Poland’s Jakub Piątek returns to Sundance with his new doc, “Pianoforte,” taking on the cutthroat Chopin Piano Competition. Held every five years since 1927 — and famous for discovering new pianists trying to qualify for its prestigious finale — it can make or break a promising career. Film premieres Jan. 20.
“It’s like ‘Game of Thrones’: everyone has one goal,” he tells Variety. “Every few days, half of them go home. It’s brutal, but great for a film.”
Piątek’s feature fiction debut, “Prime Time,” starring “Corpus Christi” breakout Bartosz Bielenia, premiered at Sundance in 2021. Now, he is hoping that the festival’s stamp of approval will help him reach more people than just music aficionados.
“It’s not like I used to listen to classical music either. I am a bit of a barbarian in this world, but this ‘civilian’ perspective can be helpful. I can ask the most basic questions,...
“It’s like ‘Game of Thrones’: everyone has one goal,” he tells Variety. “Every few days, half of them go home. It’s brutal, but great for a film.”
Piątek’s feature fiction debut, “Prime Time,” starring “Corpus Christi” breakout Bartosz Bielenia, premiered at Sundance in 2021. Now, he is hoping that the festival’s stamp of approval will help him reach more people than just music aficionados.
“It’s not like I used to listen to classical music either. I am a bit of a barbarian in this world, but this ‘civilian’ perspective can be helpful. I can ask the most basic questions,...
- 1/20/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Connecting Cottbus took place November 9-11.
Polish writer-director Sonja Orlewicz-Zakrzewska’s debut feature Dolphin was voted as the best pitch at the 24th edition of the East-West Co-Production Market Connecting Cottbus, which took place during FilmFestival Cottbus.
Orlewicz-Zakrzewska and her producer Magdalena Sztorc of Warsaw-based Before My Eyes also received the Croatian Audiovisual Centre’s Project Development Award of € 5,000 toward the project’s further development.
The project, described as “an intimate dramedy with a surreal touch”, sees a singer’s boyfriend coming back from holiday with a dolphin growing inside his belly. Orlewicz-Zakrzewska said that “using the role reversal...
Polish writer-director Sonja Orlewicz-Zakrzewska’s debut feature Dolphin was voted as the best pitch at the 24th edition of the East-West Co-Production Market Connecting Cottbus, which took place during FilmFestival Cottbus.
Orlewicz-Zakrzewska and her producer Magdalena Sztorc of Warsaw-based Before My Eyes also received the Croatian Audiovisual Centre’s Project Development Award of € 5,000 toward the project’s further development.
The project, described as “an intimate dramedy with a surreal touch”, sees a singer’s boyfriend coming back from holiday with a dolphin growing inside his belly. Orlewicz-Zakrzewska said that “using the role reversal...
- 11/11/2022
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Jason Mitchell (Mudbound) and Bartosz Bielenia (Corpus Christi) have joined Jacek Braciak (Leave No Traces) for historical action title Scarborn, based on the story of Polish general and revolutionary war hero Tadeusz Kościuszko who is best known for fighting at George Washington’s side in the American War of Independence.
The project, which is the directed by Pawel Maślona and has just wrapped its shoot, also stars Robert Wieckiewicz (In Darkness) and Agnieszka Grochowska (Leave No Traces). Daniel Baur’s K5 International has boarded worldwide sales on the project.
Scarborn, which is written by Michał A. Zieliński, sees Kościuszko (Braciak) and his African American friend and former slave Domingo (Mitchell) return to Poland to organize an uprising and fight against the Russian invasion by mobilizing the Polish nobility and peasants. They are followed by a ruthless Russian captain, Dunin (Wieckiewicz) who wants to capture the general at any cost...
The project, which is the directed by Pawel Maślona and has just wrapped its shoot, also stars Robert Wieckiewicz (In Darkness) and Agnieszka Grochowska (Leave No Traces). Daniel Baur’s K5 International has boarded worldwide sales on the project.
Scarborn, which is written by Michał A. Zieliński, sees Kościuszko (Braciak) and his African American friend and former slave Domingo (Mitchell) return to Poland to organize an uprising and fight against the Russian invasion by mobilizing the Polish nobility and peasants. They are followed by a ruthless Russian captain, Dunin (Wieckiewicz) who wants to capture the general at any cost...
- 8/1/2022
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
Photo: ‘Prime Time’/Netflix Technical difficulties aren’t usually accompanied by hostages and a gun, but these are. A 2021 Sundance pick directed by Jakub Piatek comes to Netflix starring Bartosz Bielenia as Sebastian, a young man that locks himself in a TV studio on New Year’s Eve 1999 taking the host and security guard hostage. History This fast-paced drama hits the ground running wasting no time with introductions. Within minutes the viewer is sucked into the dangerous situation that is based on true events when men stormed a television studio during the same time period. The film is taken place in Poland, December 31st, 1999. Before the day it was believed for the world to end. People overstocking on non-perishable items and waiting for the technology around them to fail at midnight. Though the phrase Y2K was never uttered in the film, the start of a new millennium was enough to get people worked up.
- 7/3/2021
- by Jack Colin
- Hollywood Insider - Substance & Meaningful Entertainment
After roiling a Polish village as an impostor priest in Oscar-nominated “Corpus Christi,” star Bartosz Bielenia tries to rattle the entire nation in “Prime Time.” His character here is another malcontent, this one armed and ready to take over a TV studio on New Year’s Eve with a special message for the world. But he’s a bit too literally a rebel without a cause: We never discover just what this protagonist’s protesting gripe is. That lack makes director Jakub Piatek and co-writer Lukasz Czapski’s first feature a familiar hostage drama whose anticipated narrative raison d’etre is strangely Mia. The slick, watchable but ultimately somewhat pointless results, which premiered at Sundance six months ago, launch worldwide on Netflix June 30.
It’s New Year’s Eve 1999 at a Krakow network affiliate, and despite the Y2K fears glimpsed on other stations’ broadcasts, just another night’s labor for the staff here.
It’s New Year’s Eve 1999 at a Krakow network affiliate, and despite the Y2K fears glimpsed on other stations’ broadcasts, just another night’s labor for the staff here.
- 6/29/2021
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
In 1999, Mira Kryle (Magdalena Popławska) runs to the studio; she's almost late. The presenter is supposed to conduct the TV contest on the occasion of New Year's Eve. The prize in the competition is quite something for the 1999/2000 year; it's the Matiz car, one of Poland's most popular vehicles at the time. The frivolous atmosphere swiftly transforms into something more ominous, and Mira wishes that she was late when Sebastian (Bartosz Bielenia) enters the place with a gun and takes Mira and a security guard, Grzegorz (Andrzej Kłak) hostage. Prime Time, directed by Jakub Piątek, is his directorial feature debut that premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. The film touches upon the issues of incompetence of those in charge in tough situations, mass media, and displays Poland's picture at the beginning of the new millennium.
Sebastian has only one demand; he wants to go live and talk to the audience across Poland.
Sebastian has only one demand; he wants to go live and talk to the audience across Poland.
