06/07/2005

The makers of Poland’s entry in the 40th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival official competition program hope that their work, if it wins, will inspire others in their home country. But inspire not only the filmmakers but also the lawmakers.
Muj Nikifor (“My Nikifor”) is the portrait of famed Polish painter Nikifor Krynicki, who was discovered in 1960 by academic painter, Marian Wlosinski. The latter, fascinated by Nikifor's work, gave up his own work and even his family life to understand the phenomenon of the physically and mentally disabled man. “We were fascinated by the fact that the hero is somebody that sacrifices his own life in caring for the art of another” director Krysztof Krauze says. The road from idea to the film counts 16. That’s how many years Joanna Kos-Krauze, the co-author carried in her bag a book about Nikifor, taken by mistake from the public library.
Those who saw the industry screenings found it a strong, emotional work which rather unusually casts actress Krystyna Feldman, as the main character. Krauze admits that because some of the heroes are still alive they had to shoot in a way as not to offend any of them while Feldman’s face somehow resembles that of Nikifor.

They also had to shoot in HD and then transfer to film to save for what in reality is a low-budget production. “It couldn’t be otherwise,” explains producer Juliusz Machulski. “In Poland we produce thanks to state-run sources but the finance is limited – our partners are mainly public TV and to some extend commercial TV and private investors or sponsors”.
Machulski argues that only the much expected vote in of a new film law will bring about change in Polish cinema. “The first step is the creation of the Polish Film Institute. The next step, which we as producers are very much in favor, is an approval of a French-like system that roughly requires a 1,5 percent tax-return of the sales of distributors and television. The money earned will go back to the film business. Only then we can say that a real professional cinema industry is created”.
The film, which is produced by Zebra Film Productions in co-production with TVP SA - Film Agency is sold in the Japanese market, but it does not yet have an international sales agent.