Berlinale Co-Production Market. The creators of the show, which will focus on the famous French general, are Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris.

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KAMIL SKAŁKOWSKI Kalejdoskop

→ Stillborn is an upcoming film of Olga Chajdas, whose

debut feature Nina won the VPRO Big Screen Award at Rotterdam in 2018 and had a long and successful festival tour. Stillborn, produced by Polish Apple Film, will be this year’s Rotterdam-Berlinale Express project. → The Property is a Dana Modan project that is co-pro-

duced by July August Production from Israel and Extreme Emotions from Poland, a company founded by the Oscar-winning producer Ewa Puszczyńska (Ida, Cold War).

BERLINALE 2019

NEXT DOOR PERFECTIONIST Meet Dawid Ogrodnik, European Shooting Star and one of the most versatile Polish actors with an impressive filmography including Ida and The Last Family

He has collaborated with Paweł Pawlikowski, Jerzy Skolimowski, Jan P. Matuszyński, Carlos Diegues and, recently, Juris Kursietis. Being one of the most recognizable and admired actors in Poland, Ogrodnik does not shy away from international projects. As an artist, he’s restless: he constantly wants to develop his craft. Although one may think that he must have dreamt of becoming an actor since he was born, his path was not at all predictable. “I got the idea right when I finished high school,” says Ogrodnik. “As a student at the National Academy of Theatre Arts in Krakow, I could organize my time pretty well and learn a lot. I read Chekhov and Stanislavski, discovered new acting techniques, partici-

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Sebastian Smoliński

“It’s thrilling to know that what I do in Poland has some resonance in the world.”

pated in workshops, met a lot of people. It was a time of big experiments in different fields,” he adds. You are Good Ogrodnik has an easy-going, warm attitude – meeting him on the street, you could take him for your next door neighbor. In fact, his first important performance – in Leszek Dawid’s You Are God from 2012 – was that of the rapper “Rahim” from the famous Polish hip hop band Paktofonika. He starred there alongside his colleagues Marcin Kowalczyk and Tomasz Schuchardt. “As emerging actors, we had our professional code of conduct. For us, theatre was the most important thing” says Ogrodnik. “We also dreamt about making films, but we were afraid to say it out loud. When we were invited to work on You Are God, we couldn’t believe that it was happening.” In 2013, Ogrodnik played the role of the jazz musician in Paweł Pawlikowski’s Ida. The blackand-white film took art house cinemas by storm and won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. But the actor’s real breakthrough was the main role in Maciej Pieprzyca’s Life Feels Good, the story of a young man suffering from quadriplegia. Ogrodnik gave his most physical performance yet, using his whole body and facial muscles to create an unforgettable character of great depth and sensitivity. His outstanding achievement was awarded at Polish and international film festivals, including prizes in Gijon, Stara Zagora, Seattle and New York. “We worked with the body in a very specific way,” says Ogrodnik. “Each character dictates a different method. In the case of Tomek Beksiński from The Last Family, based on a real person, I had some clues - for example, the behavior of people with bipolar disorder. So, I wanted the character’s psyche and body to work that way. You can perceive it at both a visual and an emotional level.” In The Last Family (2016), Ogrodnik teamed up for the first time first with Andrzej Seweryn, a legendary Polish actor and member of the Comédie-Française. Seweryn played his father, the painter Zdzisław Beksiński. They created a perfect duo – or, rather, a duo of perfec-

Dawid Ogrodnik on the set of Icarus. Legend of Mietek Kosz, in which he plays the title role.

tionists: “Andrzej won me over with his approach to work. Despite his vast experience, he’s still searching, he’s curious about his partners and situations. He acts with brilliance and depth. He’s very pure in his acting and he wants to be fair with himself and his collaborators. He’s a very important person in my life right now. Last but not least, I am, like him, a perfectionist. We know that perfection doesn’t exist, but still we strive for it.” Ogrodnik and Seweryn were also the stars of the 2018 Showmax limited series Rojst, where they created an exquisite variation on their father-son relationship from The Last Family. Getting personal This year, we’ll see Ogrodnik in no less than five feature films. The Day of Chocolate by Jacek Piotr Bławut, Dark, Almost Night by Borys Lankosz, Icarus. Legend of Mietek Kosz by Maciej Pieprzyca, Oleg by Juris Kursietis, and Broad Peak which reunites him with Leszek Dawid (more about the film on page 26). These upcoming premieres testify to Ogrodnik’s thirst for new challenges, as well as to the confidence that major directors have in him. Of his collaboration with Kursietis, he says: “Working abroad gives you a wider perspective, because you collaborate with people who grew up in a totally different culture. It provides you with a fresh outlook. That’s what happened when we were filming Oleg, a Latvian-Lithuanian-Belgian co-production. I was working with the great actor from Riga, Valentin Novopolskij, who is very focused on analyzing how characters develop and change as the story progresses. This experience contributed to my self-development and the way I work now.” Of course, such unique collaborations happen in Poland as well, as proven by his 2017 performance in Silent Night by Piotr Domalewski which brought Ogrodnik several best actor awards: “In this case, I had to take a lot from myself and my own psyche, not the character’s virtual psyche that I created. The director wanted me to use my experience, to ask myself how I would behave in a given situation. The result is a more personal performance,” he concludes. “It’s thrilling to know that what I do in Poland has some resonance in the world,” says Ogrodnik when asked about being part of the European Shooting Stars programme. “It’s an important recognition for young people, because you are chosen out of hundreds of actors working in Europe. It means that I have achievements of some value which says something about me. I’m proud of it and I expect to have many meetings with other actors and filmmakers at Berlinale. After all, this is what makes me truly happy – making new friends and eventually working with them on original and fascinating projects.”

MONEY BANK

POLAND IS INTRODUCING THE CASH REBATE SCHEME After many years of effort by the local film industry, Poland is finally getting its own incentive scheme. From 11th February 2019 the Polish Film Institute provides access to a generous 30% cash rebate on productions, including feature films, animations, documentaries and series made in Poland On the set of Polish Legions.

CERTIFICATE If it is too early for you to apply for the scheme but you need a confirmation that your production is eligible for the Polish cash rebate, you can apply for a certificate. It does not guarantee the money, but confirms the project’s eligibility. There is no application fee and an application is assessed by PISF in 28 days. To get the certificate you need to submit:

●b asic information about the production (genre, language, director, screenwriter, composer, cinematographer, etc.); ● information about the applying company; ● the screenplay; ● the estimated value of the support; ● the completed qualifying cultural test.

A COMMENTARY FROM RADOSŁAW ŚMIGULSKI General Director of the Polish Film Institute

POLAND – A GO-TO FILMING DESTINATION Poland has a great cinematographic tradition which is widely recognized and appreciated around the world. Its heritage was built by such superb filmmakers as Krzysztof Kieślowski, Andrzej Wajda, Roman Polański, Agnieszka Holland and Paweł Pawlikowski, to name just a few from a lengthy list of talented directors of Polish origin. The creative contribution finds its match in the rapidly developing economy. Poland is the leader in economic growth among the developed countries with 5.1% GDP in 2018 and 3.8% GDP growth forecast in 2019. This growth includes the cinema market which is now the 6th biggest market considering admissions in EU. Poland is home to a wide range of talented artists, great cinematographers, music composers, art directors, and animators who have experience working on worldclass big budget and independent films and TV series. Their talents are supported by hard-working, English-speaking crews and the abilities and international experience of Polish producers who are very keen to mount global ventures. State-of-the-art facilities built to international standard are available in Warsaw, our main production hub, and across the country. These skills, as well as facilities and locations, will now be available with a 30% cash rebate on qualifying Polish costs. This is a game changer for Poland: our production capacities are by far bigger than the current market and our production spend will triple within the next 3 years. I am confident that the cash rebate will allow for longstanding and successful collaborations between foreign and Polish filmmakers.