- 2/4/2021
- by Zofia Wijaszka
- DailyDead
Jakub Piątek’s feature debut Prime Time is a thriller set in the deadly world of broadcast television. In 1999, a youth named Sebastian (Bartosz Bielenia) hijacks a TV studio, taking two hostages along the way. His reasons for doing this slowly unravel, including to himself. Dp Michał Łuka tells us how they captured the youthful rebelliousness of the ’90s in shooting. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Łuka: I think every time it’s a whole spectrum of both […]
The post "It's a Conflict of Ideas": Dp Michał Łuka on Prime Time first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "It's a Conflict of Ideas": Dp Michał Łuka on Prime Time first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/3/2021
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Jakub Piątek’s feature debut Prime Time is a thriller set in the deadly world of broadcast television. In 1999, a youth named Sebastian (Bartosz Bielenia) hijacks a TV studio, taking two hostages along the way. His reasons for doing this slowly unravel, including to himself. Dp Michał Łuka tells us how they captured the youthful rebelliousness of the ’90s in shooting. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Łuka: I think every time it’s a whole spectrum of both […]
The post "It's a Conflict of Ideas": Dp Michał Łuka on Prime Time first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "It's a Conflict of Ideas": Dp Michał Łuka on Prime Time first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/3/2021
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
“Prime Time,” initially, opens with a beguiling premise. It’s New Year’s Eve in Poland, and the world is mere hours from the year 2000, a new millennium. In a television station, amidst the glamorous bystanders adorned in fur coats and evening fineries, is an apprehensive Sebastian (Bartosz Bielenia). A kid dressed in an oversized jacket and baseball cap concerned with his desperate mission. That night Mira (Magdalena Poplawska), a primadonna television host, is auctioning off prizes like a spanking new car to viewers whilst people celebrate worldwide.
Continue reading ‘Prime Time’: A Hostage Flick Shrinks In The Spotlight [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Prime Time’: A Hostage Flick Shrinks In The Spotlight [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.
- 1/31/2021
- by Robert Daniels
- The Playlist
Pop culture, entertainment, hedonism—they’re all different sides to the same brain atrophy. Well, that’s how Sebastian (Bartosz Bielenia) sees it. He’s a 20-year-old kid with a statement to prove and he isn’t above going postal to do it. The main wrinkle in his plan is that he needs other people to see it, and everyone else is too busy ringing in the new millennium. Yep, there are only four hours left of 1999 in Warsaw when Sebastian enters a television studio with a gun and a backpack. Soon enough, he also has two hostages. One is the TV host, Mira (Magdalena Poplawska), the other a security guard (Andrzej Kłak).
But while this sort of pressure cooker seems like it’d play out in real-time, it doesn’t. This standoff goes on for four hours, but Jakub Piatek’s Prime Time is only 93 minutes including credits. Maybe...
But while this sort of pressure cooker seems like it’d play out in real-time, it doesn’t. This standoff goes on for four hours, but Jakub Piatek’s Prime Time is only 93 minutes including credits. Maybe...
- 1/31/2021
- by Matt Cipolla
- The Film Stage
When Polish filmmaker Jakub Piotek sat down to conceptualize his feature debut, “Prime Time” — a thriller about a desperate young man who takes hostages inside a television studio on New Year’s Eve in 1999 — the era kind of spoke for itself.
“First of all, we thought television back then was really important — going there live was a big deal,” he explains in an interview at the Gold Derby Virtual Sundance Studio. “That’s the TV I remember from my childhood, I was raised with the TV on in my parents’ room. That was my window to the world.” Piotek grew up after the fall of communism in his country and says the “colorful island” provided by television stood in stark contrast to the “gray and gloomy” real world.
But there was also a resonance to today: “1999 was significantly similar to what we’re living through right now,” the director says,...
“First of all, we thought television back then was really important — going there live was a big deal,” he explains in an interview at the Gold Derby Virtual Sundance Studio. “That’s the TV I remember from my childhood, I was raised with the TV on in my parents’ room. That was my window to the world.” Piotek grew up after the fall of communism in his country and says the “colorful island” provided by television stood in stark contrast to the “gray and gloomy” real world.
But there was also a resonance to today: “1999 was significantly similar to what we’re living through right now,” the director says,...
- 1/30/2021
- by Christopher Rosen
- Gold Derby
Jakub Piątek’s feature debut Prime Time is a thriller set in the deadly world of broadcast television. In 1999, a youth named Sebastian (Bartosz Bielenia) hijacks a TV studio, taking two hostages along the way. His reasons for doing this slowly unravel, including to himself. Editor Jarosław Kamiński walks us through the chaos of Prime Time’s editing and how best to portray a shifting protagonist’s emotional states. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Kamiński: Jakub Piątek, the director of Prime […]
The post "Our Goal Was to Show Precisely His Changing Emotional States": Editor Jarosław Kamiński on Prime Time first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "Our Goal Was to Show Precisely His Changing Emotional States": Editor Jarosław Kamiński on Prime Time first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/30/2021
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Jakub Piątek’s feature debut Prime Time is a thriller set in the deadly world of broadcast television. In 1999, a youth named Sebastian (Bartosz Bielenia) hijacks a TV studio, taking two hostages along the way. His reasons for doing this slowly unravel, including to himself. Editor Jarosław Kamiński walks us through the chaos of Prime Time’s editing and how best to portray a shifting protagonist’s emotional states. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Kamiński: Jakub Piątek, the director of Prime […]
The post "Our Goal Was to Show Precisely His Changing Emotional States": Editor Jarosław Kamiński on Prime Time first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "Our Goal Was to Show Precisely His Changing Emotional States": Editor Jarosław Kamiński on Prime Time first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/30/2021
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Izabela Kiszka’s boutique sales agency Ikh Pictures Promotion has boarded hostage thriller “Prime Time,” which will have its world premiere in Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition section. The Polish film stars Bartosz Bielenia, who broke through in Oscar nominated “Corpus Christi.” Variety spoke to director Jakub Piątek about his debut feature.
“Prime Time,” cowritten by Piątek and Łukasz Czapski, takes place on the final day of 1999. Twenty-year-old Sebastian locks himself in a TV studio in Poland, and takes two people – a celebrity presenter, played by Magdalena Popławska, and a security guard, played by Andrzej Kłak – hostage at gunpoint. The young man demands to be allowed to broadcast a statement to the nation, but has to negotiate with the police and the broadcaster.
Kiszka, who founded Ikh Pictures Promotion in 2018 to support emerging young talent, described the film as “powerful and timely.” She said: “The pandemic and...
“Prime Time,” cowritten by Piątek and Łukasz Czapski, takes place on the final day of 1999. Twenty-year-old Sebastian locks himself in a TV studio in Poland, and takes two people – a celebrity presenter, played by Magdalena Popławska, and a security guard, played by Andrzej Kłak – hostage at gunpoint. The young man demands to be allowed to broadcast a statement to the nation, but has to negotiate with the police and the broadcaster.
Kiszka, who founded Ikh Pictures Promotion in 2018 to support emerging young talent, described the film as “powerful and timely.” She said: “The pandemic and...
