"We try to choose interesting projects that have international potential. We want them to be advanced enough that the filmmakers can share their vision with our participants, but at the same time still in the development stages so they can look for potential partners here," Jan Naszewski the Polish Days coordinator told FNE.
This year's projects are new titles from accomplished Polish directors such as Marcin Wrona, Dorota Kędzierzawska and Marcin Dudziak as well as debut features films by foreign directors but developed in co-operation with Poland.
"In my personal experience, Polish Days is a great hub for coproductions, finding new partners and starting new projects," producer Ewa
Puszczyńska from Opus Film told FNE. "We are here with our new coproduction "AA" and a chance to showcase our project in front of an
international audience, while we are still in development, is really a great and useful opportunity," she added.
The projects presented at the pitching session range in genre from drama to experimental film. Below we present the full list of projects
pitched during Polish Days 2015.
Marie Curie (Poland, Belgium, France, Germany)
Marie Curie, directed by a French filmmaker Marie Noëlle, will showcase the life and career of one of the most recognised scientists and the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. The leading role is played by Polish actress Karolina Gruszka and the cast includes Polish actors Izabela Kuna, Piotr Głowacki, and Daniel Olbrychski, and French and German actors André Wilms, Charles Berling, Sabin Tambrea and Samuel
Finzi. The film is produced by Pokromski Studio in coproduction with P’Artisan Filmproduktion (Germany) and Sepia Production (France). The planned budget is 4m EUR and the project received 1,775,000 PLN for production financing from the Polish Film Institute. The distributor of the picture is Kino Świat.
Directed by Marie Noëlle
Produced by Marie Noelle, Mikołaj Pokormski, Brigit Faure, Ralf Ziemmermann
Production company: P’Artisan Filmproduktion, Pokromski Studio, Sepia Production
Present at Polish Days: Mikołaj Pokromski
Contact during Polish Days: Mikołaj Pokromski, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Presence (Poland)
Based on a novel by Kazimierz Orłoś, this second feature from Marcin Dudziak follows the story of man who suddenly decides to set out on a trip to solve an old mystery from his past and find out if a summer fling resulted in him having children that he doesn't know about. The demure drama is set in the 70's in Poland. The film is produced by Wioletta Puszczyńska and the company she established with the director Dudek w Puszczy. The planned budget has not yet been revealed. The shoot is planned for 2016.
Directed by: Marcin Dudziak
Produced by: Wioleta Puszczowicz
Production company: Dudek w Puszczy
Present at Polish Days: Marcin Dudziak, Wioleta Puszczowicz
Contact during Polish Days: Marcin Dudziak, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,
Wioleta Puszczowicz, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,
Tower A Bright Day (Poland)
The debut feature drama from director Jagoda Szelc is a mystical allegory tale about a woman Mula who is raising the child of her sister. Just before the little girl's first communion, the biological mother comes back home. Kaja is a mysterious woman who starts influencing all her family members in a very strange way. The film is produced by Indeks Film Studio, a production company working within the framework of Lodz Film School. The planned budget of the film is 450,000 EUR and the project is in the early stages of development, with completion date planned for 2016.
Directed by Jagoda Szelc
Produced by Marcin Malatyński
Production company: Indeks Film Studio www.studioindeks.pl
Present at Polish Days: Jagoda Szelc, Marcin Malatyński
Contact during Polish Days: Marcin Malatynski, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Last Family (Poland)
The new project produced by Aurum Film, producer of Jacek Lusiński's Carte Blanche, will follow the life of legendary painter and photographer Zdzisław Beksiński considered to be one of the most prominent contemporary Polish artists. Ostatnia Rodzina (Last Family) is a feature debut for Jan P Matuszewski, with a script by Robert Bolesto, who focused the story on the relationship between the painter and his son Tomasz Beksiński, a renowned Polish music journalist and translator. Both passed away tragically. The planned budget of the film is 1,450,000 EUR and the shoot for The Last Family is planned for 2016.
Directed by: Jan P Matuszyński
Produced by: Leszek Bodzak
Production company: Aurum Film
Present at Polish Days: Jan P Matuszyński, Leszek Bodzak
Contact during Polish Days: Leszek Bodzak, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Lili (Poland)
The feature from Marcin Wrona is a psychological musical drama set in WWII Poland. Lili, a young revue star, is forced to help and hide David, a Jewish songwriter. She will go to great lengths to hide her secret, including starring in Theater der Stadt Warschau and posing as "the German whore." A dramatic turn of events gets her ostracised by the Polish people, almost raped and forced to sign a Volkslist. The film is produced by Magnet Man Film with a planned budget of 3m EUR. The film is planned to be a cross between a musical and psychological drama and the launch of production is set for 2016.