The application must receive at least 51% of all possible points in the cultural test to qualify for the support. The certificate is valid for 4 years. A certificate is non-obligatory so if you are ready to apply for the scheme you can skip that step.

©© J. PIOTROWSKI

30% CASH REBATE IN POLAND – HOW DO THE INCENTIVES WORK? WHAT? � 30% cash rebate is available on qualifying Polish expenses. � A refund is available for feature films, animations, documentaries and series, including animated and documentary series. � Reimbursement is paid when the part of the production for which the application was submitted (e.g. shooting, postproduction or the whole production) is completed and the final report accepted. � Only costs expended after the date of application are eligible for the refund. � The scheme is based on a first come, first served rule, therefore applications are evaluated in order of submission until the funds reach the limit for a given year - the annual budget is up to 47.6 million EUR. � At least 10% of the annual budget is allocated to support the production of animated films and series.

FOR WHOM?

� An agreement between a foreign producer and a Polish producer needs to be signed before applying.

HOW MUCH MONEY CAN I OBTAIN? � A cap per project is set at 3.33 million EUR. � A cap per applicant is set at 4.76 million EUR per year.

HOW DO I APPLY? � The incentives are managed by the Polish Film Institute, the main funding body supporting production in the country.

� A cultural qualifying test applies. It contains a set of criteria and a corresponding score. The application must receive at least 51% of all possible points in the cultural test to qualify for the support. The project gets points for: � using subjects and themes deriving from Polish or European cultural heritage; � using Polish locations; � setting the production in Poland (number of shooting days, image and sound postproduction); � participation of Polish artists and crew members; � using Polish film infrastructure. � Minimum spending levels apply (see below), the

The Polish eligible costs include among others: location scouting, production design, costumes, equipment rental, travel and accommodation, postproduction, animation, and labour costs. A detailed list of costs that may constitute Polish eligible costs and a detailed list of costs excluded from eligibility as Polish eligible costs is available at PISF’s website.

TYPE OF PRODUCTION

MINIMUM RUNTIME

FEATURE FILM co-production

� Polish productions, international coproductions or services are eligible for support. � Foreign producers need to connect with a Polish partner or have a branch in Poland. � A producer applying for the cash rebate needs to have credits – a film shown in theatres, presented at FIAPF accredited festivals or broadcast on TV / VOD.

levels vary depending on the genre and type of the production (coproduction or service). � Applications can be made at the earliest 6 months before and at the latest 2 months before the part of the production for which the application was submitted begins. � The application for support may be submitted if at least 75% of the costs of the project to be financed are confirmed. � The application fee is 0.05% of the estimated amount of support but no more than 1000 PLN (about 240 EUR). � PISF takes up to 28 calendar days to assess the application.

70 min.

service SERIES

co-production service

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

co-production

DOCUMENTARY SERIES

co-production

ANIMATION FEATURE

co-production

ANIMATED SERIES

co-production

service service service service

40 min./episode 40 min. 150 min./series 60 min. 50 min./10 episodes/ season

MINIMUM SPEND (EUR)

600 000 (in 2019) 715 000 (in 2020) 950 000 (from 2021) 240 000 240 000/episode 240 000/season 70 000 70 000 240 000/season 70 000/season 240 000 120 000 240 000/season 120 000/season

All figures are rounded up to the nearest whole numer. Provided amounts are for orientation only, all the limits are set in the Polish currency.

MONEY BANK

IS MY PRODUCTION ELIGIBLE FOR THE POLISH CASH REBATE?

ELIGIBILITY

RUNNING TIME

FEATURE OR SERIES

GENRE

I AM PRODUCING

FICTION

FEATURE

AT LEAST 70 MIN. LONG

DOCUMENTARY

SERIES

SHORTER THAN 70 MIN.

YES NO

EPISODE AT LEAST 40 MIN. LONG

FEATURE

EPISODE SHORTER THAN 40 MIN.

YES NO

AT LEAST 40 MIN. LONG

SERIES

SHORTER THAN 40 MIN.

YES NO

AT LEAST 150 MIN. PER SEASON

SEASON SHORTER THAN 150 MIN.

YES NO

A GUIDE – HOW TO OBTAIN THE MONEY

➋

➊

Find a partner. There are many production companies in Poland experienced in working with foreign partners. Check the Film Commission Poland (FCP) databases or approach representatives of film bodies like the Polish Film Institute (PISF) or FCP to get advise. Polish producers active on the international market frequently attend markets like the European Film Market or Marché du Film so set up a meeting and talk to them. They are also presented in this publication.

Prepare an application. You need to gather all the requested documents and information about the project (co-production or service agreement, synopsis, screenplay, production schedule, financing plan, estimate budget, etc.) You need to prove that at least 75% of the costs of the project to be financed are confirmed.

➌

Submit an application, together with a completed qualifying test and an application fee.

➏

Make the film - complete the production or the part of the project for which you are planning to get the cash rebate.

➍

Wait for the notification, PISF has 28 days to assess the application.

➎

Sign the agreement. If the decision is positive then the applicant and PISF sign the agreement and PISF transfers the adequate amount of money to the escrow account.

➐

Submit the report when the work is finished.

➑

Wait for the notification - PISF has 3 months to verify the report.

➒

Collect the money from the escrow account upon positive verification.

I AM PRODUCING

ANIMATION

FEATURE

AT LEAST 60 MIN. LONG

SHORTER THAN 60 MIN.

YES NO

COMMERCIAL

AT LEAST 10 EPISODES

AT LEAST 50 MIN. PER SEASON

LESS THAN 10 EPISODES

SEASON SHORTER THAN 50 MIN.

YES NO ADVERTISMENT

SERIES

Detailed information, official guidelines on how to apply and application forms are available at the Polish Film Institute website www.en.pisf.pl/incentives.

MONEY BANK

HOW TO FIND MONEY IN POLAND Daugavpils

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMMES FOR FILM PRODUCTION Polish Film Institute (PISF)

Ternopil

FOR PRODUCERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD Participation of a Polish co-producer is necessary DEADLINES There are three application sessions per year SESSION 1

SESSION 2

SESSION 3

February, 14-24, 2019

May, 20-27, 2019

September, 2-9, 2019

REQUIREMENTS

To be eligible for consideration, applications must include the following: script, director’s statement, synopsis, budget, estimated production costs, script rights agreement.

The Polish producer’s own contribution must amount to no less than 5% of the amount of the subsidy.