- 1/8/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
As with most festivals in a pandemic world, Slamdance Film Festival is changing things up with their 2021 edition. Moving a few weeks back to February 12-25, no longer directly competing with Sundance Film Festival, the festival will be taking place primarily virtually. In quite a feat of accessibility, a full festival pass is also now available for free––if you secure yours by December 31st. After that, they are going up to $10, which is still a steal.
The festival has also announced its full lineup, with 25 features along with 107 shorts and episodic. Films, Q&As, and panels will be available on Slamdance.com, AppleTV, Roku, Firestick, and YouTube, while in-person events will take place in Joshua Tree with drive-ins open to the public on February 13th and 14th as well as the closing night screening at a Los Angeles drive-in on February 25.
Check out the lineup below and reserve your festival pass here.
The festival has also announced its full lineup, with 25 features along with 107 shorts and episodic. Films, Q&As, and panels will be available on Slamdance.com, AppleTV, Roku, Firestick, and YouTube, while in-person events will take place in Joshua Tree with drive-ins open to the public on February 13th and 14th as well as the closing night screening at a Los Angeles drive-in on February 25.
Check out the lineup below and reserve your festival pass here.
- 12/1/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Thomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round,” starring Mads Mikkelsen, leads the race for the 33rd European Film Awards, alongside Jan Komasa’s Oscar nominated “Corpus Christi” and Pietro Marcello’s “Martin Eden.” Each film has four nominations.
“Another Round” took nominations for best film, director, actor for Mikkelsen, and screenwriter for Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm. The film won the Audience Award at London Film Festival, and best actor, jointly for the four male leads, at San Sebastian.
“Corpus Christi” will compete for best film, director, actor for Bartosz Bielenia, and screenwriter for Mateusz Pacewicz.
“Martin Eden” is short-listed in the best film category, as well as director, actor for Luca Marinelli (who won best actor with the film at Venice last year), and screenwriter for Marcello and Maurizio Braucci.
Three films scored two nominations each. Burhan Qurbani’s “Berlin Alexanderplatz” competes for best film, and screenwriter for Martin Behnke and Qurbani.
“Another Round” took nominations for best film, director, actor for Mikkelsen, and screenwriter for Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm. The film won the Audience Award at London Film Festival, and best actor, jointly for the four male leads, at San Sebastian.
“Corpus Christi” will compete for best film, director, actor for Bartosz Bielenia, and screenwriter for Mateusz Pacewicz.
“Martin Eden” is short-listed in the best film category, as well as director, actor for Luca Marinelli (who won best actor with the film at Venice last year), and screenwriter for Marcello and Maurizio Braucci.
Three films scored two nominations each. Burhan Qurbani’s “Berlin Alexanderplatz” competes for best film, and screenwriter for Martin Behnke and Qurbani.
- 11/10/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Nominations for feature film and documentary up from five to six.
The nominations for the 2020 European Film Awards have been unveiled, with the size of two key categories extended as a result of the virus crisis.
The categories for best feature and best documentary have each been increased from five to six to offer more exposure to titles and artists impacted by cinema closures and release delays during the pandemic.
Scroll down for full list of nominees
The films nominated in the best European Film category are Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round, Berhan Qurbani’s Berlin Alexanderplatz, Jan Komasa’s Corpus Christi,...
The nominations for the 2020 European Film Awards have been unveiled, with the size of two key categories extended as a result of the virus crisis.
The categories for best feature and best documentary have each been increased from five to six to offer more exposure to titles and artists impacted by cinema closures and release delays during the pandemic.
Scroll down for full list of nominees
The films nominated in the best European Film category are Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round, Berhan Qurbani’s Berlin Alexanderplatz, Jan Komasa’s Corpus Christi,...
- 11/10/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The European Film Academy has unveiled the nominations for its 2020 awards, which will take place virtually across a series of online events December 8-12.
Leading the way are Another Round, Corpus Christi, and Martin Eden which have four nominations apiece, including for European Film 2020. Joining them in that main category are Berlin Alexanderplatz, The Painted Bird, and Undine.
Nominated for European Documentary are: Acasa, My Home; Collective; Gunda; Little Girl; Saudi Runaway; and The Cave.
In the European Director category, joining Thomas Vinterberg for Another Round, Jan Komasa for Corpus Christi, and Pietro Marcello for Martin Eden are Agnieszka Holland for Charlatan, Francois Ozon for Summer Of 85, and Maria Sødahl for Hope.
The European Actress nominees are: Paula Beer (Udine); Natasha Berezhnaya (Dau. Natasha); Andrea Bræin Hovig (Hope); Ane Dahl Torp (Charter); Nina Hoss (My Little Sister); and Marta Nieto (Mother).
Up for European actor: Bartosz Bielenia (Corpus Christi...
Leading the way are Another Round, Corpus Christi, and Martin Eden which have four nominations apiece, including for European Film 2020. Joining them in that main category are Berlin Alexanderplatz, The Painted Bird, and Undine.
Nominated for European Documentary are: Acasa, My Home; Collective; Gunda; Little Girl; Saudi Runaway; and The Cave.
In the European Director category, joining Thomas Vinterberg for Another Round, Jan Komasa for Corpus Christi, and Pietro Marcello for Martin Eden are Agnieszka Holland for Charlatan, Francois Ozon for Summer Of 85, and Maria Sødahl for Hope.
The European Actress nominees are: Paula Beer (Udine); Natasha Berezhnaya (Dau. Natasha); Andrea Bræin Hovig (Hope); Ane Dahl Torp (Charter); Nina Hoss (My Little Sister); and Marta Nieto (Mother).
Up for European actor: Bartosz Bielenia (Corpus Christi...
- 11/10/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Pietro Marcello’s Martin Eden, Jan Komasa’s Corpus Christi and Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round lead the nominations for the 2020 awards. For the European Film Academy, 2020 is about social class, religion and… alcohol. Announced today, the leading nominees for the upcoming 33rd European Film Awards, which will take place in a virtual ceremony streamed from Berlin on 12 December (read news), are Pietro Marcello’s Martin Eden, Jan Komasa’s Corpus Christi and Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round. All three have garnered four nominations, coincidentally in the same categories: European Film, European Director, European Actor and European Screenwriter. An interesting feat for a very male trident, composed of some of the most successful films of the season, with the first two coming from last year’s edition of the Venice Film Festival, and the third hailing from the 2020 Cannes selection then later selected at...
- 11/10/2020
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
When the coronavirus pandemic arrived in Poland earlier this year, producer Jakub Razowski, of Watchout Studio (“The Coldest Game”), was already prepping a summer shoot for “Prime Time,” a thriller starring Bartosz Bielenia, fresh off his breakout role in Jan Komasa’s Oscar-nominated “Corpus Christi.”
Razowski and first-time director Jakub Piątek had cast from a deep pool of veteran stage actors, whose availability was limited to the summer months when Polish theaters traditionally go dark. If the production didn’t move forward, Razowski says, “we knew that the next possibility to book our cast would be the summer of 2021.” The cameras rolled, with cast and crew using a rigorous set of coronavirus protocols introduced by the Polish Film Institute.
