19/12/2011

After its premiere at Locarno and its nomination for the European Film Awards, Grzegorz Jaroszuk’s short film Frozen Stories will screen in competition at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival (January 19-29, 2012) in the Narrative Short Films section. Produced by Lodz Film School and Easybusyproductions, this student film has also received many other honours, including the Grand Jury Prize at the AFI festival in Los Angeles (in the Live Action Short category) and the Grand Jury Prize at the 34th Henri Langlois Meetings (International Film Schools Festival held in Poitiers).

The story centres on two young people: a girl and a boy who work in a supermarket. Named as the worst employees in the store, they have to find new goals in their life in the space of two days. The pretext for this turning point in their destiny is their participation in a TV game show called "The most unfortunate one of the month".

Frozen Stories, which plays with the borders of the grotesque and irony, injects many visible elements of humour. The director explained: "I think that the audience needs light-hearted films, not just intensely serious dramas or stupid comedies. What happens to the characters is a bit absurd. But I drew inspiration from true stories that people tell. I love listening to these stories. The alcoholic cat, for example, comes from one of these stories I heard".

Jaroszuk is now working on his second film which, like the first, will use the language of the grotesque. This time, he will focus on three people who want to commit suicide and fail in their attempts.

(Translated from French)