Roman Polanski's film in the main competition
Roman Polański's latest film, the PISF-supported Venus in Fur has been selected for screening in Main Competition. The jury of this year's Main Competition in Cannes will be presided over by Steven Spielberg. Films competing against Venus in Fur for the Palme d'Or include the latest works by the Coen brothers, Asghar Farhadi, Steven Soderbergh, and Nicolas Refn. Venus in Fur will be screened on Saturday, May 25.
Roman Polański's latest project is an erotic comedy, based on a play by David Ives, who also co-wrote the script. The main protagonist of Venus in Fur is Thomas, a director looking to cast the female lead in his latest play. None of the actresses meets his requirements, and just as Thomas is about to give up, Vanda, a real hurricane of unpredictable and sexy energy, bursts into the theatre. At first she appears to possess all the faults that annoy Thomas; she is bold, crass, desperate, and unprepared. After Thomas reluctantly agrees to give her a chance, Vanda undergoes a spectacular transformation, and the director soon falls for her completely.
Venus in Fur was made in co-production between France and Poland. The film was produced by R.P. Productions, and the Polish co-producer and distributor is Monolith Films. This is also Roman Polański's second film to be co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. The lead roles were played by Mathieu Amalric and Emmanuelle Seigner. Venus in Fur was lensed by Polish cinematographer Paweł Edelman and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. World sales are handled by Lionsgate.
This year's Special Screenings at the Cannes Film Festival will feature another film by Roman Polański: the 1971 documentary Weekend of a Champion.
Venus in fur screenings:
25. 05, 8:30, Palais des Festivals (Press screening)
25. 05, 19:00, Palais des Festivals (Premier, filmmakers attending)
Weekend of a Champion screening:
22. 05, 19:45, Palais des Festivals, Salle du Soixantième (filmmakers attending)
The Congress to Open Directors' Fortnight in Cannes
The Congress, a film directed by Ari Folman and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, will open the Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) at the 66th Cannes International Film Festival, which runs from May 15 through May 26, 2013. The Cannes screening will mark the film's world premiere.
The screenplay was based on Stanisław Lem's novel Kongres futurologiczny (The Futurological Congress), first published in 1971. The Congress tells the story of an actress (Robin Wright) who signs a contract with a film studio, selling her identity. The studio will now have the rights to use her virtual image in future productions. 20 years later, the contract is to be renegotiated. But by then the situation has changed radically. The film studio has been bought by a pharmaceutical mogul that wants to transform the identity of the actress into a drug that is to be sold globally.
Ari Folman is the director of the animated feature documentary Waltz with Bashir (2008), which screened in Main Competition in Cannes and has received wide international acclaim, including a Golden Globe Award. The Congress was lensed by Polish cinematographer Michał Englert, and leading roles were played by internationally-acclaimed actors: Robin Wright, Harvey Keitel, Paul Giamatti, Danny Huston, Jon Hamm, Francis Fisher, Sami Gayle, and Kodi Smit-McPhee. David Polonsky, who previously collaborated with Ari Folman on Waltz with Bashir, was responsible for production design. The animation department was led by Yoni Godman.
The Congress is an international co-production produced by Opus Film (Poland), Pandora Film (Germany), Bridgit Folman Film Gang (Israel), ARP Selection (France), Entre Chien et Loup (Belgium), and Paul Thiltges Distribution (Luxembourg). Institutions that provided co-financing include the Polish Film Institute and the Silesian Film Fund. The animation work on the project was done at Orange Studio in Bielsko-Biała. World sales are handled by the German-based company The Match Factory.
The Congress screenings:
16h May 09:00 THEATRE CROISETTE (Festival badge)
16th May 19:30 THEATRE CROISETTE (Festival badge)
17th May 09:30 OLYMPIA 1
18th May 22:30 ARCADES 1
19th May 09:30 STAR 1
21st May 09:30 STAR 2
23rd May 09:30 OLYMPIA 6
Polish Short Films in Cannes
The short feature Olena, directed by Elżbieta Benkowska, is one of nine films selected for screening in the Short Film Competition of the 66th Cannes Film Festival. This film, produced at the Gdynia Film School, tells the story of Olena and Dima, a young Ukrainian couple traveling across Poland on their way to Sweden. Their wallet gets stolen on the train. During a struggle with Dima, the thief throws his passport out on the train tracks. They need to find it before the departure of the ferry.
The animated Danse Macabre by Małgorzata Rżanek, graduate of the Graphic Design Department of the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts, will screen alongside 17 other student films in the Cinéfondation section of the festival. Danse Macabre is a rhythmically hypnotic essay on death that eventually will inevitably invite every one of us to that final dance. The film is represented by the Krakow Film Foundation.
