01-08-2014

FNE at New Horizons Polish Days 2014: New Polish Projects Showcased

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    WROCLAW: A special industry event showcases nine up-coming Polish projects were showcased at the Polish Days during the 14 T-Mobile New Horizons Festival held 24 July-3 August 2014. New titles from leading Polish directors Wojciech Szmarzowski, Maciej Pieprzyca and Piotr Trzaskalski were included in the three day event.

    Below we present the five of the upcoming film projects showcased during Polish Days.

    Hungry

    This full length feature project from director Katarzyna Klimkiewicz is a thriller set in 10th century Poland exploring the themes of  religious identity and the clash of nature vs culture. The script follows the story of Luba, the 16-year-old daughter of a knight who learns that she turns into a bloody mystical creature. The director plans to create a thriller set to the background of the reality of paganism that was cultivated alongside Christianity long after it was introduced in Poland.

    "There is no company attached to this project yet. I have just completed a first draft of the script with a support of the Polish Film Institute (PISF) . I chose Polish Days to present this work for the first time to film industry. My aim is to find people who want to join me on a journey of making this script into a film." said the director.

    Production contact:
    Katarzyna Klimkiewicz
     This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


    I'm The Killer

    Diretor of the highly internationally praised Life Feels Good Maciej Pieprzyca is in development with a feature drama inspired by the story of one of the most notorious Polish serial killer Zdzisław Marchwicki, nicknamed ‘the Monster of Zagłębie’. In 1975, he was sentenced to death for killing fourteen women and six murder attempts. The film is in the development stage with production planned for 2-16/2017 with a planned budget of 1.5 m EUR. The producers are Renata Czarnkowska-Listoś and Maria Gołoś and their company RE Studio.

    "In 1998, I made a documentary film, which went back to the story of Zdzisław Marchwicki, nicknamed ‘the Monster of Zagłębie’, who was considered one of the biggest murderers of women in Europe. After many years, I was the first to present a different version of this notorious case, which still arouses strong emotions. The story of the protagonist reflects the motifs known from literature and film, e.g. the one from Macbeth or the Faustian theme – for Jerzy, like the main character of Mephisto by István Szabó, flirts with totalitarian power, maneuvering within the system and naively believing that he can still be a decent man." said the director.

    Production contact:
    RE Studio
    Maria Gołoś
    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    Renata Czarnkowska
    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    www.re-studop.pl


    All Gone Mad

    The Polish filmmaker Aleksandra Niemczyk, internationally recognized for her short works produced both in Poland and Norway, is in development with her feature debut inspired by Fiodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Crocodile. The script follows the happenings in a small town and it's community after a trainer of exotic animals appears with plans to open
    a special Tropical Park called The Jungle. When a crime mixes up the plans for this new endeavour, the true colors of the town's citizens come out. The film is in the early stages of development with an extetended first draft of the script ready and production planned for 2017 with an estimated budget of 850 000 EUR. The producer is Marta Habior and her company No Sugar Films (www.nosugarfilms.com).

    "Sadly, while reading Dostoyevsky’s brilliant, funny, incredible story I couldn’t help but notice how current, valid and universal this story actually is. I decided to tell the story of this extraordinary incident in new, contemporary way with its universal and timeless message." said the director.

    Production contact:

    No Sugar Films Sp. z o.o.
    ul. Domaniewska 47/10
    02-672 Warszawa
    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    www.nosugarfilms.com

    Maya + Theo and the Others

    The Polish filmmaker active both in Poland and the USA Filip Kasperaszek is in development with his feature debut Maya + Theot and the Others, a moving love story that launches with a scene of a young beautiful woman trying to jump off of the George Washington bridge. By her side there is a man, who tries to stop her and puts his own life in her hands - if she jumps, so will he. The film is in the development stage with production planned for 2015 and a planned bidget of 1.5m EUR with development financing from the Polish Film Institiute (www.pisf.pl) already in place. The producers of the film are Przemysław Miękinia and Magdalena Sztorc of the Before My Eyes company. The world sales are still open for this title.

    "What moves me about this story is mainly how universal it is. Love affects everyone no matter how hard we try to avoid or deny it. I have been working on this story for over 2 years now. I believed in it and therefore am willing to work for the next few years. The process slowly turned into a form of therapy. With co-writer, Kule Novak, we are trying to analyze and understand situations that very often take place in relationships." said the director.


    Production contact:
    Before Me Eyes
    ul. Słowackiego 5/13 m.71
    01-592 Warszawa
    tel. kom. +48 697 921 642
    Przemysław Miękinia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    Magdalena Sztorc, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    Volhynia

    One of the most popular and accomplished Polish filmmakers Wojciech Samrzowski is in production with his new drama entitled Volhynia, inspired by one of the most tragic events in Polish-Ukrainian history. The story will span over 6 years from Spring 1939 to Summer of 1945. Through our main hero’s – Zosia Głowacka – eyes we witness the unfolding of events triggered by the outbreak of the II World War and the the Volhynian massacre of 1943. The production launched in Spring 2014 with some initial photography already made and
    production planned up to 2016 with an estimated budget of 3.6m EUR and over 2m EUR of financing from the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl) already in place. The producer is Dariusz Pietrykowski of the company Film It.

    "The 2nd WW genocide in the eastern territories of pre-war Poland is the subject of the film. It is a theme that so far has been avoided by filmmakers. It is important in view of the present day reconciliation between Poles and Ukrainians, because there cannot be a reconciliation without exposing the truth. Forgetting past crimes opens way to new ones. I aim at making a meaningful film that shows the complexity of Polish-Ukrainian relations, avoids black-and-white stereotypes and recreates a lost world of multicultural eastern borderlands of pre-war Poland." said the director.

    Production contact:
    Feliks Pastusiak
    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
     +48 500 240 177
    www.filmit.com.pl


    The Polish Days are organized by the IFF T-Mobile New Horizons (www.nowehoryzonty.pl) in co-operation with Odra Film (www.odra-film.wroc.pl) and Wrocław Film Commision (wroclawfilmcommission.pl).