16-05-2010

Gdynia Polish Film Festival Competition spotlight: Lullaby

By Katarzyna Grynienko

    One of the most popular Polish directors and a master of Polish comedy Juliusz Machulski tackles the horror film genre in his new film Lullaby.

    {mosimage}A series of mysterious events take place in a small, picturesque town where the visitors and habitants suddenly start to disappear. The atmosphere thickens and tension grows as two policemen investigate. The trails lead nowhere, and innocent victims still disappear without a trace. The action is swift and full of sudden turns as the mystery is revealed bit by bit as a peculiar vampire family enters the picture. The plot is conveyed with a strong dose of humor, a trade mark of the director.

    Machulski, a director, screenwriter, producer and actor, had his directing debut in 1979. He founded and heads the ZEBRA Film Studio (www.zebrafilm.pl) since 1988. Machulski is the author of several internationally known Polish comedies including Vabank, Sexmission and Vinci. In 1998 Walt Disney Productions bought the rights to remake his hit comedy Killer, which held the box office record for a Polish comedy until 2008.

    {mosimage}"When I started making films I had the ambition to test myself in every genre that interested me - science fiction, criminal and also horror. But for a long time I didn't have a good idea for a horror film. I made a couple of attempts, but it wasn't until Lullaby that the material turned out to be right for me: full of distance, thrill, irony and foremost the comedic potential. The fusion of horror and comedy is an interesting challenge, because when we laugh we're clearly not scared, and horror films are made to scare us," Machulski said.

    The film has a cast of popular Polish actors. The script, written by Adam Dobrzycki, was adapted by Machulski to give it a more comic shape. The music was composed by the renowned Polish film composer Michał Lorenc.

    The film was shot in September 2009 on location on special sets build in Konstancin and the heritage park at the Ethnographic Museum in Olsztynek. The producer of the film is Zebra Studio in co-production with Monolith Films (www.monolith.pl), Studio Filmowe OTO (www.otofilm.pl) and Nonstop Film Service (www.nsfs.pl). Lullaby's budget of 5.2 million PLN (EUR 1.3 million) was 50% financed by the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl).

    The movie premiered in Polish cinemas on February 12, 2010 and is nationally distributed by Monolith Films.

    Crew:

    {mosimage}Director Juliusz Machulski

    Screenwriter Adam Dobrzycki

    Script adaptation Juliusz Machulski

    Cinematographer Arkadiusz Tomiak

    Costumes Ewa Machulska

    Set design Wojciech Żogała

    Music Michał Lorenc

    Production Manager Andrzej Stempowski, Łukasz Rogalski

    Production Company ZEBRA Film Studio

    Executive Producer Wojciech Danowski

    Producer Juliusz Machulski

    Co-production Monolith Films, Studio Filmowe OTO, Nonstop Film Service

    Co-financing Polish Film Institute

    Cast:

    Robert Więckiewicz

    Małgorzata Buczkowska

    Janusz Chabior

    Krzysztof Kiersznowski

    Ewa Ziętek

    Michał Zieliński

    Production Contact:

    Studio Filmowe ZEBRA
    Puławska 61
    02-595 Warsaw
    Tel/fax: +48 22 845 54 84, 845 65 88
    e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.