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16-06-2011

Moscow IFF Competition: Joanna

By Katarzyna Grynienko

    Feliks Falk, one of the masters of Polish cinema, returns with Joanna, a moving story of love and courage set during WWII.

    {mosimage}Joanna is the story of a young Polish pianist who has to cope alone while she waits for her husband to come back from the front. She meets a little Jewish girl named Rose whose mother was taken by the German soldiers and decides to take care of her. Joanna knows that she cannot keep Rose with her as she is already under observation, but she fails to find a hiding spot for Rose and is forced to become the lover of a German officer in return for protection. Her Polish family and members of the fighting underground decide to punish her for fraternizing with the enemy.

    Falk is a prominent film and theater director, with over 20 movies as well as film scripts, theater plays, and television and radio productions. A graduate of the Academy of Arts and Directing faculty at the Łódź Film School (www.filmschool.lodz.pl), he is also a painter and a graphic artists. Falk is a leader of the Polish "cinema of moral anxiety" with his Top Dog and Chance as the main representatives of the genre. His film prizes include Best Directing for Bohater Roku (Man Of The Year) and AWOL during the Gdynia PFP (www.fpff.pl) and the 2005 Polish Eagles Award (www.fundacjapolskieorly.pl) as well as Golden Lions Award for the Polish Oscar candidate movie The Collector.

    {mosimage}Joanna was shot in October and November 2009 in Krakow. The film was produced by Akson Studio (www.akson-studio.pl) with a budget of 4.6 million PLN (EUR 1.1 million) with 2.3 million PLN financing from the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl) and 500,000 PLN from the National Culture Center (www.nck.pl).

    Joanna is distributed in Poland by ITI Cinema (www.iticinema.com.pl).


    Credits:
    Director - Feliks Falk

    Screenwriter - Feliks Falk

    Cinematographer - Piotr Śliskowski

    Music - Bartłomiej Gliniak

    Set design - Anna Wunderlich

    Costumes - Magdalena Biedrzycka

    Production managers - Paweł Gabryś, Dagmara Bończyk

    Producer - Michał Kwieciński

    Production company - Akson Studio

    Co-financing - Polish Film Institute, National Culture Center


    Cast:
    Urszula Grabowska, Stanisława Celińska, Sara Knothe, Joachim Assböeck

    Production contact:

    Akson Studio Sp. z o.o.

    ul. Stępińska 22/30
    00-739 Warszawa

    NIP 521-341-70-63

    tel. 022 840.68.34
    fax 022 841.77.82

    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


    SPONSORED by Moscow International Film Festival
    http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/