Synopsis:
Early Middle Ages. Somewhere in the East of Europe. Old woods, large valleys, complete wilderness. An old missionary monk, Willibrord (50), and a young hermit, Nameless (30), come together to carry the Cross to the "barbarians". They understand that they can only count on them-selves - threatened by wild animals and pagan tribes - when they discover that only the limbs were left behind of another missionary who came to this foreign land before them.
Willibrord, a man experienced in battle, warns Nameless that they can only defend themselves with ardent faith and the sword. He knows that pagans will only give in to a forceful God, and that it is his mission to save them from hell with all his might. Using fire and water, he defeats the pagan priest in a "miracle" duel. Then he cuts down their sacred oak to build a church from its wood. He does not hesitate in using vile methods to take control of their minds and souls. He does not care about the needs of the conquered.
Nameless, on the other hand, tries to understand the pagan culture. He knows their language a little. The more force the old missionary uses, the more resistance it builds in Nameless. To begin his own mission, he chooses a completely different path. Willibrord is incandescent with rage when he sees it. Even the pagans are astounded. In the escalating confrontation between Willibrord and Nameless – between two moral stands, between power and mission, cynicism and innocence, the law of God and human law – one will have to die.
At the end, Willibrord understands that all his self-righteousness and convictions are meaningless in the face of the humanity that is still buried in him. This is a story inspired by the lives of the first missionaries, not a historical film. It is a journey into the unknown, a spectacle made of visuals and atmosphere to create a mystical, yet thrilling epic.
Commentary about the script and programme:
Bartosz Konopka
The direct inspiration came from my eternal rebellion against the rules set without me, the ideas set as perfect from up above. Against people and institutions, which want to me infallible. Against blind ideology. I’ve decided to tell an intimate story, with two people in conflict, suspended somewhere in space and time, here in Middle Ages, somewhere up in woods and mountains, fighting the pagans, in unfriendly space full of danger. Main character faces the hardest choice: weather serve his religion till the end, or choose a person, he cares for. Relation between the two characters is full of tension, conflicting feelings, strong emotions will, I think, find audience. This is art house cinema, which can be interesting for wide audience thanks to visual effects.
Przemysław Nowakowski
We’ve come through a very interesting way with the script for „The Mute”. We began with ascetic story with little words. Then we developed the text, so the spirit of the story could be found in words. We translated it into English and in this language we defended the rights of our characters as long as we decided – together with our advisors – that they are safe. Now we can go back to the movie we started with. This one, where characters do not talk much, but instead you already know, what it’s all about.
BIO Bartosz Konopka:
Oscar nominated for the Rabbit a la Berlin documentary that was shown at more that 70 festivals, received a dozen prizes and had been sold to 40 countries. His feature fiction debut Fear of Falling was premiered in June 2011 at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia where it received the Best Debut Award.
Film had a world premiere at Montreal IFF and was released in cinemas in France, Spain, Iran and Poland. Wide Management is Sales Agent of the film.
Bartek is a gratuate of Film Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow and of directing at the Silesian University Katowice. He also graduated form the documentary and fiction courses at Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing. He made numerous documentaries for television.
Selected filmography:
2011 FEAR OF FALLING (director, co-writer)
Awards: Hartley-Merrill award for the best script 2009, Best Debut and Best Make up at Polish Film Festival in Gdynia 2011, Silver Award at Mumbai International Film Festival 2011, Special Mention for the best cinematography at Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival 2011, The Cinema students honorific Price of the Rencontres Internationales du Cinéma de Vincennes & Prix Henri Langlois 2012, Best Film at Insk Film Festival 2011
2009 RABBIT À LA BERLIN (director, co-writer)
Awards: Nominee for the 82nd Academy Awards in the Best Short Documentary Subject category, Best Mid-Length Documentary at 16. Hot Docs, Toronto, Canada 2009, Magic Hour Award at 6. Planete Doc Review, Warsaw, Poland 2009, Grand Prix - Golden Hobby-Horse at 49. Cracow Film Festival, Poland 2009, Jury Special Prize - 13. Nature Film Festival, Lodz, Poland 2009, Golden Starfish Award for the Best Film of Conflict & Resolution - 17. Hamptons International Film Festival, USA 2009, Silver Eye Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary at 13th Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival, Czech Republic 2009, Golden Teeth for the Best Documentary at the 21. Polish Film Festival in America, Chicago, USA 2009, The Best Documentary Award “Jańcio Wodnik” at the 17. Polish Festival of the Film Art “Prowincjonalia”, Września, Poland 2010, 2nd Prize in Original Documentary Short Films at the 7.Documenta Madrid 2010 Festival , Internacional de Documentales de Madrid, Spain 2010, Special Jury Award at the 5. Mendocino Film Festival, Mendocino, USA 2010, Zitty-Leserjury-Preis - 3. achtung Berlin FF, Berlin, Germany 2010 , Best Story Award - 4. Eckernförde Green Screen Film Festival, Eckernfoerde, Germany 2010
2006 - THREE FOR THE TAKING (director, co-writer)
Awards: Grand Prix and Best Actress Award - 22 nd European Short Film Festiwal, Brest; 2007; France; Best Feature Award - 5th Slamdance on the Road; 2007; Poland, Best Debut Award - 14th IDSAFF Message to Man; St. Petersburg; 2007; Russia, Best Short Feature Film and Best Screenplay Award - 4th TOFFIFEST, Toruń, 2007 Poland, Special Mention - 32nd Polish Film Festival, Gdynia, 2007, Poland, Best Short Film Award - 3rd Polish Film Festival; New York; 2007; USA, Best Short Film Award - 26th Debut Film Festival; Koszalin; 2007; Poland, Best Film Award; Audience Award - 6th Short Film Festival; Warszawa; 2007; Poland
BIO Przemysław Nowakowski:
Screenriter, director, graduated from Warsaw University - History of Art. Continued his studies at UCLA Film School in Los Angeles, Binger Film Institute in Amsterdam, and Wajda School in Warsaw. Writer and director of many popular documentaries and TV series - recently polish version of “In Treatment” for HBO.
Writer of following feature movies:
The Egoists - dir M Trelinski,
Stranger - dir M. Szumowska,
KATYN - dir. Andrzej Wajda (nominated for Academy Award - OSCAR),
Offsiders - dir. Kasia Adamik,
On Credit - Przemek first short feature as director,
Wedding Polka - co-directed with Lars Jessen.
He also writes theater plays presented on many occasions in Poland and abroad.
Information Courtesy of ScripTeast
contact:
Violetta Kaminska
Independent Film Foundation
+ 48 501 299 276
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