FINANCING For a Polish co-producer, the maximum subsidy is:

PLN

2 000 000 approx. EUR 470 000

POLISH BUDGET

MAX. PFI SUBSIDY

4 000 000 approx. EUR 932 000

6 000 000

for historic films approx. EUR 1.43 million

30% 70%

E IR T T GE EN UD B

REQUIREMENTS •• For bilateral co-productions, the Polish contribution must be at least 20%* of the total budget; •• For multilateral co-productions, the Polish contribution must be at least 10%* of the total budget; •• At least 80% of the subsidy must be spent in Poland; •• Minimum artistic contribution for feature film: - hiring at least one filmmaker among listed: director, art director, cinematographer, scriptwriter, leading actor/ actress, editor or - hiring three filmmakers among listed: VFX supervisor, composer, make-up artist, costume designer, actor / actress in a supporting role.

Poland has ratified the revised Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Co-production on 23rd November 2018.

MAJORITY CO-PRODUCTIONS

MINORITY CO-PRODUCTIONS •• A separate selection commission for minority co-productions; •• Bilateral treaty not necessary, even for non-European projects; •• An application has to be made before shooting starts.

2019

subsidy of up to 50% of the total budget

50%

* New regulations concerning parties’ share in the total cost of production (dropped to 10% and 5% respectively) will apply upon implementing the revised Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Co-production starting from 1st March 2019.

WHO TO BOTHER FOR MORE INFORMATION: Karol Makowski, tel. +48 22 42 10 386, karol.makowski@pisf.pl; Konrad Tambor, tel. +48 22 42 10 579, konrad.tambor@pisf.pl

50%

POLISH-GERMAN FILM FUND Funding institutions: Polish Film Institute, Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA), Mitteldeutsche M edienförderung (MDM) and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. FOR PRODUCERS FROM Poland | Germany Applications for development may be submitted on condition that an agreement has been signed by at least one Polish producer and one German producer. In the case of a production application the German producer must be based in the region in which the MDM or Medienboard operate. REQUIREMENTS Two sessions per year in 2019 (application forms and application dates are available on the websites on the Funds’ websites);

As a rule the budget of the film should not exceed EUR 750 000;

FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT the maximum subsidy is:

EUR 70

For: full-length feature, animated or documentary films.

FOR CO-PRODUCTIONS the maximum subsidy is:

000

Annual budget approximately:

EUR

150 000

500 000

WHO TO BOTHER FOR MORE INFORMATION: Robert Baliński, tel.: +48 22 42 10 387, email: robert.balinski@pisf.pl.

REGIONAL FILM FUNDS The Polish regional film funds solicit film projects by announcing competitions, usually once a year. Basic requirement for projects applying for support is the relation of the production with the local city or region. At least 100-150% of the funding (depending on the region) must be spent in region for the project to qualify for support. The Polish regional film funds differ in the size of their annual budgets, the types of support they offer, and the amounts that have to be spent locally. All the Polish film funds provide support of up to 50% of the film budget. This may be higher in the case of documentaries and animated films. Foreign producers are also welcome to submit projects, preferably as partners of Polish producers.

1 GDYNIA FILM FUND www.ckgdynia.pl 2 LOWER SILESIA FILM FUND www.wroclawfilmcommission.pl/dkf 3 LUBLIN FILM FUND www.film.lublin.eu 4 ŁÓDŹ FILM FUND www.lodzfilmcommission.pl

1 11 10

5 KRAKOW REGIONAL FILM FUND www.film-commission.pl 6 MAZOVIA WARSAW FILM FUND www.mff.mazovia.pl 7 PODKARPACKIE FILM FUND www.podkarpackiefilm.pl 8 REGIONAL FILM FUND POZNAŃ www.poznanfilmcommission.pl

9 SILESIAN FILM FUND www.silesiafilm.com 10 WESTERN POMERANIAN FILM FUND www.pomeraniafilm.pl 11 WARMIA-MASURIA FILM FUND www.funduszfilmowy.warmia.mazury.pl

TALENTS

Kasia Smutniak, Antonio Catania, Krystyna Janda.

BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY Magdalena Maksimiuk

Jacek Borcuch has become one of the sweethearts of Sundance, as his latest feature, Dolce Fine Giornata, becomes the third consecutive film that he’s presented there, preceded by All That I Love (2009) and Lasting (2013)

Dolce Fine Giornata tells the story of Maria Linde, the Polish poet and Nobel Prize laureate (legendary Krystyna Janda), who leads a quiet and unobtrusive life in the picturesque Italian countryside not far from the ancient Etruscan city of Volterra. Over time, her family begins to fall apart, and she becomes entangled in a relationship with a young immigrant from Egypt called Nazeer. After a tragic terrorist attack in Rome, Maria finds herself at a crossroads, rethinking the truths she’s lived by and courageously trying to come to terms with her own mature femininity. “Principally, I was looking for a universal language to tell a story about issues and challenges that are visibly present in contemporary Europe. But what I also tried to do was to find a story that I could set in a place which I’ve grown extremely fond of in the last couple of years- Italy, that is,” explains Jacek Borcuch when asked about the origins of the film. He and Szczepan Twardoch, the bestselling Polish writer (Morphine), went to Tuscany together for three weeks, where they travelled aimlessly and took meticulous notes of what they saw and experienced. “During that very trip we found our protagonist. After that Szczepan came back to Poland to complete his novel King, and I was left with a few pages of notes and a strong will to turn them into a script,” continues the writer- director. “Looking for the universal language I instantly acknowledged the

deeper meaning of Italy being the cradle of our civilization, particularly the Judeo-Christian one. In my mind, it quickly became a metaphor for the Roman Empire, which links to the modern-day creation of a similar body – the European Union, which is now in a deep and seemingly uncontrollable crisis,” explains Borcuch.

©© MICHAŁ DYMEK/NO SUGAR FILMS

Freedom and fear Dolce Fine Giornata is about a crisis, yes, but it’s also about a phenomenon that’s been around for ages and that’s still omnipresent, even more so today - namely mobility, including immigration. “Poland is only theoretically involved in a discussion about that topic, but we tend to react hysterically nevertheless,” adds the director. And yet the protagonist of the film is an immigrant, who dares to introduce her own, rather critical and uninhibited, view of the recent geopolitical situation to the seemingly orderly and tolerant Italian society. “On the one hand, then, it’s a film about unlimited freedom and its consequences, and, on the other, about the fear that accompanies every critically thinking European. It’s always there, ever present,” says Borcuch. Dolce Fine Giornata, which boasts another tour-de-force performance from Andrzej Wajda’s muse Krystyna Janda and her onscreen partner Kasia Smutniak (Perfetti sconosciuti, Loro), is produced by Marta Habior of Warsaw-based No Sugar Films (read more about duo in PFM 1/2018), who were introduced to the project at the very early stages of its development. Habior admits that after the official announcement that Dolce Fine Giornata would compete in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance, she keeps getting phone calls from various film festivals around the world and it’s becoming rather hectic these days. The film already has an international sales agent too - Films Boutique. The buzz around the title isn’t a lucky coincidence however, but a result of a three-year long odyssey that brought together a bunch of extraordinary talents who were ready and willing to put much at stake. “When we started making the film, we only had 3.1 million PLN in cash, and that’s peanuts for the kind of film we were about to make. We were

“With Dolce Fine Giornata we managed to complete a picture of great production value that looks like it was made with much more money than we actually had at our disposal.”

The main location for the film was Volterra, Etruscan city in Tuscany.

