12-09-2007

PFI-backed films reap seven awards in Venice

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    Films backed by the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.org) won seven awards at the recent Venice Biennale. Paul Laverty won the Osella prize among the official awards for best screenplay in It's a Free World directed by Ken Loach and co-produced by PFI.

    It's a Free World also earned a special mention Signis award and the EIUC human rights award. The film follows the travails of a recently unemployed British woman who opens a job recruitment agency that hires immigrant Poles.

    Tricks (Sztuczki) directed by Andrzej Jakimowski collared the Label Europa Cinemas Award and the Laterna Magica award. The film, about a 6-year-old boy who believes using magic will bring back his absent father, will premiere in Poland Oct. 26.

    Nightwatching, directed by Peter Greenaway, won the Mommo Rotella Foundatioin Award for best connection with the arts, and the Open Award. It is a co-production with Poland, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the U.K. about the life of the painter Rembrandt and his famous canvas Night Watch.

    PFI, established by the adoption of a film law in 2004, is responsible for financially supporting and promoting the Polish film industry.