It is a brilliant an unpredictable story about suppressed desire and other curses of innocence. It is set at a boarding school for girls in the American South-not even the murmurs of the Civil War can interrupt their peaceful existence. At least not until one of them comes across a wounded Union soldier, Corporal McBurney (Colin Farrell), in the forest. The appearance of the man triggers an avalanche of emotions, erotic fantasies, and tragicomic events. Playing the leading female roles, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning are unmistakably aware of the contemporary irony discreetly hidden in the lining of this stylish melodrama.
This is a Fantastic Woman: a tender lover, a best friend, a talented singer, and a proud widow whose period of mourning becomes a time of struggle for the right to be present, not only in the life of her partner and his family, but also in her own body. But Marina is fantastic also because she is played by the enchanting Daniela Vega, who combines sensuality with strength and sensitivity with tenacity. Sebastián Lelio (known to New Horizons audiences for The Sacred Family, The Year of the Tiger, and Gloria) has created a true Wonder Woman, a super heroine who, on her own-and with impeccable makeup-fights against prejudice. A Fantastic Woman brought the Chilean director a Silver Bear in Berlin for his screenplay, as well as a Teddy Award. The film is distributed by Gutek Film.
Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó (Delta, White God) returns to New Horizons with a story that is a fairy tale, science fiction, and an action film all in one, showing the near future of Europe in crisis. The protagonist in Jupiter's Moon is a young man named Ariel who is shot while illegally crossing the border. After he is treated, he ends up in a high-security refugee camp, where he discovers that he has supernatural powers. When the cynical doctor taking care of him learns that the boy can levitate, he helps him escape from the camp. He is convinced that he can make a fortune by taking advantage of the miraculous abilities of this visitor who appeared from nowhere, whom many take for an angel. The film is distributed by Gutek Film.
David Lowery (Ain't Them Bodies Saints) will be in Wrocław in person to show his hit film from the Sundance Festival, A Ghost Story. Meeting on-screen once again are Rooney Mara (who also appears in the festival film Una) and Casey Affleck, an Oscar winner this year. The American director's film is a poetic, virtuoso work about immortality and what we imagine will happen to us after death. It is also a brilliant, phenomenally acted drama-evading any sort of genre classification-about the loss of a loved one and, at the same time, an unpredictable and humorous reflection on the subject of dying.
Festival passes will remain on sale only until 30 June. The full festival program will be announced on 12 July at www.nowehoryzonty.pl
