07-05-2012

FNE at Gdynia Film Festival : 80 Million

By FNE Staff

    {mosimage}GDYNIA: Polish director Waldemar Krzystek creates a fast-paced crime film using an actual episode from the history of the Solidarity movement for a Polish take on the Ocean's Eleven franchise in his latest film, 80 Million.

    {mosimage}Screening in the main competition of the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia (www.fpff.pl) 80 Million is a fact-based story about young Solidarity movement activist from Lower Silesia, who decided to outsmart the communist authorities in 1981, when it became clear that a confrontation between the regime and the workers is inevitable. The young men scheme to get the money belonging to the workers union from the bank before the authorities have a chance to confiscate it. Their every move is observed by the police, and both sides play an intense game with each other, one that surpasses the criminal character of the case.

    "It was our intention to shoot a film that is funny and tension-gripping when needed. At the same time it is a film about ‘something' - about the fragment of our recent history and first and foremost about the people who created it. These people where often forced to change drastically to face the situations they were put in. Sometimes they were situations as unexpected as the necessity to...rob a bank! The characters of our story were based on prominent activists of the Solidarity movement - Władysław Frasyniuk, Józef Pinor, Piotr Bendarz and Stanisław Huskowski," Krzystek said.

    {mosimage}80 million was shot between 4 October 2010 and 29 January 2011 in Wrocław. The film was produced by Media Brigade Banaszkiewicz and Kurek Sp.j. (www.mediabrigade.pl) in co-production with Odra-Film (www.odra-film.wroc.pl), Andrzej Białas; Orka Studio Production (www.orkafilm.pl), Jacek Kulczycki; Dreamsound (www.dreamsound.pl), Kacper Habisiak, Marcin Kasiński; Editing Brigade (www.editing.pl), Urszula Stefańska; Canal+ (www.canalplus.pl), Beata Ryczkowska. The budget of the film was 7.8 million PLN (EUR 1.8 million) with 4.5 million PLN production support from the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl) and 700,000 PLN from Odra-Film.

    The film opened in Polish cinemas on 21 November 2011, distributed by Kino Świat (www.kinowiat.pl) and has been seen by over 150,000 viewers to date. It was released on DVD on 12 April 2012. The screening at Gdynia is its first festival showing. The film has also qualified for the Main Competition at the 34the Moscow IFF (www.moscowfilmfestival.ru).{mosimage}Crew:
    Director - Waldemar Krzystek
    Screenwriter - Waldemar Krzystek, Krzysztof Kopka
    Director of photography - Piotr Śliskowski
    Music - Zbigniew Karnecki
    Production designer -Marek Warszewski
    Sound - Artur Kuczkowski, Kacper Habisiak, Marcin Kasiński
    Editing - Marek Mulica
    Costume designer - Małgorzata Zacharska
    Make-up - Olga Wiśniowska
    Production manager - Sylwester Banaszkiewicz
    Production company - Media Brigade Banaszkiewicz i Kurek Sp.j.
    Producer - Sylwester Banaszkiewicz, Marcin Kurek
    Co-produced by - Odra-Film, Andrzej Białas; Orka Studio Production, Jacek Kulczycki; Dreamsound, Kacper Habisiak, Marcin Kasiński; Editing Brigade, Urszula Stefańska; Canal+, Beata Ryczkowska
    Co-financed by - Polish Film Institute
    Executive producer - Media Brigade Banaszkiewicz i Kurek Sp.j.
    Distributed by: Kino Świat
    World sales: Media Brigade Banaszkiewicz i Kurek Sp.j.

    Cast:
    Agnieszka Grochowska
    Wojciech Solarz
    Krzysztof Czeczot
    Maciej Makowski
    Piotr Głowacki
    Adam Cywka
    Sonia Bohosiewicz
    Olga Frycz

    Production information:
    Media Brigade Banaszkiewicz i Kurek Sp.j.
    ul. Karkonoska 10
    53-015 Wrocław
    tel/fax +48 71 799-14-50
    e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    www.mediabrigade.pl