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20-01-2020

FNE at Berlinale 2020: Films From FNE Partner Countries In New Berlinale Competitive Section Encounters

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    Malmkrog by Cristi Puiu Malmkrog by Cristi Puiu credit: Mandragora

    BERLIN: The international coproduction Malmkrog by Romanian Cristi Puiu will open the new competitive section of the Berlinale (20 February-1 March 2020). The 15 titles lineup includes new films by Slovak Ivan Ostrochovský (Servants) and Polish Mariusz Wilczyński (Kill It and Leave This Town).

    The inaugural section Encounters aims at supporting new voices in the cinema and giving more room to diverse narrative and documentary forms in the official programme. A jury composed of three members will choose the winners of Best Film, Best Director and a Special Jury Award.

    Based on Three Conversations by Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov, Malmkrog is a period piece set in 1900 with an international cast: Frédéric Schulz-Richard, Agathe Bosch, Diana Sakalauskaité, Marina Palii, Ugo Broussot and István Téglás. The film is a coproduction between Romania, Serbia, Switzerland, Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia.

    The new film by the Czech director Ivan Ostrochovský, Servants / Služobníci is based on a screenplay written by Rebecca Lenckiewicz (Ida) and Marek Leščák, and follows two boys who join a Catholic seminary in Communist Slovakia. The film is a coproduction between Slovakia, Romania, the Czech Republic and Ireland.

    Kill It and Leave This Town / Zabij to i wyjedz z tego miasta by Polish director Mariusz Wilczyński will also have its world premiere in the Encounters competition section. It is a debut feature and an animated film, whose voices are provided, among others, by Krystyna Janda, Andrzej Chyra, Maja Ostaszewska and Małgorzata Kożuchowska. The film is an autobiographical impression, reminiscence of images from childhood, in which the memory of the deceased parents and the home city of the director, Łódź, is brought to life.

    Films From FNE Partners Selected for Berlinale’s Encounters Competitive Programme:

    Malmkrog (Romania, Serbia, Switzerland, Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia)
    Directed by Cristi Puiu
    Produced by Mandragora (RO)
    Coproduced by iadasarecasa (RO), SENSE Production (RS), Cinnamon Films (RS),  Film i Väst (SE), Doppelganger (SE), Bord Cadre Films (CH), Produkcija 2006 Sarajevo (BA), Sisters and Brothers Mitevski (MK)
    Supported by the Romanian Film Centre, the Romanian Television (TVR), Studioul de Creație Cinematografică al Ministerului Culturii, Republic of Serbia - Ministry of Culture and Information, Film Center Serbia, Canton Sarajevo - Ministry of Culture and Sports, the North Macedonia Film Agency

    Servants / Služobníci (Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic, Ireland)
    Directed by Ivan Ostrochovský
    Produced by Punkchart films
    Coproduced by Point Film (RO), Radio and Television of Slovakia (SK), Negativ (CZ), Film and Music Entertainment (IE), Libra Film Productions (RO), Hai Hui Entertainment (RO), sentimentalfilm (SK)
    Supported by the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the Czech State Cinematography Fund, the Romanian Film Centre

    Kill It and Leave This Town / Zabij to i wyjedz z tego miasta (Poland)
    Directed by Mariusz Wilczyński
    Produced by Studio Wilka
    Supported by the Polish Film Institute