The Polish Film Institute (PFI, www.pisf.pl) had introduced four new funding priorities: Author Film (31 grants), Films devoted to historical topics (16 grants), Films for the youth and family audiences (6 grants), and Films with a significant commercial potential (5 grants).
Out of 58 new Polish productions financed by the Polish Film Institute, 12 are international co-productions including Schultz, a historical drama devoted to the last year in life of Bruno Schultz, directed by Andrzej Domalik and produced by FilmContract LTD. (www.filmcontract.pl) with a planned budget of 7 million PLN with 3 million PLN in PFI funding.
The Institute also supported Uwodzicielka liczb, a Polish-American co-production directed by Bruce Beresford, co-produced by Apple Film Production (www.applefilm.pl) with a planned budget of 33.6 million PLN with 2 million PLN of PFI funding.
1 million PLN was granted to a Polish-Czech co-production W cieniu konia (In the Horses Shadow) directed by David Ondricek and produced by Centrala (www.centralafilm.pl) with a planned budget of 11 million PLN.
PFI supported several interesting debuts including Być jak Kazimierz Deyna (Be like Kazimierz Deyna), a feature drama about a father who wants to raise his son to be a star soccer player, directed by Anna Wieczur Bluszcz and produced by Skorpion Arte with a planned budget of 3.4 million PLN with 2 million PLN of PFI funding.
Another awaited Polish debut is Lincz (Lynch), a drama based on a true story of six men lynching a brutal recidivist in a Polish village, directed by Krzysztof Łukaszewicz and produced by Documentary and Feature Film Production Company (WDFiF, www.wfdif.com.pl) with a planned budget of 3.2 million PLN with 2 million PLN of PFI funding.
One of the biggest grants, 4 million PLN, was given to Czarny Czwartek (Black Thursday), a historical drama about the Polish worker riots in December of 1970, directed by Antoni Krauze and produced by Kazimierz Beer Nordfilm (www.nordfilm.pl) with a total budget 6.9 million PLN.
2 million PLN was granted to a new film by Barbara Sass-Zdort titled Pieśni miłosne (Love songs), a drama based on a true story of conflicts that took place in a closed monastery, produced by WDFIF with a planned budget of 4.8 million PLN.
One of the most awaited features financed during this session is Sławomir Fabicki's Miłość (Love), a drama about a married couple whose dreams about parenthood are brutally distrupted by the woman being raped, produced by Anna Pachnicka Anagram Film (www.alejagowniarzy.pl) with a planned budget of 4 million PLN with 2 million of PFI funding.
The next sessions of the Film Production Programme are planned for June 30, 2010, and December 1, 2010.