“The Covid situation made everything a bit more expensive — tests, masks, liters of sanitizers, extra time for temperature checkups, consequences of working in social-distancing regime — but those costs were nothing compared...
Razowski and first-time director Jakub Piątek had cast from a deep pool of veteran stage actors, whose availability was limited to the summer months when Polish theaters traditionally go dark. If the production didn’t move forward, Razowski says, “we knew that the next possibility to book our cast would be the summer of 2021.” The cameras rolled, with cast and crew using a rigorous set of coronavirus protocols introduced by the Polish Film Institute.
“The Covid situation made everything a bit more expensive — tests, masks, liters of sanitizers, extra time for temperature checkups, consequences of working in social-distancing regime — but those costs were nothing compared...
- 11/9/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Corpus Christi (Jan Komasa)
This is exactly what director Jan Komasa and writer Mateusz Pacewicz do with their lead character Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia) in Corpus Christi. Based in part on real events, this twenty-year-old is about to be released from his detention center on parole. He’ll go to a reclusive town to work at a sawmill and maybe even build a decent life if he stays clean, but the potential he holds removed from the mark of “ex-con” is rendered moot. Despite finding God during his imprisonment and showing a desire to pursue the vocation, Polish law forbid former criminals from wearing the cloth. The one thing that...
Corpus Christi (Jan Komasa)
This is exactly what director Jan Komasa and writer Mateusz Pacewicz do with their lead character Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia) in Corpus Christi. Based in part on real events, this twenty-year-old is about to be released from his detention center on parole. He’ll go to a reclusive town to work at a sawmill and maybe even build a decent life if he stays clean, but the potential he holds removed from the mark of “ex-con” is rendered moot. Despite finding God during his imprisonment and showing a desire to pursue the vocation, Polish law forbid former criminals from wearing the cloth. The one thing that...
- 9/25/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Bartosz Bielenia, of Corpus Christi fame, stars in the leading role as an artist frustrated by his thwarted ambitions. Slovakian filmmaker and producer Juraj Lehotský, who scooped the Cicae Art Cinema Award in the Directors’ Fortnight at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival for the docudrama Blind Loves, has started principal photography on his latest feature-length fiction project, Applause. Lehotský turned to fiction filmmaking with the dramas Miracle (2013) and Nina (2017), and Applause marks his third venture into this domain. “Applause explores the ‘smallness’ of us all. It discusses how we all need to feel complete and are longing for happiness, how we define ourselves as unique, and what, in all of that, we understand as a victory,” the director says about the project. The movie follows the lives of two brothers. Matus, a talented musician, abandoned his rising career when his mother fell ill. Now, after her death, he...
Drama stars Bartosz Bielenia of Oscar-nominated ‘Corpus Christi’.
Principal photography has wrapped on Jakub Piątek’s Prime Time, which received Screen International’s Best Pitch Award at the Polish Film Days in Wroclaw in July.
Described by the director as a “fantasy about revolt and rebellion”, the feature debut is centred on 20-year-old Sebastian, who locks himself in a TV studio armed with a gun on New Year’s Eve in 1999 with two hostages - a famous TV presenter and a security guard – and demands that the TV station broadcast his message to the world in prime time.
“Just before...
Principal photography has wrapped on Jakub Piątek’s Prime Time, which received Screen International’s Best Pitch Award at the Polish Film Days in Wroclaw in July.
Described by the director as a “fantasy about revolt and rebellion”, the feature debut is centred on 20-year-old Sebastian, who locks himself in a TV studio armed with a gun on New Year’s Eve in 1999 with two hostages - a famous TV presenter and a security guard – and demands that the TV station broadcast his message to the world in prime time.
“Just before...
- 9/7/2020
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Prime Time, “a fantasy about revolt and rebellion” is the feature debut from Jakub Piątek, who also co-wrote the script. Film sets in Poland re-opened weeks ago with film crews working under sanitary restrictions and pausing if any case of coronavirus is detected. A few productions have already wrapped shooting, including Prime Time, the feature debut from Jakub Piątek, with Bartosz Bielenia (Corpus Christi) playing the lead. The story is set on New Year’s Eve 1999, in a pre-YouTube and pre-Instastory era, when television was pretty much the only platform able to reach millions. Sebastian (Bielenia) wants to use it for his own purpose and breaks into a television studio, then holds a famous TV personality at gunpoint. He threatens to shoot her and the security guard (Andrzej Kłak) if he doesn’t get his own live broadcast. “Prime Time is a fantasy about revolt...
Jakub Piątek’s ’Prime Time; won the Screen International Best Pitch award
Jakub Piątek’s feature debut Prime Time was the winner of the second annual Screen International Best Pitch award presented as part of this week’s Polish Film Days which ran as a virtual event from July 27-29.
Prime Time is based on the true story of a hostage-taking in a TV studio in front of live cameras. The screenplay is written by Piątek and Lukasz Czapski and was developed at Torino Film Lab Extended and New Horizons Studio+ last year.
The €1m project is a co-production between...
Jakub Piątek’s feature debut Prime Time was the winner of the second annual Screen International Best Pitch award presented as part of this week’s Polish Film Days which ran as a virtual event from July 27-29.
Prime Time is based on the true story of a hostage-taking in a TV studio in front of live cameras. The screenplay is written by Piątek and Lukasz Czapski and was developed at Torino Film Lab Extended and New Horizons Studio+ last year.
The €1m project is a co-production between...
- 7/30/2020
- by 158¦Martin Blaney¦40¦
- ScreenDaily
Organizers of the Palm Springs International Film Festival have announced that the 32nd edition of the event has been pushed back nearly two months to run from Feb. 25 through March 8.
The festival, which had been set to open on Jan. 7, said, “The date change is to ensure the health and safety of our patrons, staff, filmmaker guests and partners and to make sure we can have a memorable and enjoyable festival experience.”
The move is the latest in a long series of shuffles brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Palm Springs festival is one of the major stops on the awards season circuit and usually opens in the first week of January. The 2021 version will conclude seven weeks before the Oscars.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on June 15 that the 93rd Academy Awards telecast had been postponed by two months to April 25, 2021. Variety was the...
The festival, which had been set to open on Jan. 7, said, “The date change is to ensure the health and safety of our patrons, staff, filmmaker guests and partners and to make sure we can have a memorable and enjoyable festival experience.”
The move is the latest in a long series of shuffles brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Palm Springs festival is one of the major stops on the awards season circuit and usually opens in the first week of January. The 2021 version will conclude seven weeks before the Oscars.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on June 15 that the 93rd Academy Awards telecast had been postponed by two months to April 25, 2021. Variety was the...
- 7/10/2020
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
When production began on “Sweat,” Magnus von Horn’s follow-up to his Cannes Directors’ Fortnight player “The Here After,” no one could have predicted how prescient the film would be. As the world grapples with a protracted lockdown that’s pushed more and more of our lives online, the story of a Polish fitness instructor and social media celebrity searching for real-world intimacy feels especially timely.