Directed by: Marcin Wrona
Produced by: Olga Szymańska
Production company: Magnet Man Film
Present at Polish Days: Marcin Wrona, Olga Szymańska, Małgorzata Sandecka
Contact during Polish Days: Małgorzata Sandecka, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Olga Szymańska, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
AA (Poland, Israel)
A feature debut from Israeli filmmaker Jack Faber AA is a story about a group of Israeli high-school students and the last night of their mandatory heritage tour in Poland, when the students confront contradictions and chaos within themselves, and a not so innocent prank quickly spins out of control and lets the violent nature of their present lives erupt. The film is produced by Opus Film in coproduction with Extreme Emotions and Lama Films. The project was developed at EKRAN+ 2015 and Berlinale Talents. The launch of the shooting for AA is
planned in the second half of 2016.
Directed by: Jack Faber
Produced by:Ewa Puszczyńska
Production companies: Opus Film, Extreme Emotions, Lama Films
Present at Polish Days: Ewa Puszczyńska, Jack Faber
Contact during Polish Days: Ewa Puszczyńska, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
People I'm Not (Poland, Switzerland)
The feature debut of Swiss filmmaker Francesco Rizzi is a drama about a mysterious travelling man and a young female struggling with a complicated grief, who confront each other in a psychological drama about loss and identity suspension. The Polish-Swiss project is produced by Artcore, Big Wave Films (Poland) and Imago Film (Switzerland) with a planned budget of 1.6 m EUR and 100,000 EUR of financing already in place. The project was developed at the 2014 New Horizons Studio, Gdynia Facing the Audience and Ekran+ 2015.
The launch of production is planned for 2017.
Directed by: Francesco Rizzi
Produced by: Artur Wyrzykowski, Joanna Zielińska, Michaela Pini, Villi Hermann
Production companies: Artcore (Poland), Big Wave Films (Poland), Imago Film (Switzerland)
Present at Polish Days: Artur Wyrzykowski, Joanna Zielińska
Contact during Polish Days: Artur Wyrzykowski, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , Joanna Zielińska, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Hurrah, We’re Still Alive! (Poland)
An experimental film from renowned Polish visual artist Agnieszka Polska will follow an eccentric triangle in 1980's Munich. The woman in the triangle wants to be the star of the director's next show and play Rosa Luxemburg. Dirk is the director's ex-lover who hires a hit man and pays him to kill the artists in revenge. A surreal turn of events leads to a murder and a show. The film is produced by Anna Gawlita and her company Kijora Film with a planned budget of 350,000. The production is planned to launch in 2016.
Directed by Agnieszka Polska
Produced by: Anna Gawlita
Production company: Kijora Film
Present at Polish Days: Agnieszka Polska, Anna Gawlita
Contact during Polish Days: Anna Gawlita, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Las (Poland)
The screenplay of Las, directed by Asia Zastróżna, is inspired by three different texts by three different authors: Samuel Beckett’s Waiting
for Godot, a fragment of the story Snail on the Slope from the Strugatsky brothers (a classic of science fiction literature) and Engraving from Jacek Szymkiewicz. The film will explore issues of aesthetics, and the border of story, screenplay, theatre play and “stream of consciousness”. The structure of the screenplay consists of three parts: the Village-Forest, the Desert and the Theatre. Each part corresponds to a different location, a different style of images and different ways of operating the camera. The film is produced by Filmpolis and Asia Za Films with a planned budget of 100,000 EUR.
Directed by Asia Zastróżn
Produced by:Patrycja Ryłko
Production companies: Filmpolis, Asia Za Films
Present at Polish Days: : Asia Zastróżna, Patrycja Ryłko
Contact during Polish Days: Patrycja Ryłko, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Asia Zastróżna, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Speed Way (Poland)
A new film from the accomplished Polish filmmaking duo of director Dorota Kędzierzawska and producer Artur Reinhart explores the world of
speedway racing. Is the passion for an extreme sport worth the risk? What is the beauty and danger behind the speedway? Speed Way will follow the story of Lowa, a kind-hearted young boy who is infatuated with motorcycles and the glamourous world around them. The film is produced by Kid Film with a planned budget of 2.2 EUR. The production of Speed Way is planned to be completed in 2016.
Directed by: Dorota Kędzierzwska
Prpduced by: Artur Reinhart
Prodcuction company: Kid Film
Present at Polish Days: Dorota Kędzierzawska, Arthur Reinhart
Contact during Polish Days: Arthur Reinhart, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
