18-10-2007

Jakimowski did the Trick: Second feature sold to Benelux

By Jorn Rossing Jensen

    Warsaw (CentEast Daily News) -- In one of the first deals at this year's CentEast Market, Polish director Andrzej Jakimowski's Tricks (Sztuczki) - which opened the Warsaw International Film Festival - was licensed on Thursday (Oct. 18) to Dutch distributor Filmmuseum for the Benelux countries.

    "We haven't distributed a Polish film for years - not since Kieslowski, I think - but I immediately fell for Tricks when I saw it in Venice," explained head of acquisitions René Wolf. "We are yet to discuss the release schedule for the rest of the Benelux, but the film will screen at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in January, with Jakimowski present, so it is most likely we will launch it in the Netherlands in early April."

    A distributor for 60 years, Filmmuseum releases 10-15 film annually, including one-third classics, one-third new masters of cinema, and one-third first or second features. Recent acquisitions include Romanian director Cristian Nemescu's California Dreamin'.

    Jakimowski's follow-up on Squint Your Eyes (Zmruz oczy/2003), which won the IFF Kinotavr in Socchi, five awards at the Polish National Film Festival in Gdynia and five Polish Golden Eagles (the local Oscars), Tricks had its international première in the Venice Days selection, where it bagged the Europa Cinemas Label and the Laterna Magica Award.
    It has also been picked up for festivals in Mannheim-Heidelberg, Tokyo and Sao Paolo. Starring Damian Ul and Ewelina Walendziak, it follows a six-year-old boy and his 17-year-old sister, as he starts a series of events to get closer to their father who left the family for another woman.