“‘Sweat’ wants to embrace everything in this modern world that we otherwise love to hate, and I think that makes it unique,” says producer Mariusz Włodarski of Lava Films.
“Sweat” is one of 56 films that will receive a Cannes 2020 label as part of this year’s Official Selection. New Europe Film Sales is handling world sales. Włodarski will present the film during the Cannes virtual market, along with “Wonder Zenia,” a new feature from Małgorzata Szumowska being sold by the Match Factory, as he...
“‘Sweat’ wants to embrace everything in this modern world that we otherwise love to hate, and I think that makes it unique,” says producer Mariusz Włodarski of Lava Films.
“Sweat” is one of 56 films that will receive a Cannes 2020 label as part of this year’s Official Selection. New Europe Film Sales is handling world sales. Włodarski will present the film during the Cannes virtual market, along with “Wonder Zenia,” a new feature from Małgorzata Szumowska being sold by the Match Factory, as he...
- 6/23/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Corpus Christi Film Movement Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Jan Komasa Screenwriter: Mateusz Pacewicz Cast: Bartosz Bielenia, Aleksandra Konieczna, Eliza Rycembel, Tomasz Zietek, Barbara Kurzaj, Leszek Lichota Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 6/13/20 Opens: June 23, 2020 You may leave this film, a rigorous drama embellished with […]
The post Corpus Christi Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Corpus Christi Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 6/19/2020
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
And Then We Danced (Levan Akin)
To be a Georgian male is to be masculine—especially in dance. Merab’s (Levan Gelbakhiani) teacher Aleko (Kakha Gogidze) demands that he stand straighter and stronger, a monument that can withstand any blow. While his country’s aesthetic had allowed for a softer tone, conservative tradition prevailed a half century ago to move things back to the rigid separation of gendered movement and the complete erasure of sexuality. How Aleko’s dancers perform becomes a visual metaphor for their nation. It will not be defeated. It will not show weakness. And anyone who dares to refuse giving one hundred...
And Then We Danced (Levan Akin)
To be a Georgian male is to be masculine—especially in dance. Merab’s (Levan Gelbakhiani) teacher Aleko (Kakha Gogidze) demands that he stand straighter and stronger, a monument that can withstand any blow. While his country’s aesthetic had allowed for a softer tone, conservative tradition prevailed a half century ago to move things back to the rigid separation of gendered movement and the complete erasure of sexuality. How Aleko’s dancers perform becomes a visual metaphor for their nation. It will not be defeated. It will not show weakness. And anyone who dares to refuse giving one hundred...
- 3/27/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
For the past few years we’ve had the privilege of partnering with the European Film Promotion’s sterling initiative, the Shooting Stars. This week we sat down with the latest cohort to find out more about these stars of the future.
These interviews were conducted at the Berlin Film Festival, and the ten winners were selected by a jury of industry experts from 28 nominations, most of the talent are already award-winning in their home countries.
The winners are Martina Apostolova (Bulgaria), Pääru Oja (Estonia), Victoria Carmen Sonne (Denmark), Zita Hanrot (France), Levan Gelbakhiani (Georgia), Jonas Dassler (Germany), Bilal Wahib (The Netherlands), Bartosz Bielenia (Poland), Joana Ribeiro (Portugal), Ella Rumpf (Switzerland).
Stefan Pape spoke to the chosen ten to ask them what the programme means to them, how their early successes have informed their career so far, and what they were doing when they heard that they had been selected.
These interviews were conducted at the Berlin Film Festival, and the ten winners were selected by a jury of industry experts from 28 nominations, most of the talent are already award-winning in their home countries.
The winners are Martina Apostolova (Bulgaria), Pääru Oja (Estonia), Victoria Carmen Sonne (Denmark), Zita Hanrot (France), Levan Gelbakhiani (Georgia), Jonas Dassler (Germany), Bilal Wahib (The Netherlands), Bartosz Bielenia (Poland), Joana Ribeiro (Portugal), Ella Rumpf (Switzerland).
Stefan Pape spoke to the chosen ten to ask them what the programme means to them, how their early successes have informed their career so far, and what they were doing when they heard that they had been selected.
- 2/26/2020
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Jan Komasa’s Oscar-nominated drama “Corpus Christi” is, like many films before it, built on lies. It’s the story of an ex-con, played by Bartosz Bielenia, who dreams of becoming a priest but cannot because of his criminal past. So instead, he impersonates a man of the cloth and becomes a pillar of a small-town community.
His unorthodox approach to holiness — half plagiarized from the priest at his correctional facility, half common-sense morality — has a positive impact on his flock, so one could find themselves asking, “What’s the harm?”
As an audience, we have perhaps become a little complacent about duplicity in fiction, where it seems like half of all relationships are built on whimsical lies. They usually collapse after the inevitable revelations, only to pick themselves up and go on again like nothing ever happened. And we are expected just to be Ok with that. In real life,...
His unorthodox approach to holiness — half plagiarized from the priest at his correctional facility, half common-sense morality — has a positive impact on his flock, so one could find themselves asking, “What’s the harm?”
As an audience, we have perhaps become a little complacent about duplicity in fiction, where it seems like half of all relationships are built on whimsical lies. They usually collapse after the inevitable revelations, only to pick themselves up and go on again like nothing ever happened. And we are expected just to be Ok with that. In real life,...
- 2/19/2020
- by William Bibbiani
- The Wrap
If you were paying attention to this year’s Oscars’ and its renamed Best International Film section — a category that could’ve easily been redubbed “Parasite, and Four Other Films Which Aren’t Parasite” — you might have spotted an outlier in the lineup. There was Bong Joon Ho’s juggernaut of a movie; a late-career masterpiece from Spanish maestro Pedro Almodóvar (Pain and Glory); an Amazon-sponsored French policier (Les Misérables); a poetic documentary on the lost art of rural beekeeping (Honeyland). And then there was some Polish film with a Latin name,...
- 2/18/2020
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
The visual language of film is universal. In “Parasite,” low, flickering light shows the distraught look on the face of the patriarch of the Kim family as the basement floods and his meager possessions are washed away. In “Corpus Christi,” natural light is used as a metaphor to symbolize life. Cinematographers of four of the Oscar nominees for international feature film recount the key moment that communicates the movie’s message in a truly cinematic manner.
Corpus Christi (Poland)
Piotr Sobociński worked closely with director Jan Komasa to remove unnecessary dialogue and rearrange the chronology of certain scenes in the drama about an ex-con pretending to be a priest. Static shots and the use of anamorphic lenses made for an aesthetic of modesty.
Sunlight is scarce throughout the film until Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia) is called upon to give last rites to a drying woman. Sobociński wanted to contrast this solemn moment,...
Corpus Christi (Poland)
Piotr Sobociński worked closely with director Jan Komasa to remove unnecessary dialogue and rearrange the chronology of certain scenes in the drama about an ex-con pretending to be a priest. Static shots and the use of anamorphic lenses made for an aesthetic of modesty.
Sunlight is scarce throughout the film until Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia) is called upon to give last rites to a drying woman. Sobociński wanted to contrast this solemn moment,...