Bucolic scenery (below) will clash with the unsettling events.

beginning works on a feature shot entirely in Tuscany, with stars in cast and a story that demanded a much larger budget. At one point it seemed next to impossible to succeed,” explains Habior. Borcuch adds that the decision to shoot in Italy was irrational if not straight up ridiculous, because Western Europe, for instance Italy and Spain, where he previously shot Lasting, is a much more expensive location than Poland. “But then again, producing a film anywhere in the world is extremely difficult,” says Habior. “With Dolce Fine Giornata we managed to complete a picture of great production value that looks like it was made with much more money than we actually had at our disposal,” she adds. Happy end of the day When asked about the co-producers and friends that helped make Dolce Fine Giornata possible, Habior quickly mentions Marek Kobiałka and Michał Cechnicki of Motion Group who aided the accommodation of the entire crew in Tuscany; Dymitr Solomko and Magda Olak of TANK, who invested money and consulted legal rights for the soundtrack; Michał Turnau and Tomasz Dukszta of Aeroplan who worked on the sound and Jędrzej Sabliński and Rafał Golis of DI Factory. She also acknowledges the priceless input of Robert Kijak, the head of the Polish distribution company Next Film, whom she describes as “very supportive from the very start of the project”, and Radosław Śmigulski, the director of the Polish Film Institute who helped lock financing. “To make this film, I devoted my whole time, I was actually unavailable for anyone else to do anything else. And the risk totally paid off. Largely because everyone on set felt responsible for the project, they quickly got engaged in every step of the process and simply enjoyed each other’s company. We can’t wait for the premiere to happen,” says Habior. A dolce fine (“sweet ending”), indeed.

TALENTS

CINEMA HOLIC

From period spy thrillers and found-footage horror to a DC Comics-based TV series - DoP Magdalena Górka wants to try it all Darek Kuźma

While already acknowledged by many for her visual bravado in films including the Polish Cold War thriller Jack Strong and the American sci-fi horror Viral, and noticed by some for her elegant work in high-profile car commercials for Ford, BMW and Mercedes, Magdalena Górka has only recently started receiving the kind of international recognition she deserves. The process was complicated by several factors: she always wanted to experiment and try new things; she never allowed herself to be pigeonholed; and, well, she was a woman in a typically male world. “When I was a kid, I always took pictures. I had a darkroom in my house, I got very good at developing photos. At some point, I decided to join the world of film, only behind the camera,” Górka reminisces. “But the beginnings were impossible, the misogyny was unbearable, also in film school. Many times I thought I’d quit, but I have a strong character and I don’t give up easily. After a while I knew I had to try my luck elsewhere, outside of Poland.” She chose to cross the ocean and to basically start from scratch. But while her career in the US did not go quite as planned, with cases of discrimination still haunting her professional life, Górka, persistent and creative as ever, decided to counteract those setbacks and become a kind of journeywoman cinematographer, proving her talent with hard work, flexibility and the ability to put her mark on different genres. This led to projects as diverse as the faux-celebrity documentary I’m Still Here and the found footage horror film Paranormal Activity 3, cleverly disguised as a DIY film. “I like to try out every single style available, and possibly to invent new ones. I think that if you’re being pushed and feel uncomfortable about what you do, you learn the most,” explains Górka “I just love to create the mood of the story. When shooting Paranormal…, I remember putting the camera on a fan, moving slowly back and forth. People were screaming in theatres, it made the story real to them. We’re most afraid of what we can’t see or comprehend.” Being Roger Deakins Thus a new chapter in Magdalena Górka’s career commenced, with the cinematographer still doubtful of her future in the film industry but made stronger by her experiences, both good and bad. With each subsequent project - not only feature films - her reputation

GÓRKA’S FILM PICKS

FIRST ONE: Pharaoh by Jerzy Kawalerowicz.

FAVORITE ONE: Blade Runner by Ridley Scott.

ONE SHE WOULD HAVE LIKED TO WORK ON: The Godfather by Francis Ford Coppola.

grew proportionally to her network of professional contacts. Suddenly, she was back in Poland shooting Jack Strong with Władysław Pasikowski, with whom she had previously worked on the Glina TV series, one of the highlights of her early years in Poland. This and other creative successes lead her to work with many talented actors, including icons Christopher Walken (Irreplaceable You) and Sir Ben Kingsley (An Ordinary Man). The latter gave her an additional boost of energy and confidence. “There was a scene when he’s in bed, unable to move. We put a monitor before him to see how it looked,” says Górka. “He observed the frame and said to the director, ‘I really like the way she lights. She reminds me of a young Roger Deakins.’ I wanted to scream with joy!” Górka has recently completed her work on The Messenger, another collaboration with Pasikowski. “This is a true story from World War II presented as a combination of a gripping spy thriller and an adventurous road film. The main character is a military courier travelling through countries, airports, cities,” emphasizes Górka. “We shot everything in Poland: WWII-London, the Allied transit point in the Italian city of Brindisi, war-torn Warsaw just before the uprising. I had to be incredibly inventive and combine all these elements to tell a coherent story. It was super difficult, especially shooting night scenes in WWII-Warsaw during a blackout with moonlight as my primary source of lighting.” Górka adds that she could not have done it without a dedicated crew willing to go with her ideas. Next up for her is a project which has nothing to do with history, though. Doom Patrol is a Warner Bros. comic-bookturned-TV-series about five outcast superheroes, starring Timothy Dalton. “We’re filming in Atlanta and it’s really awesome. I make extravagant decisions that they’re happy with. I can go crazy and nobody’s telling me that I can’t do this or that!” Film Is Like Heroin So, what does the Polish-American cinematographer do to recharge her batteries? It was the great Frank Capra who put it most eloquently: As with heroin, the antidote to film is more film. In Magdalena Górka’s case it was The Narrow World, a sci-fi short that she shot ‘after hours’ with her husband, the renowned commercials’ director Brent Bonacorso. “I work non-stop, I mean it. I’m grateful for that, but I have to do passion projects just to stay sane,” laughs Górka. “It was just the two of us and an assistant, no time pressure as the actors were our friends, no financial constraints as we post-produced it in our house. It’s a VFX-heavy, beautiful story about loneliness, and a metaphor for today’s world. We had an amazing response, so my husband is pitching the feature version to producers. Hopefully, we’ll get to work on that soon.” But now she is awaiting the Polish premiere of The Messenger which she color corrected in Warsaw during a break from the shooting of the American comic book extravaganza in Atlanta. A true cinematographoholic.

“The cuts in Cold War are meaningful and emotional, almost like poetry,” - wrote the EFA jury about Jarosław Kamiński’s work.

