10-09-2007

Saviours Square in competition for European Film Awards

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    Saviour's Square, a film by Joanna Kos-Krauze and Krzysztof Krauze, qualified as the sole Polish production among 42 films selected by the European Film Academy (www.europeanfilmacademy.org) for this year's European Film Awards. The selection also included films from Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey.

    Saviour's Square, about the crisis of a contemporary family in Poland, won top prizes at last year's Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, and premiered in May at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. It was produced by the Zebra Film Studio (www.zebrafilm.pl) and TVP SA Film Agency (ww2.tvp.pl) and subsidized by the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl),

    The film will compete for nomination for the European Film Awards within 14 categories, among them: Best European Film 2007, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Cinematography and Best Music. Nominations will be announced at the European Film Festival in Seville on Nov. 3.

    "Being qualified for the so-called short list for the EFA is great news," said film producer Juliusz Machulski in a statement issued by the academy. "Selection for this group of films brings hope that the Polish production will arouse interest among European producers and distributors. They will have an opportunity to see the film and I am content with that."

    Among other entries from Central and Eastern Europe are Romania's 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days by Cristian Mungiu, the Palme d'Or winner at Cannes; from the Czech Republic, I Served the King of England by Jiri Menzel; another Czech film, Empties, by Jan Sverak, and the Hungarian film Without Mercy directed by Elemér Ragályi

    Also named were the French-Czech-UK co-production La Vie en Rose directed by Olivier Dahan, the Bulgarian-German co-production Christmas Tree Upside Down directed by Ivan Cherkelov and Vassal Zhivkov, and the German-Turkish co-production The Edge of Heaven directed by Fatih Akin.

    In coming weeks, Saviour's Square will premiere at film festivals in Hamburg, Germany as well as Canada, Israel, Chicago, Belgium, Ireland, England and Spain. The European Film Awards ceremony will be held in Berlin on Dec. 1