- 2/5/2020
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Variety Film + TV
After the Palme d’Or, the Golden Globes and a slew of critics’ gongs, it is highly likely that helmer-writer Bong Joon Ho’s masterful, multilevel black comedy “Parasite” will achieve the triple crown of prestige kudos by nabbing the international feature Oscar. Surprisingly, it is the first South Korean film to be nominated in this category, although last year’s “Burning,” helmed by Lee Chang-dong, made the December shortlist.
More uncertain is whether “Parasite” will score in the five other categories in which it is nominated: best motion picture of the year, directing, editing (by Yang Jinmo), achievement in production design and original screenplay. These additional nominations mark a record haul of commendations for a non-English language title.
The film has been a hit for distributor Neon in the U.S., and is the highest-grossing foreign-language title ever released, grossing more than $25 million so far. Indeed, it has been...
More uncertain is whether “Parasite” will score in the five other categories in which it is nominated: best motion picture of the year, directing, editing (by Yang Jinmo), achievement in production design and original screenplay. These additional nominations mark a record haul of commendations for a non-English language title.
The film has been a hit for distributor Neon in the U.S., and is the highest-grossing foreign-language title ever released, grossing more than $25 million so far. Indeed, it has been...
- 1/29/2020
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” — the story about a young displaced teacher who travels to Bhutan and is taught his own life lessons from the happy and kind locals (including a yak) — won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at The Palm Springs International Film Festival (Psiff), it was announced Sunday.
“Gay Chorus Deep South” — a documentary following the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus as the group embarks upon a high-risk tour of the Deep South to spread a message of tolerance — won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature.
“Parasite” screenwriters Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won won the Fipresci Prize for International Screenplay for their tale about two Korean families — one wealthy and one poor — whose live intersect in the most unexpected way.
Among the acting awards, Bartosz Bielenia from “Corpus Christi” and Helena Zengel from “System Crasher” took top honors.
Also Read: Palm Springs: Renée Zellweger,...
“Gay Chorus Deep South” — a documentary following the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus as the group embarks upon a high-risk tour of the Deep South to spread a message of tolerance — won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature.
“Parasite” screenwriters Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won won the Fipresci Prize for International Screenplay for their tale about two Korean families — one wealthy and one poor — whose live intersect in the most unexpected way.
Among the acting awards, Bartosz Bielenia from “Corpus Christi” and Helena Zengel from “System Crasher” took top honors.
Also Read: Palm Springs: Renée Zellweger,...
- 1/13/2020
- by Lawrence Yee
- The Wrap
Foreign Oscar Contenders Win Big at Palm Springs Fest: ‘Parasite,’ ‘Beanpole,’ ‘Corpus Christi’ Lead
The Palm Springs International Film Festival, which began just after the New Year and wraps January 13, screened 188 films; 51 of them were submitted for the Best International Feature Film Academy Award. The Palm Springs Film Festival prize winners announced Saturday over brunch at the Hilton included a handful of these films. See the full list of winners below. Audience awards will be announced on Sunday.
Fipresci Prize for Best International Feature Film: “Beanpole” (Russia), Director Kantemir Balagov.
Fipresci Prize for Best Actor in a International Feature Film: Bartosz Bielenia from “Corpus Christi” (Poland).
Fipresci Prize for the Best Actress in a International Feature Film: Helena Zengel from “System Crasher” (Germany).
Fipresci Prize for International Screenplay: “Parasite” (South Korea), Screenwriters Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin-Won.
Fipresci Prize for International Screenplay Special Mention: “Antigone” (Canada), Screenwrier Sophie Deraspe.
The Fipresci jury members were film critics Pamela Biénzobas, Alferov Gavrylyshyn, and Tina Hassannia.
Fipresci Prize for Best International Feature Film: “Beanpole” (Russia), Director Kantemir Balagov.
Fipresci Prize for Best Actor in a International Feature Film: Bartosz Bielenia from “Corpus Christi” (Poland).
Fipresci Prize for the Best Actress in a International Feature Film: Helena Zengel from “System Crasher” (Germany).
Fipresci Prize for International Screenplay: “Parasite” (South Korea), Screenwriters Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin-Won.
Fipresci Prize for International Screenplay Special Mention: “Antigone” (Canada), Screenwrier Sophie Deraspe.
The Fipresci jury members were film critics Pamela Biénzobas, Alferov Gavrylyshyn, and Tina Hassannia.
- 1/11/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The Palm Springs Film Festival has announced its juried winners, with “Beanpole” taking the Fipresci prize for films in the international feature film Oscar submissions program. The documentary award went to “Talking About Trees.”
Acting prizes went to Bartosz Bielenia from “Corpus Christi” for actor and Helena Zengel from “System Crasher” for actress. “Parasite” won the screenplay prize from the Fipresci jury of international film critics.
The festival, held from January 2-13, screened 192 films from 81 countries.
The New Voices New Visions award for first and second time filmmakers went to “Song Without a Name,” while “Monos” received the Ibero-American Award for films from Latin America, Spain or Portugal.
Other prizes included the local jury award to “Adam,” the Young Cineastes Award to “Corpus Christi,” and the Bridging the Borders award to “Advocate.”
The audience prizes will be announced Sunday.
A complete list of winners follows:
Fipresci Prize for Best International...
Acting prizes went to Bartosz Bielenia from “Corpus Christi” for actor and Helena Zengel from “System Crasher” for actress. “Parasite” won the screenplay prize from the Fipresci jury of international film critics.
The festival, held from January 2-13, screened 192 films from 81 countries.
The New Voices New Visions award for first and second time filmmakers went to “Song Without a Name,” while “Monos” received the Ibero-American Award for films from Latin America, Spain or Portugal.
Other prizes included the local jury award to “Adam,” the Young Cineastes Award to “Corpus Christi,” and the Bridging the Borders award to “Advocate.”
The audience prizes will be announced Sunday.
A complete list of winners follows:
Fipresci Prize for Best International...
- 1/11/2020
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Upcoming talent to be showcased at the Berlin Film Festival.
The 10 young actors selected for this year’s European Shooting Stars has been unveiled.
European Film Promotion (Efp) has revealed the selection of upcoming talent, which will be introduced to international casting directors, producers and filmmakers at the Berlin Film Festival next month.
They include Germany’s Jonas Dassler, who starred as serial killer Fritz Honka in Faith Akin’s The Golden Glove, a biography of German serial killer Fritz Honka, which played in competition at last year’s Berlinale.
The selection also features Poland’s Bartosz Bielenia from Poland,...
The 10 young actors selected for this year’s European Shooting Stars has been unveiled.
European Film Promotion (Efp) has revealed the selection of upcoming talent, which will be introduced to international casting directors, producers and filmmakers at the Berlin Film Festival next month.
They include Germany’s Jonas Dassler, who starred as serial killer Fritz Honka in Faith Akin’s The Golden Glove, a biography of German serial killer Fritz Honka, which played in competition at last year’s Berlinale.
The selection also features Poland’s Bartosz Bielenia from Poland,...