TALENTS

ALCHEMIST OF FILM EDITING Meet Jarosław Kamiński: the EFA winning editor who put together Paweł Pawlikowski’s Cold War and Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s Fugue

Darek Kuźma

Despite receiving numerous awards for his work, and his intuitive method of editing being well-known in the Polish industry of which he has been a mainstay for the past quarter of a century, Jarosław Kamiński talks about his career with a wry smile, and takes life with a pinch of salt. Curiously enough, he originally dreamt of becoming a director. “I considered myself an amateur-filmmaker in the early 1980s, so I wanted to get into Łódź Film School. Fortunately for everyone, when making a video for a local film club I got hooked on editing, as well as falling in love with Bob Fosse’s masterpiece All That Jazz, edited by Alan Heim,” reminisces Kamiński. “One time, I read an advertisement of the editing department in FAMU, the famous film school in Prague. I had to make a quick decision. So, in January I was a wannabe director, in February I didn’t know who I wanted to be, and in April I submitted an application to FAMU.” The consequences of this decision were enormous, as any fan of Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s The Lure and Fugue or Paweł Pawlikowski’s Ida can attest. For his recent collaboration with Pawlikowski, Kamiński was awarded the coveted European Film Award. At first glance, the editing of Cold War looks deceptively simple, but in reality it was an arduous process that took countless hours to finesse. Not only was the story of starcrossed lovers Zula and Wiktor told in black-and-white; it was also rewritten by the writer-director on the set. “This is how Paweł works, he sculpts in words and images and finds the film during the shoot. There were many scenes that we didn’t film, and many we shot that hadn’t been in the script,” explains Kamiński. “We also had a strategically planned break in filming to distance ourselves from the material. Only then did we realize what needed to be done.” However, the most laborious challenge came with brief moments when the screen goes black, representing a jump in time. “We watched the material repeatedly, and we found that these interludes were the best way to convey the emotional arc. Also, the viewer knows subcon-

sciously that this story will not have a happy ending,” concludes the Cold War editor. An Image Is Mightier Than a Word The world of film changed quite drastically during the three and half decades since Kamiński joined FAMU, with physical editing replaced by digital, and editors gaining more and more respect for their painstakingly precise work. But he finds his vocation as fascinating and unpredictable as ever. “I start working earlier on films than in the past, to the extent that producers expect me to have solutions for them before I have a chance to know the story properly. But I always felt that one has to listen to the material, to have a dialogue with it, not enforce your own preconceived notion of what it should be,” says Kamiński who is keen on accepting creative challenges and recently edited such diverse projects as the Polish psychological horror film Werewolf (dir. Adrian Panek) and three episodes of 1983, Netflix’s first original Polish series. “We as editors never know where the footage, the story and the characters will lead us. This is the alchemy of this job. Throwing out one scene can change the whole film while exchanging one shot can make the self-assured protagonist seem doubtful. Each project is different, each challenging and riveting, each somehow refreshing. It’s beautiful.” This was definitely the case when Kamiński worked almost back-to-back on the ephemeral Cold War and the psychologically intense Fugue, Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s sophomore feature. “The main character has amnesia, she doesn’t know who she is or was, and yet she’s forced to live with people who recognize and love her, but for whom she doesn’t feel any emotions. This influences every scene of the film, especially since we assume the faulty perspective of the protagonist,” explains Kamiński. “I started working on Fugue during the break in the filming of Cold War and then came back months later, with a head full of ideas. Agnieszka knew precisely what she wanted but we still found interesting contexts and meanings to the film in the process. I never counted but I think Fugue had more than fifty different edited versions. It was hard, it was aggravating, it was utterly satisfying.” Respect For the Unknown What is the most important part of the job for Kamiński? “The characters. Americans tend to define editors as storytellers, but I disagree. The story, the plot, the narrative are all side issues. People watch films to feel emotions and these come only if they empathize with the characters. That’s why an editor should fight for the actors’ roles, both main and supporting. They are the glue that holds a film together,” clarifies Kamiński, who is also a distinguished lecturer at Łódź Film School. “For me, spending time with students is essential. I tell or show them things, they ask questions, inquire, say what they think. It’s a symbiotic relationship, we learn from each other. Thanks to them I grow as an editor.” In other words, to be included among the best and remain there for decades, one can never stop developing human skills. And that is probably the closest we will get to understanding the alchemy of film editing.

TALENTS

FIRST MEN Filmed in Karakorum and based on a true story, Broad Peak directed by Leszek Dawid is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated Polish films of 2019 Krzysztof Rzączyński, Paweł Rymarz to start developing the project Broad Peak.

Actor Ireneusz Czop (above, in center), who plays Maciej Berbeka, surrounded by crew on a set in Karakorum.

“Sometimes we’d say to each other that we were organizing a flight to the moon. We are the first team in the world to shoot a feature film at an altitude of 5600 meters. Hollywood producers would not do it.” say the producers of the film about Maciej Berbeka, the legend of Polish Himalayan climbing. March 5th, 2013. The twelfth highest mountain in the world, an eight-thousander located on the border between China and Pakistan. Perfect conditions for climbing: minus 35 degrees Celsius in the sun, but imperfect for anything else - in the shade, it’s impossible to stand still for longer than fifteen seconds. Four Polish climbers: Adam Bielecki, Artur Małek, Maciej Berbeka, and Tomasz Kowalski make the first successful winter climb on Broad Peak (8047 meters). The world is witnessing a great success, but a moment later it falls apart. Maciej Berbeka and Tomasz Kowalski, have trouble descending and begin a dramatic fight for survival. When they lose that fight, a national discussion about the ethics of Himalayan climbing and partnership in the mountains begins. In July 2013 Jacek Berbeka organizes an expedition to locate his brother’s body. It cannot be found. One of the members of the expedition, a well-known reporter, Jacek Hugo-Bader, later publishes a book named Long Film about Love. Return to Broad Peak. This was the inspiration for the producers from East Studio: Maciej Rzączyński, Dawid Janicki,

Location is key Broad Peak is also a unique project in terms of its locations. While K2, directed by Franck Roddam, was shot in British Columbia, Canada, and Baltasar Kormákur’s Everest was filmed in the Italian Dolomites, Polish producers went higher - literally. “This film could have been made in different ways: we could have shot it in the Polish Tatra mountains or entirely in the studio. But we cared about credibility. We decided that the effects we were after would only be achievable if we were to work in the same conditions as Berbeka and his team did” says producer Dawid Janicki. Preparations for the

Marcin Radomski

Reaching for the top of the world “Maciej brought this book and said: ‘Guys, in my opinion, this is a film, read it�,” says Dawid Janicki. Broad Peak will be the debut full-length film of the Warsaw-based East Studio. The script was written by Łukasz Ludkowski and the director, Leszek Dawid, joined the project at the early development stage. Dawid is a well-known and versatile filmmaker: his credits include the biopic You Are God (the most popular Polish film of 2012) and the HBO TV series Pact, as well as the recent CANAL + spy series, Illegals. “I would like to show a certain paradox in this film.” says Leszek Dawid and adds: “The paradox is that the force that propels you into life can destroy you at the same time. You cannot escape it, if you want to follow the voice of your passion. This force strengthens you and gives meaning to your life.” The story of Maciej Berbeka is one of the most moving and unusual in the history of Polish and world Himalayan climbing. In 1988, he was the first person to have crossed the border of 8,000 meters during winter in the Karakorum. In 2013, he returned to Broad Peak to fulfill his dream of reaching the summit of the huge mountain. Earlier, Broad Peak had been climbed seven times in winter, including four times by Poles. The role of the heroic climber is played by Ireneusz Czop (Aftermath and Jack Strong by Władysław Pasikowski.), who is joined by Maja Ostaszewska (Body, In the Name of by Małgorzata Szumowska) as Berbeka’s wife, Ewa. The principal cast includes European Shooting Star 2019 Dawid Ogrodnik (read more about him on page 12), Łukasz Simlat (United States of Love by Tomasz Wasilewski, Fugue by Agnieszka Smoczyńska) and Piotr Głowacki.

