12/10/2006

For several years now, Robert Gliński (Hi, Tessa) has wanted to make a film about miners who from one day to the next find themselves out of work. Having finally got together a production budget, the team has just started shooting the new film, Benek.

While producers at Apple Film were seeking financing for the production, young directors such as Sławomir Fabicki, Robert Krzempek and Marek Stacharski succeeded in making their own films, which, like Benek, are set in the same industrial region of Upper Silesia and depict the same social problems – a scenario not new to the Polish film industry at the moment.

The main protagonist – Benek, a shy and simple miner (Marcin Tyrol) – is suddenly made redundant. His life falls apart and he has to start from scratch by learning to approach others, overcome his shyness, and come up with a solution to succeed in life.

Although Gliński’s story is based on unfortunate events that befell several Silesian families following the closure of mines in the 1990s, the film also has its share of comedy, as the storyline – written by Irena Morawska and Jerzy Morawski – is not unlike that of Peter Cattaneo’s The Full Monty.

The film’s cast features Silesian actors, such as Mirosława Żak, Krystyna Ulewicz, Zbigniew Stryj, Magdalena Popławska, Andrzej Mastalerz. Photography is by Jan Budzowski and set design by Anna Wunderlich (Collector by Feliks Falk, My Nikofor by Krzysztof Krauze).

Benek is being co-produced by Apple Film Production and Telewizja Polska (TVP), Canal+ Polska and the Polish Film Institute (PISF). The production has also received funding from the European Union MEDIA programme.

(Translated from French)