- 1/9/2020
- by ¬0¦Thomas Messner¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
European Film Promotion has unveiled the 10 Shooting Stars, up-and-coming acting talents set to break out internationally, who will be honored at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival.
The selection comprises Bartosz Bielenia from Poland, star of Jan Komasa’s “Corpus Christi,” among films shortlisted for this year’s best international feature film Oscar; France’s Zita Hanrot, the voice talent of Zunaira in animated Oscar contender “The Swallows of Kabul” who broke out locally with Philippe Faucon’s “Fatima”; and Portugal’s Joana Ribeiro who is currently shooting Antoine Fuqua’s action thriller “Infinite” for Paramount alongside Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Previous Shooting Stars include Alicia Vikander, Alba Rohrwacher, Matthias Schoenaerts, Pilou Asbæk and Baltasar Kormákur.
The Shooting Stars initiative is also honoring German actor Jonas Dassler, who made a splash at Berlin last year with his performance as a serial killer in Fatih Akin’s “The Golden Glove”; Dutch actor Bilal Wahib,...
The selection comprises Bartosz Bielenia from Poland, star of Jan Komasa’s “Corpus Christi,” among films shortlisted for this year’s best international feature film Oscar; France’s Zita Hanrot, the voice talent of Zunaira in animated Oscar contender “The Swallows of Kabul” who broke out locally with Philippe Faucon’s “Fatima”; and Portugal’s Joana Ribeiro who is currently shooting Antoine Fuqua’s action thriller “Infinite” for Paramount alongside Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Previous Shooting Stars include Alicia Vikander, Alba Rohrwacher, Matthias Schoenaerts, Pilou Asbæk and Baltasar Kormákur.
The Shooting Stars initiative is also honoring German actor Jonas Dassler, who made a splash at Berlin last year with his performance as a serial killer in Fatih Akin’s “The Golden Glove”; Dutch actor Bilal Wahib,...
- 1/9/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The 2020 edition of European Shooting Stars has unveiled the 10 young acting talents it will spotlight, with participants arriving with credits including Polish Oscar shortlisted feature Corpus Christi.
On the list is Polish actor Bartosz Bielenia, whose turn as an amateur priest in Jan Komasa’s Corpus Christi has already earned him acting awards at the Stockholm, Chicago and El Gouna film festivals.
He is selected alongside Danish actress Victoria Carmen Sonne, who has appeared in Hlynur Palmason’s Winters Brothers and Isabella Eklöf’s 2018 Sundance pic Holiday; she has won two Danish Academy awards (Bodils).
Also named is Swiss actress Ella Rumpf, who lead the cast of Julia Ducournau’s 2016 Cannes selection Raw, which won her the Révelation prize at the 2018 César Awards, and Jakob Lass’s 2017 Berlin title Tiger Girl. Rumpf will also appear this year in upcoming German Netflix series Freud.
Portuguese talent Joana Ribeiro makes the 2020 cut...
On the list is Polish actor Bartosz Bielenia, whose turn as an amateur priest in Jan Komasa’s Corpus Christi has already earned him acting awards at the Stockholm, Chicago and El Gouna film festivals.
He is selected alongside Danish actress Victoria Carmen Sonne, who has appeared in Hlynur Palmason’s Winters Brothers and Isabella Eklöf’s 2018 Sundance pic Holiday; she has won two Danish Academy awards (Bodils).
Also named is Swiss actress Ella Rumpf, who lead the cast of Julia Ducournau’s 2016 Cannes selection Raw, which won her the Révelation prize at the 2018 César Awards, and Jakob Lass’s 2017 Berlin title Tiger Girl. Rumpf will also appear this year in upcoming German Netflix series Freud.
Portuguese talent Joana Ribeiro makes the 2020 cut...
- 1/9/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
"To forgive doesn't mean to forget." Film Movement has unveiled the Us trailer for an indie drama from Poland titled Corpus Christi, which was one of the big discoveries at the Venice Film Festival earlier this fall. It also played at the Toronto Film Festival, and is Poland's submission to the Academy Awards. Inspired by real events, it tells the story of a 20-year-old fresh out of a Youth Detention Center for murder, but his crime prevents him from applying to the seminary. However, he ends up being mistaken as the priest and decides to start pretending to be a real priest at a parish in a small town. An honest story about forgiveness and faith. Starring Bartosz Bielenia as Daniel, along with Aleksandra Konieczna, Eliza Rycembel, Leszek Lichota, Łukasz Simlat, Tomasz Zietek, and Barbara Kurzaj. This film earned some glowing reviews out of Venice, and is a very unique...
- 12/22/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Jan Komasa’s “Corpus Christi,” Poland’s official entry in the Best International Feature Film category of the Academy Awards, has become an arthouse hit at the local box office. The film has also become an international sales success with the number of territories sold rising to 45.
The film, which world premiered as part of Venice Days and made its North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, has grossed 26 million Pln ($6.66 million) from 1.36 million admissions in Poland, making it the top arthouse drama of the year. The pic was in the top 10 for seven weeks, and is now in 11th place, playing on 60 screens.
Last year, Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Cold War” grossed 17.3 million Pln ($4.48 million) from 931,000 admissions; after the film’s re-release following its three Oscar nominations its Polish gross rose to $4.87 million.
Only around three Polish films a year reach the 1.5 million admissions mark, but these tends to be comedies,...
The film, which world premiered as part of Venice Days and made its North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, has grossed 26 million Pln ($6.66 million) from 1.36 million admissions in Poland, making it the top arthouse drama of the year. The pic was in the top 10 for seven weeks, and is now in 11th place, playing on 60 screens.
Last year, Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Cold War” grossed 17.3 million Pln ($4.48 million) from 931,000 admissions; after the film’s re-release following its three Oscar nominations its Polish gross rose to $4.87 million.
Only around three Polish films a year reach the 1.5 million admissions mark, but these tends to be comedies,...
- 12/7/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
International distribution and sales outfit Kew Media Distribution has upped Graham Begg to the newly-created role of Svp Acquisitions & Business Development. In his position, Begg will oversee a portfolio of acquisitions across scripted, non-scripted, documentary and factual entertainment properties, and will advise on corporate activities and business development. He will also work with the 13 production companies owned by Kew, looking to further exploiting their owned IP globally. Begg joined Kew in 2018 as VP, Business Development and Producer Relations.
The 2019 International Film Festival & Awards Macao (Iffam) has added several titles to its program, including Todd Haynes’ Dark Waters starring Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway, and Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life, which bowed in Cannes and will have its Asian premiere in Macao. Also joining the festival list are Wong Hing-Fan’s Hong Kong drama I’m Living It, Tiago Guedes’ Portuguese feature The Domain (A Herdade), and the newly-restored...
The 2019 International Film Festival & Awards Macao (Iffam) has added several titles to its program, including Todd Haynes’ Dark Waters starring Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway, and Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life, which bowed in Cannes and will have its Asian premiere in Macao. Also joining the festival list are Wong Hing-Fan’s Hong Kong drama I’m Living It, Tiago Guedes’ Portuguese feature The Domain (A Herdade), and the newly-restored...
- 11/18/2019
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix unveils new Nordic deals at Stockholm’s Industry Days.
