09/02/2007

Marcin Janos Krawczyk’s Rendez-vous , produced by the Wajda Master School, is the only Polish film in official competition at the 2007 Berlinale and will take part in the shorts category.

Krawczyk – a young director and graduate of the Wrocław Theatre School – made the film as part of his training in documentary filmmaking at the Wajda Master School.

Rendez-vous centres on two mentally handicapped characters who are busy planning their life together. Their intimate encounter shows viewers the value of simple things, often ignored by most.

Krawczyk’s short was acclaimed by juries at two Polish festivals: the third Integracja Ty i Ja European Film Festival in Koszalin and Warsaw’s FeFe–Felliniada Festival. The title will also screen in competition at the 29th Cinéma du Réel International Documentary Film Festival at the Centre Pompidou in Paris (March 9-18).

Apart from Krawczyk’s short, several other events reinforce the Polish presence at the Berlinale. The Forum section features Argentinean/Greek/Polish (Scorpio Studio) co-production Ines de Oliveira Cezar’s Extranjera, starring Polish actor Maciej Robakiewicz; and Hungarian director Marta Meszaros (Daughters of Luck; The Seventh Room), who lives and often works in Poland, will be presented with the Berlinale Camera Award on February 13.

Lastly, Oscar winner Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (for Best Original Score on Marc Forster’s Finding Neverland) is set to attract a large audience at a workshop the composer will hold as part of the Berlinale Talent Campus.

(Translated from French)