One of the key events of the 4th edition of Polish Days held at the 16th T-Mobile New Horizons IFF was the pitching session showcasing new and upcoming Polish productions and coproductions that presented the most potential to interest international film professionals invited to the festival. The projects presented at the pitching session range in genre from drama, sci-fi romance to dark comedy.
"Each year the number of applications increases. We want to showcase interesting and original ideas, but also films that are in the right stage of production. A project should be in development, with a strong production plan, preferably also financing in place," Joanna Łapińska, the Artistic Director of the festival, told FNE. "We are happy to consult with our applicants, and sometimes we advise people to wait and enter in the later stages. I am happy to say that almost each of the projects presented at our pitching sessions was a success, so the formula works", she adds.
Here is the full list of projects pitched during the Polish Days 2016:
The Man with the Magic Box (Poland, Italy, UK)
The Man With The Magic Box is set in Warsaw in 2013, following Adam, whose memory has been wiped-out by the secret service. He gets a job as a janitor and falls in love with Goria, a girl from a higher social class or “zone”. During his work he finds an old radio from the 50’s and discovers, that it allows him to timetravel to the past.
Bodo Kox, who will direct and wrote the script, received a Special Mention in the ScriptTeast competition for the Best Screenplay from Central and Eastern Europe in 2015.
The film is produced by Izabela Igel and Roman Jarosz through Alter Ego Pictures with a planned budget of 1.2 m EUR, of which 458,471/ 2 m PLN is covered by a grant from the Polish Film Institute. The project is planned as a coproduction with UK’s F&ME and Italy. The film will be distributed by Kino Świat with the premiere planned for autumn 2017.
Directed by Bodo Kox
Produced by Alter Ego Pictures
Coproduced by TVN
Supported by the Polish Film Institute, the Mazovia Film Fund
Production contact: Iza Igel, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Inwardness (Poland, Czech Republic)
The sci-fi drama Inwardness, set in the near future, follows 18-year-old Michał on his journey from a naive boy to a man. Michał is one of the last young people living in his small community and he is forced to take care of the elderly members of his family. Everyone thinks he is a fool. The young man tries to prove himself, but instead he becomes the victim of a cruel scheme.
The film is produced by Kamila Kuś of MD4 in coproduction with Czech Republic’s fog n Desire. The planned budget is 1.8 m EUR and the project already received a development funding from the Polish Film Institute. Phe production is set to launch in 2018, with shots planned on location in Georgia.
Directed by Grzegorz Jaroszuk
Produced by MD4
Coproduced by Fog n Desire
Supported by the Polish Film Institute
Production contact: Kamila Kuś, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +48 791 112 310
Eloe (Poland, Germany)
Marcin (20) is struggling to keep his family horse farm alive. In order to save the business that his father Emil (60) built from the local mafia, the young man needs to win a Czech cross-country race. When their best horse dies, the two men bring in an untamed mere Eloe, which is their last chance. The young man fails to control Eloe and when his long estranged brother Kuba comes back to the farm and instantly bonds with the animal, Marcin becomes worried about his relationship with his father.
The film is produced by Marcin Włodarski through Lava Films with a planned budget of 1.2 m EUR. The project has already received support from the Polish-German Co-Development Fund. The production is planned to launch in autumn 2017.
Directed by Piotr Złotorowicz
Produced by Lava Films
Supported by the Polish-German Co-Development Fund
Production contact: Mariusz Włodarski, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Forthnight (Poland, France)
In her feature debut, Aga Woszczyńska follows Anna and Adam - a young, rich couple who decide to rent a house in Southern Italy and spend their off season vacations there. When they arrive, they find the pool destroyed and decide to hire someone to fix it. When the man arrives, the couple becomes anxious. He is disturbing them with his work and his Arabic descent worries them.