Director Leszek Dawid (on the left) is getting ready for shooting.

trip to the real Broad Peak took half a year - insofar as it is possible to prepare for something so unpredictable. 21 members of the team set off in the summer of 2018 to the Karakorum from Warsaw, including the director, cinematographer Łukasz Gutt (Heart of Love by Łukasz Ronduda) and the lead actor. They took three and a half tons of equipment, 250 porters, 25 donkeys, cooks, and helpers who joined them in Pakistan. The challenging weather and hard physical conditions were not the only risks they were taking during the journey. To reach the starting point of the trip, they had to cross the Karakorum Highway, one of the most dangerous roads in the world. They knew it was an area where the Taliban were present. “We took the risk, but everything went well, and we have spectacular material,” says Dawid Janicki. “I think that many bigger producers would not go for it. With the contracts they need to sign with stars, it’s unimaginable that the actor would have to walk so far and have no place to wash.” he adds. Life at the base was no picnic either. During summer nights the temperature in Karakorum drops to minus 20 degrees of Celsius. Then there were exhausting walks to the base and shooting

scenes that included climbing and descending. The Broad Peak expedition was secured by eight climbers and two doctors and had support from the Polish Himalayan climbers. Maciej Rzączyński stresses that they wanted to make a film for a wide audience, but “substantively good enough so that mountain specialists do not laugh at us.” After shooting ended in Karakorum, the film crew moved to Warsaw and Zakopane, and then to the glacier near Courmayeur in the French Alps. The filming will wrap in summer 2019 and the premiere is set for March 6th 2020 (the 7th anniversary of Berbeka and Kowalski’s deaths). The budget of the film is 3.3 million EUR. Broad Peak is coproduced by the Polish broadcaster TVN S.A., the Polish branch of CANAL +, and Krakow Festival Office. Kino Świat is the Polish distributor of the film. World sales are open.

The story of Maciej Berbeka is one of the most moving and unusual in the history of Polish and world Himalayan climbing.

TALENTS

HIT MAKERS The company that produced the ambitious Polish box office hits Gods and The Art of Loving sets its sights on unique local and international projects and awaits the premiere of its 2019 Cold War thriller The Coldest Game with Bill Pullman. Watchout for them! Magdalena Maksimiuk

When Watchout Productions was established in 2007, there was just a handful of people who believed in the relentless and uncompromising passion and vision of the company’s founder and owner, Piotr Woźniak-Starak. This handful of believers later evolved into a creative hub, or, as they prefer to call it, a “creative boutique” that currently employs 16 people, 6 of whom work on film production at various stages of project development. Watchout embarked on its exciting adventure with film production rather modestly, with the controversial thriller Big Love by Barbara Białowąs, which polarised audiences. It took another two years to capture the attention of the Polish film industry, when Watchout premiered their greatest hit to date: Gods by Łukasz Palkowski, about the legendary Polish cardiac surgeon Zbigniew Religa (Cold War’s Tomasz Kot). The film was one of the box office smash hits of 2014, a record-breaking overnight sensation that has been seen by an astonishing 2.2 million viewers. Fast forward five years and Watchout Studio, with a slightly updated name, under a brand new company logo and with a fast developing HQ in Mokotów, the green district of Warsaw, wraps up editing on its latest brainchild, the first English-speaking project destined for global release. Directed by Łukasz Kośmicki and starring Bill Pullman, The Coldest Game took about 5 years to complete and boasts an unprecedented budget of about 16 million PLN, which doesn’t happen often in this part of the world. The Gods and The Art Talking to Woźniak-Starak and his two associates of over a decade, Krzysztof Terej and Adrian Włodarski, one gets the distinct impression that it all makes perfect sense. For the purposes of their endeavor, they’ve come up with their own film production model which they call “mid-Atlantic”. “It is something in-between the US and the Polish or, broadly speaking, European production method, one that merges the American attention to fiscal discipline with the creative freedom of the director,”

Piotr Woźniak-Starak on The Coldest Game set.

explains Woźniak-Starak, hinting that in the US the final cut privilege has to be earned in order to be executed. The production model that Watchout established, and still develops, was a direct effect of their efforts to bring Gods to life. “Before that we had to participate in about a hundred meetings with potential investors in order to raise the necessary budget. Even then, though, we weren’t able to get enough, and we worked on Gods not knowing if we’d be able to close financing,” continues Woźniak-Starak. Today, after the success of Gods and The Art of Loving by Maria Sadowska (over 1.8 million admissions), Watchout are able to offer a completely new business model to their potential investors. “In recent years we’ve worked hard on building credibility and mutual trust with our partners. We cooperate with relatively few that come from different backgrounds and industries other than entertainment, largely relying on the concept of marketing and promotional synergy. The crucial part is to pick a partner - either a TV station, a distributor or even a telecom company - that values close collaboration, has the same goals and interests, and can brilliantly complement each other,” explains Terej. “So, even if ‘Watchout Studio’ doesn’t ring a bell yet, it’s enough to mention two film titles and many doors open for us, without the need to make it to a hundred different meetings anymore,” he adds. The three musketeers of film production are part of a much larger, exceptionally versatile and remarkably talented team. There is a special spot reserved for each and every one of the members of Watchout family.

“We are one big happy family that takes care of each and every project that comes into our hands. We need to feel that the filmmakers and investors who trusted us will stay with us. And that’s even more important to us than cash flow,” says Adrian Włodarski (left).

inspire and impress, so if you think you’re capable of developing your very own project, this is the place to shine,” explains Pawlak. “Everyone at Watchout has their own special story of coming here, but each of us can easily and uninhibitedly enter each step of the production process, never mind if it’s our own original project or a commissioned service,” adds Jakub Razowski, one of the newest additions to the team, who works as a production manager and currently develops his first feature as a producer.

Justyna Pawlak or, as her colleagues affectionately call her, “J.P. International” is one of the lead producers of the company and has just completed very successful work on My Name is Sara (dir. Steven Oritt), a US service production shot and postproduced entirely in Poland. She also exec-produces the upcoming The Coldest Game and, as her nickname playfully suggests, has vast experience in international projects. She makes a point of emphasizing that at the company everyone can bring his or her own project, “no matter if you just started working for us or if you’re a seasoned producer. Everyone can

Justyna Pawlak (left) is ready for action on My Name is Sara set. Krzysztof Terej (right) presents cast and crew of The Coldest Game during press conference in 2018.

People matter Anna Nagler, whose previous work experiences includes time as a script development executive at HBO, is the head of development at Watchout, or as she prefers to call it, an “ideas generator”. This section of the company structure deals with collecting ideas for future projects, shaping them into different forms and keeping them in mind in case there are prospects for actual realization. “I read every single proposal that writers submit and I reply to every single one of them,” says Nagler. “This way I try to form a certain bond with people who are willing to work with us. Perhaps a collaboration doesn’t necessarily work out right at that moment, but we like to keep in touch. You never know what will come next,” she adds. “Made to measure” seems to be the key phrase here at Watchout. And there’s another one: “We are one big happy family that takes care of each and every project that comes into our hands. We need to feel that the filmmakers and investors who trusted us will stay with us. And that’s even more important to us than cash flow,” reveals Adrian Włodarski.