Olena screenings:
22. 05, 11:00, Bazin Théâtre (press screening)
25. 05, 11:00, Debussy Théâtre (Premiere)
25. 05, 15:00, Bunuel Théâtre
Danse Macabre screening:
23. 05, 14:30, Bunuel Théâtre, Program 3 (Premiere)
Producer on the Move 2013
Agnieszka Kurzydło, the producer of Berlinale-awarded In the name of… by Małgorzata Szumowska, Baby Blues by Katarzyna Rosłaniec, as well as the newest Polish productions Red Spider by Marcin Koszałka, and Grzegorz Jaroszuk's Kebab and a Horoscope, is participating in the prestigious Producers on the Move program. 29 young European producers are taking part in the 14th edition of the program, organized in Cannes by the European Film Promotion, with the support of MEDIA Programme. Producers on the Move supports the creation of contacts among the young people, who have an increasing impact on the European film industry.
Producers Network
This year's 9th edition of Producers Network - a program for film producers - includes a space dedicated to Polish cinema. During the Polish Day on May 22nd, participants and guests will be introduced to the Polish film funding system and the rules of coproducing with Poland, as presented by Polish Film Institute's Izabela Kiszka-Hoflik.
5 Polish producers will be participating in the meeting:
Agnieszka Kurzydło (MD4)
Małgorzata Jurczak (Scorpion Arte)
Marta Laryssa Plucińska (Federico Film)
Mikołaj Pokromski (Pokromski Studio)
Łukasz Dzięcioł (Opus Film)
Short Film Corner
Polish shorts will be presented during the 10th edition of the short films market - Short Film Corner w Cannes. The program includes sections "Best of Łódź Film School", "Polish Shorts" and "Shorts from Munk Studio", and will feature over 20 Polish films, such as Rogalik by Pawel Ziemilski, Indrivaren (When the Man Comes Around) by Michael Rendell and Arthur Izakowicz, Święto zmarłych by Aleksandra Terpińska, Rules of the game by Wojciech Jagiełło, Psubrat by Maria Zbąskia and Big Leap by Kristoffer Rus.
More information at www.cannescourtmetrage.com
Marché du Film
This years Marche du Film market will include six Polish films. The screening times are as follows:
May 15
14:00 The Closed Circuit
Directed by Ryszard Bugajski
LERINS 2 (Premiere)
15:30 Manhunt
Directed by Marcin Krzyształowicz
PALAIS B
16:00 Floating Skyscrapers
Directed by Tomasz Wasilewski
OLYMPIA 6 (Premiere)
May 16
15:30 Manhunt
Directed by Marcin Krzyształowicz
PALAIS B
May 18
14:00 Floating Skyscrapers
Directed by Tomasz Wasilewski
OLYMPIA 5
20:30 Vulture
Directed by Eugeniusz Korin
PALAIS E (Premiere)
19 May
16:00 Manhunt
Directed by Marcin Krzyształowicz
GRAY 3
May 21
11:30 Lasting
Directed by Jacek Borcuch
STAR 4
12:00 In Hiding
Directed by Jan Kidawa-Blonski
PALAIS C
ScripTeast
The Krzysztof Kieślowski trophy for the best screenplay participating in ScripTeast will be awarded for the 7th time on May 22nd (5 pm). Among the best works from the Central and Easter Europe are three Polish projects I miss you by Malgorzata Pilacinska, Mute from Bartosz Konopka and Przemyslaw Nowakowski, as well as Traces by Wiktoria Szymanska. The goal of the annual program, which is co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, is to select the best screenplays in the region and enable the creators to cooperate with some of the world's most acclaimed filmmakers.
More information: www.scripteast.pl
The Polish Film Institute stand
This year the Polish stand is set in new localization, on the 9th floor of Grand Hotel, La Croisette 45. It will provide the space for meetings between representatives of PISF, the Institute's producers and partners, and the representatives of film industry and festivals, sales agents, distributors and foreign press. The stand is supported by Dentons law firm, Filmmedia, Off Plus Camera, Opus Film and Munk Film Studio.
Promoting Polish Cinema
The Polish stand will also host a variety of promotional events, among them the presentation of SOFA program for young promoters of eastern European Cinema (sales agents, project managers supporting local cinematographies) which will have its first edition this year in Wrocław. Presentations will also include Digi Training, supporting the digitalization of cinemas, hosting sessions in Wroclaw and Krakow this year, as well as Dentons law firm presentation for potential partners of coproductions with Poland. Promotional materials such as New Polish Film 2013 catalogue and the Production guide Poland 2013 will also be showcased in the Polish stand.
Materials via www.pisf.pl Paulina Bez, Karolina Kołtun, Maria Łętowska, Marta Sikorska
Information Courtesy of Polish Film Institute
