Results 2006 (2): Production boom
Polish film industry professionals are keeping their fingers crossed that the rise in the number of domestic titles released in 2006 (28 compared to 18 in 2005) was not just a flash in the pan, but rather a sign of things to come. The chances that this trend will continue are real, however, especially given the success of the new Polish Film Institute (PISF).
According to distributors, over 30 new films will be released in 2007. These include a wave of big-budget historical productions, some of which are by well-known directors.
Among the most eagerly awaited titles are Andrzej Wajda’s Post Mortem, which deals with the Katyn massacre of Polish officers by Stalin’s secret services (see news); and Juliusz Machulski’s Kurier z Warszawy (lit. “The Courier from Warsaw”), a portrait of Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, who was an important figure in the anti-communist resistance, a former director of the Polish section of Radio Free Europe and an advisor to the White House on Eastern European affairs.
Other releases being awaited with bated breath include Dariusz Gajewski and Przemysław Nowakowski’s film about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1944, Ostatnia niedziela (lit. “The Last Sunday”), and Rafał Wieczyński’s Popiełuszko, the story of a priest condemned by the Communist regime and tortured to death in 1984 by three secret service officers.
Krzysztof Zanussi is jumping on the historical bandwagon as well with Królowa Jadwiga (lit. “Queen Jadwiga”). The Hungarian (Aron Sipos z Focus Film)/Austrian/Italian co-production on King Wladyslaw Jagiello will shoot in 2007-2008. Also in 2007, Zanussi will present his new title Black Sun, which was filmed in Italy.
This year looks set to be one of co-productions by renowned filmmakers. After Peter Greenaway’s Nightwatching [+see also:
trailer
film profile] ) and Volker Schlöndorff’s Strike, films that will shoot in Poland include These Times by Ken Loach, The Brothers Karamazov by Petr Zelenka, The Hunchback by Jeno Hodi and The Little White Horse by Oliver Parker.
(Translated from French)
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