TALENTS

WHO LET THE DOGS OUT? If you miss a truly European animation, the Latvian-Polish co-production Jacob, Mimmi and the Talking Dogs may be exactly what you’re looking for

Dagmara Romanowska

“If we want our children to become adult audiences for European films, we need to introduce them to non-American productions, animations included, as early as possible,” – say Sabine Andersone and Edmunds Jansons, producer and director from Latvian Atom Art Studio. They teamed up with producer Jakub Karwowski of Polish Letko 2D Animation to create an imaginative, contemporary feature animation, set in Riga and titled Jacob, Mimmi and the Talking Dogs. You’ll love its distinctive style the moment you see the first frame. Dog town So, what is the story about? Jacob’s architect father leaves the city for a business trip and the boy has to stay for a week with his uncle, a pirate perpetually looking for a part-time job, and his self-sufficient cousin Mimmi in the old-fashioned neighbourhood of Maskachka. This is a real historical suburb of Riga, with its characteristic architecture and atmosphere,

yet a place that looks similar to many other European cities. In a way time has stopped here. Life doesn’t rush and people know and talk to each other – face to face, not on Facebook. Yet modernity endangers the district. A skyscraper is to be built in the middle of Maskachka. Jacob, Mimmi and a heart-stealing pack of talking dogs (with personalities as strong and captivating as their fellow canines from Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs) venture to save the place, learning something about themselves, their loved ones and the world along the way. “Nowadays there are hardly any contemporary stories for kids to relate to. And that was one of the main reasons why we chose the award-winning Latvian book Dog Town by Luīze Pastore as the basis for our script,” says director Edmunds Jansons. “This and the fact that the book was written in a very cinematic way. Imagining it on the screen came easily and naturally,” he adds. The project was selected for a grant from Latvia’s Centenary cultural scheme celebrating 100 years of Latvian independence. Yet the scope of the project was too big for Atom Art Studio to handle by itself. Therefore, Sabine Andersone and Edmunds Jansons started scouting for servicing partners.

©© PROMO

Enter Poland “It was Jan Naszewski of New Europe Film Sales who introduced us to each other in Annecy. He had been following the project from the very early development stages and saw its international potential,” Karwowski recalls. “Letko 2D Animation is always on the lookout for beautiful, ambitious and appealing projects to work

on both as a 2D services studio and as a production leader or partner. Jacob, Mimmi and the Talking Dogs fit our style and, aesthetically, came from the very same cultural background. It was unique. And it had this essential Central European quality to it. We all grew up on the same cartoons and children’s book illustrations – the same titles were distributed around the Eastern Bloc. During the process, Edmunds Jansons, who himself has Polish roots, often gave us references that

we all knew very well and felt strongly.” That feeling also corresponds with some French inspirations, the cinema of Jacques Tati to be exact. “We often referred to Playtime and the way it connects humour with movement. It was really understandable for both the Polish and the Latvian teams,” concludes Karwowski. At first Letko, who previously worked on the special effects for the Finnish-Polish animation Moomins and the Winter Wonderland (based on the famous Tove Jansson books), joined the project as a service studio preparing 10 minutes of cut-out animation, only later to become a minority co-producer. “Despite the fact that the production was run in two countries, with teams working in three languages – Latvian, Polish and English – the process went so smoothly and the idea was so close to us, that we decided to join as the co-producer. Thanks to our own financial input and Polish Film Institute support we were able to come up with 20 minutes of animation, compositing, original music by award-winning, France-educated Krzysztof A. Janczak, and Polish dubbing,” Karwowski notes. “It was our first feature animation and our first international co-production, so we decided to go slowly with it: first establishing cooperation based on servicing and seeing if it can later grow into co-production. And this is exactly what has happened,” Andersone sums up. Talking in one language The co-production between two countries with a similar cultural background, history and economical status proved successful on both creative and financial levels. Thanks to the use of modern communication tools and programmes, connected with special workshops for the teams and regular meetings off- and on-line, it was also manageable, though sometimes it needed more time. “It has become so difficult to finance a film in one country that international co-production seems to be the best solution. Actually, we hope to co-produce with Poland again in the future. The experience was very positive for us and the fact that work costs in Poland and Latvia are similar helped with the budgeting,” says Andersone. In Latvia Jacob, Mimmi and the Talking Dogs was released on the 31st of January. The Polish theatrical release is scheduled for autumn 2019. The film has already been sold to France. New Europe Film Sales is handling the international sales and will hold two screenings at the EFM.

Despite the fact that the production was run in two countries, with teams working in three languages – Latvian, Polish and English – the process went so smoothly and the idea was so close to us, that we decided to join as the co-producer,” says Jakub Karwowski of Polish Letko 2D Animation.

TALENTS

852

number of hours of premiere content produced by ATM Grupa

Being Poland’s busiest TV producer is not enough for ATM Grupa. Now the company sets its eyes on making feature films and enhancing its international collaborations

Ola Salwa

If you happen to zap through Polish television channels – public, private or premium - there is good chance that most of what you see are programmes produced by ATM Grupa. The company is a true power house, in terms of both the quality and the quantity of the produced content. Their portfolio is strikingly rich and diverse, ranging from primetime television entertainment (You’re Back in the Room), game shows (the Polish version of the famous Wheel of Fortune), TV series, documentary series, scripted docs and feature films. “About 70% of our productions are features – ranging from premium production to daily telenovelas. Yet we firmly believe in non-scripted genres,” comments Andrzej Muszyński, CEO of ATM Grupa. The company was founded in 1992, when the Polish film industry and television broadcast was adjusting to the realities and conditions of the free market. The first Polish private TV channel, Polsat, was established in the same year, and the first Polish big

59 number of ATM Grupa productions

hit of the new era was released in the cinemas: Pigs by Władysław Pasikowski. “After the 1989 transformation, the audiovisual industry started to develop outside state cinema and television. ATM started their activity by providing technical services for the newly established broadcasters and, in time, the

company involved into a format and original content producer,” Andrzej Muszyński reflects. It couldn’t be said more succinctly; however the company attests to many changes in the A/V market. 21-year-old ATM at first worked on commercials, documentaries, and reportages, and gained experience producing TV programmes. In 1998, the company entered new area and started to produce the sitcom The Kiepskis’ World, a Polish counterpart to Married…with Children. The show, now entering its 21st season, is the longest-running sitcom in Poland. When the world of entertainment went crazy for reality shows such as Big Brother (which at that time spied on regular people instead of celebrities or crazy party animals), ATM Grupa developed two reality productions of their own: Two Worlds and Bar. The company commemorated that period

Color correction is offered as well by ATM System.

©© PROMO

DOOR WIDE OPEN

ATM System offers OB (Outside Broadcast) Vehicles as well.

in an interesting way – one of the streets in Wrocław, where ATM has its sound stages, is called Two Worlds St. Later, the group extended their television portfolio with the soap opera First Love, the crime series Wave of Crime, the political drama Prime Minister co-directed by Agnieszka Holland, and the HBO premium series The Pack. Since 2015 the company also has a “non-fiction” division, that focuses on docutainment, a genre that has growing global popularity.