When he suddenly falls into the pool and cracks his head open, the couple fails to help him. They are cleared of all charges and continue with their lives. But the guilt slowly breaks into their false feeling of security. The film is produced by Agnieszka Wasiak through Lava Films with a planned budget of 1.3 m EUR and the production set to launch in 2017.
Directed by Aga Woszczyńska
Produced by Lava Films
Production contact: Agnieszka Wasiak, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Runaway Messiah (Poland)
Polish-Swedish director Kristoffer Rus explores the clash of the sacred and the profane in his new dark comedy following a corporate marketing manager, whose life revolves around work, partying, sex and drugs. His decadent lifestyle is disturbed by visions of Virgin Mary. The life of a saint doesn't really suit him and at first he tries to fight it and fails. He breaks up with his celebrity girlfriend, gets fired and ends up on the street forced to deal with the will of God.
The film is in the development stage and is produced by Renata Czarnkowska-Listoś and Maria Gołoś through Re Studio with a planned budget of 1.2 m EUR and the production set to launch in 2017.
Directed by Kristoffer Rus
Produced by Re Studio
Production contact: Maria Gołoś, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +48 519 822 465
Werewolf (Poland)
Accalaimed Polish director Adrian Panek returns with a thriller focusing on a group of children salvaged from the concentration camp. An orphanage is supposed to be their safe place, where they can recuperate after the sufferings of life in the camp. When suddenly a new threat arrives. The building is surrounded by a pack of dogs trained to kill.
The film is produced by Magdalena Kamińska and Agata Szymańska through Balapolis with a planned budget of 1 m EUR of which 458,471 EUR / 2 m PLN is already covered by the Polish Film Institute. The production is planned to launch in 2017.
Directed by Adrian Panek
Produced by Balapolis
Supported by the Polish Film Institute
Production contact: Magdalena Kamińska, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Comrade Stalin Saved My Life (Poland, France, Germany)
This animated feature film directed by Kamila Kubiak and Olivier Patte follows Henio, a Polish child of Jewish origin, who is deported to Siberia at the beginning of WWII. What seems as a certain death sentence turns out to be his salvation. His fate illustrates the stories of salvation of thousands of Polish Jews. This is a story of people whose lives were saved by the irony of fate.
The project was developed at the international training program EKRAN+ 2015. Maria Blicharska is producing through the Polish-French company Donten & Lacroix Films with a planned budget of 1.8 m EUR. The premiere is set for 2019.
Directed by Kamila Kubiak, Olivier Patte
Produced by Donten & Lacroix Films
Production contact: Maria Blicharska, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Trough The Woods (Poland)
In his second feature Bartosz Warwas explores the juxtaposition of two completely different world views, inspired by Antigone. A young football hooligan discovers he has feelings for his sister's boyfriend. The boy experiences a psychotic break, faced with desires that go completely against what he believes in. The film is produced by Film-Art Film Institution with a planned budget of 850,000 EUR. The production is planned to wrap in 2017.
Directed by Bartosz Warwas
Produced by Film-Art Film Institution
Production contact: Maciej Szwarc, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Volterra (Poland)
A new drama from acclaimed Polish filmmaker Jacek Borcuch, Volterra follows an episode in the life of Maria Linde, a Polish poet and Nobel prize laureate. Maria is celebrating her 65th birthday with her family and friends. Her life follows the rhythm of the Italian province, but her good relations with her husband and daughter are disturbed by her unambiguous relationship with Nazeer, an Arab, who is 30 years younger than she is.
Under the influence of dramatic events connected with Nazeer, her personal fears and the political situation in Europe, Maria decides to make a public announcement, the consequences of which she will have to deal with. The film is produced by Marta Habior and Marta Lewandowska through No Sugar Films with a planned budget of 1.5 m EUR. Polish Film Institute is supporting. The premiere is planned for 2017.
Directed by Jacek Borcuch
Produced by No Sugar Films, Motion Group
Supported by the Polish Film Institute
Production contact: Marta Habior, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