38 number of television channels broadcasting ATM Grupa content

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Eventually, the company got their own DVB-T channel ATM Rozrywka (ATM Entertainment). Sound stages that look great ATM Grupa offers production services and has among its subsidiary companies two divisions devoted to the rental of film equipment and facilities – ATM Studio and ATM System. The first owns 7 sound stages in Warsaw and 4 in Wrocław. They have welcomed many Polish and international film crews. Warsaw studio, conveniently situated 15 minutes from the city center, hosts many avant-garde theatre productions. ATM System, on the other hand, lends state of the art film equipment (cameras, lenses, lights and much more) and serves as a postproduction studio. In the past few years it has worked on many international projects, including Zero Dark Thirty by Kathryn Bigelow, the Netflix-produced Mute by Duncan Jones, and Soren by Juan Carlos Valdivia. “We are present with our company’s

ATM STUDIO SOUND STAGES Warsaw Sound Stage A

1500 m�

Sound Stages B, C, D, E

800 m� (each)

Sound Stage F

500 m�

Studio G

100 m�

Wrocław Sound Stages A, B

1178 m� (each)

Sound Stage C

560 m�

Studio D

96 m�

More information: atmstudio.eu/en offer at film markets and we reach international producers through our network, the recommendations of Film Commission Poland and of filmmakers we’ve already worked with,” explains ATM Grupa’s CEO. “We hope that the introduction of fiscal incentives will strengthen international co-operation with Poland,” he adds.

LOCATE&SHOOT

1 “One of the criteria for choosing the locations for 1983 was their geometrical simplicity and their architectural rawness. We were interested in modernity, social realism and modernism equally. The idea was that brutality and coolness reflect the atmosphere of the story.”

STEELING BEAUTY Production designer Anna Anosowicz and location manager Karolina Zielonka guide us through the spectacular locations of 1983, the first Polish Netflix series

2 “The Ministry of State Security was “played” by the building of the Centre for the Meeting of Cultures in Lublin. It was designed by Bolesław Stelmach, and is one of the most spectacular examples of that type of architecture in Poland. The place is welcoming, hospitable, so it the team creating the Centre.”

LOCATE&SHOOT

3 “The search for an onscreen “Temple of National Unity and Remembrance” turned out to be very long. Finally, it took us to Wrocław’s Centennial Hall, which was created by German architects at the beginning of the 20th century. The building is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is a setting for the anniversary, national mass that closes episode 2.”

3 4 “One of the most important ideas behind the creation of the world was the lack of any signs of the free market: ads, banners, billboards. That is why we moved some scenes to the commercially free urban zones: river waterfronts, bridges, underground passages. Gdański Bridge (above) and Poniatowski Bridge in Warsaw among others were our locations.”

5 “Scene of clandestine night meetings on “neutral ground” was filmed at a scrap-heap at the old Warsaw Steelworks (Huta Warszawa).”

6 “We knew from day one that the “residence of Władysław Lis”, the Minister of National Economy must be in a stunning and sophisticated location. It’s a private house, found among rural housing and fields outside Warsaw.”

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7 “We were very lucky when it came to the Palace of the Uncle, who is a Vietnamese “Godfather”. We were searching for abandoned urban palaces and we found an extraordinary building in Wrocław that was only days away before general renovation. It will soon become a luxury hotel.”

LOCATE&SHOOT

RUN TO THE FOREST, RUN!

Deep, dark or delicate… Polish woods have different forms and shapes, but one thing in common: they make for incredible film locations. Go and see the forest for the trees for yourself

4 4 Famous old oaks in Rogalin, village in Wielkopolska region. 5 Crooked Forest (Krzywy Las) near Gryfino in West Pomerania region. 6 Fog creates a spooky atmosphere in the forest near Sarnia Skała in Tatra Mountains.

4 3 6 1

5 1 Conifer forest in Tatra Mountains (Małopolska region). 2 Beech trees in Bieszczady Mountains (Podkarpackie region).

©© FOTOLIA (6)

3 Because of altitudinal zonation, different types of trees can be found in Karkonosze Mountains.

REMAINS OF THE DAY

Another Day of Life.

PEARLS IN SHELLS Programmer Robert Cueto reflects on Polish cinema presented for the past 60 years at the most important film festival in Spain

Probably few people today remember that in 1958, when San Sebastian International Film Festival was still a newcomer (it was just its 6th, edition), a Polish film won the Golden Shell, the main award of the Festival: surprisingly, Tadeusz Chmielewski’s Eva Wants to Sleep defeated such tough contenders as Douglas Sirk’s A Time to Love and a Time to Die, Richard Fleischer’s The Vikings… and even Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece Vertigo! It was the first time that a Polish film was selected for the competition and the result couldn’t have been better. Since then, two other films from Poland have won the Golden Shell (Andrzej Wajda’s The Conductor in 1980 and Radosław’s Piwowarski’s Yesterday in 1985) and around 20 other Polish filmmakers have premiered their films in the main competition. Of course, all this happened before I began to work at the Festival as a member of the Selection Commitee, twelve years ago (yes, OK, I’m not very young, but not so old, either!). And, although at that precise moment the Polish presence at the Festival was not as apparent as it had been during the 70’s and 80’s, the interest in films coming from Poland has

increased again in recent years. The first Polish title that was selected after my arrival at the Festival was the absorbing film The Christening (2010), the second work by the talented and ill-fated filmmaker Marcin Wrona, which was included in our New Directors competition. The following year, our International Students Meeting welcomed a then still unknown Kuba Czekaj, who presented his short film Twist and Blood at the Festival. Polish talents One of the best things about working at a film festival is that it allows you to see what’s happening in any country. In my case, my attendance at Warsaw Film Festival in recent years and the meetings with directors and producers have been a chance to discover the Polish film scene today. And, in my opinion, that scene is a powerful and exciting one, not only for the work of some veteran directors who are still making good films (and Pawlikowski’s international success!) but also thanks to the new talents: Agnieszka Smoczyńska, Tomasz Wasilewski, Kasia Rosłaniec, Jan P. Matuszyński and Ewa Bukowska are already strong voices in Polish cinema

who are able to present an insightful portrait of the contradictions of Polish society with an imaginative visual style. Another newcomer was selected for our main competition in 2016: Bartosz Kowalski and his film Playground. We knew it was a daring decision as the film was the filmmaker’s debut, and probably the normal thing to do would be to include it in our New Directors competition. But the film impressed us so much that finally it became a contender for the Golden Shell and, of course, it was the most controversial title of that year’s selection. But, well, this should be one of the functions of a film festival, I think - to provoke reactions from the audience that allow them to awake their conscience and to question crucial matters that surround us. We found the same value in Urszula Antoniak’s Beyond Words, which was selected for the Official Section the following year, a film dealing with topics such as immigration, dislocation and identity in Europe today. Keeping eastern promises Polish films have also been present in other sections of the Festival such as Pearls, which brings together films from other important festivals. As a matter of fact, last edition’s Audience Award went to Another Day of Life, a Polish-Spanish co-production that opens the way to future joint ventures. And, last but not least, I remember another event of relevance for me, which took place in 2014, when we organized the retrospective “Eastern Promises” devoted to new cinemas of Eastern Europe: we not only had the chance to show some modern Polish classics to the Spanish audience but we also had the pleasure of having Małgorzata Szumowska as our guest and member of the Jury for the New Directors competition. For this is one of our main goals for the next editions: to bring to San Sebastian new directors, producers and film industry people from Poland and to strength bonds with its cinema. And I can promise you that the best is yet to come.

POLISH FILM INDUSTRY Berlinale 2019

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