Peruvian director Melina Leon’s debut feature Song Without A Name won the bronze horse for best film at the 30th Stockholm International Film Festival. The film, about baby trafficking in 1980s Peru, also won for best cinematography by Inti Briones.
The jury said Song Without A Name (which premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight) is “a visual and challenging portrayal of society characterized by both a low and impactful intensity. A quiet and untamable anger can be sensed below the surface. In this film we meet a director with a sharp,...
Peruvian director Melina Leon’s debut feature Song Without A Name won the bronze horse for best film at the 30th Stockholm International Film Festival. The film, about baby trafficking in 1980s Peru, also won for best cinematography by Inti Briones.
The jury said Song Without A Name (which premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight) is “a visual and challenging portrayal of society characterized by both a low and impactful intensity. A quiet and untamable anger can be sensed below the surface. In this film we meet a director with a sharp,...
- 11/18/2019
- by 1100142¦Wendy Mitchell¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Melina León’s insightful visions as well as her DoP impressed the jury, who also honoured actors Nina Hoss and Bartosz Bielenia at the prize ceremony on Friday night. It was “right down to the very last detail” that the main jury of the 2019 Stockholm International Film Festival, producer Erik Hemmendorff together with directors Rojda Sekersöz and Zora Rux, enjoyed the “impactful intensity” of Song Without a Name. Peruvian helmer Melina León’s heartfelt account of the baby-trafficking incidents in her home country in the 1980s won the weighty Bronze Horse for Best Film and also earned DoP Inti Briones the Best Cinematography Award. León, who accepted the award in person at the festive Friday-night closing ceremony, has had a successful run since the premiere of this, her first feature, in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, with several subsequent festival wins along the way. The Best Director...
- 11/18/2019
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
Poland’s Oscar® 2019 Entry for Best International Feature ‘Corpus Christi’The third feature of the fast-rising young Polish director Jan Komasa was shot in Poland, known as the Bible Belt of Europe. It shines a different light on the subject of religion and spirituality. Shot in the “Bible Belt of the Bible Belt”, the small conservative Catholic villages were set against allowing this film to shoot and the edict against it spread from town to town. But, it is a national hit and the Church has changed its stance.
Jan Komasa studied directing at the Łodź Film School. His short film Nice to See You world-premiered in Cannes Cinefondation competition, where it got the 3rd prize. His feature film debut, Suicide Room, premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlinale and attracted over 800.000 viewers in Polish cinemas. His second film, a war blockbuster Warsaw ’44, sold over 1.8 mln. tickets. Corpus Christi is his third feature film.
Jan Komasa studied directing at the Łodź Film School. His short film Nice to See You world-premiered in Cannes Cinefondation competition, where it got the 3rd prize. His feature film debut, Suicide Room, premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlinale and attracted over 800.000 viewers in Polish cinemas. His second film, a war blockbuster Warsaw ’44, sold over 1.8 mln. tickets. Corpus Christi is his third feature film.
- 11/7/2019
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Poland’s Oscar submission this year for Best International Feature Film, Corpus Christi was inspired by real events that one would never think are real.
Directed by Jan Komasa, from a script by Mateusz Pacewicz, the drama centers on Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia), a 20-year-old who experiences a spiritual awakening while in a Youth Detention Center. Barred from entering the seminary as a result of his crimes, the young man finds work at a carpenter’s shop following his release, while refusing to give up on his dream of becoming a priest.
“There’s several cases each year of people pretending to be priests in small communities in Poland. I guess it’s like Christian Halloween or something,” Komasa said, joining Bielenia and Deadline’s Dino-Ray Ramos for a panel discussion on the film at The Contenders Los Angeles. “I didn’t know about [this phenomenon], but apparently it’s a thing. With this case,...
Directed by Jan Komasa, from a script by Mateusz Pacewicz, the drama centers on Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia), a 20-year-old who experiences a spiritual awakening while in a Youth Detention Center. Barred from entering the seminary as a result of his crimes, the young man finds work at a carpenter’s shop following his release, while refusing to give up on his dream of becoming a priest.
“There’s several cases each year of people pretending to be priests in small communities in Poland. I guess it’s like Christian Halloween or something,” Komasa said, joining Bielenia and Deadline’s Dino-Ray Ramos for a panel discussion on the film at The Contenders Los Angeles. “I didn’t know about [this phenomenon], but apparently it’s a thing. With this case,...
- 11/2/2019
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Corpus Christi (Boże Ciało) director Jan Komasa: "I was looking for a moment in the film that sort of detaches from just storytelling.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
During dinner at Il Gattopardo across the street from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Corpus Christi (Boze Cialo) director Jan Komasa told me that he is a “big fan” of Andrey Zvyagintsev and his films Loveless and Leviathan. Jan’s composers Evgueni Galperine and Sacha Galperine also scored François Ozon's By The Grace Of God and Barry Levinson’s The Wizard Of Lies, starring Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer with Alessandro Nivola on the Bernie Madoff scandal.
Jan Komasa on Bartosz Bielenia: “In Warsaw now he is part of Krzysztof Warlikowski, very renowned European theatre director - he is part of his troupe.”
Corpus Christi, screenplay by Mateusz Pacewicz, stars Bartosz Bielenia (from Krzysztof Warlikowski’s theatre troupe) with Eliza Rycembel,...
During dinner at Il Gattopardo across the street from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Corpus Christi (Boze Cialo) director Jan Komasa told me that he is a “big fan” of Andrey Zvyagintsev and his films Loveless and Leviathan. Jan’s composers Evgueni Galperine and Sacha Galperine also scored François Ozon's By The Grace Of God and Barry Levinson’s The Wizard Of Lies, starring Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer with Alessandro Nivola on the Bernie Madoff scandal.
Jan Komasa on Bartosz Bielenia: “In Warsaw now he is part of Krzysztof Warlikowski, very renowned European theatre director - he is part of his troupe.”
Corpus Christi, screenplay by Mateusz Pacewicz, stars Bartosz Bielenia (from Krzysztof Warlikowski’s theatre troupe) with Eliza Rycembel,...
- 10/30/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Chicago – The Chicago International Film Festival is competitive, and the 55th edition presented its awards on October 25th, 2019, at Chez venue in Chicago. The winner of the Gold Hugo as Best International Film was “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (France), directed by Céline Sclamma.
The 55th Chicago International Film Festival Awards Night was October 25th, 2019
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com
The awards were presented by the various jury members in each film category, and were hosed by Artistic Director Mimi Plauché, Managing Director Vivian Teng, as well as programmers Anthony Kaufman and Sam Flancher. The Festival’s highest honor is the Gold Hugo, named for the mythical God of Discovery.
International Feature Film Competition
‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire,’ (France) Directed by Céline Sclamma
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival
The Gold Hugo for Best Film: “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” (France) Directed by Céline...
The 55th Chicago International Film Festival Awards Night was October 25th, 2019
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com
The awards were presented by the various jury members in each film category, and were hosed by Artistic Director Mimi Plauché, Managing Director Vivian Teng, as well as programmers Anthony Kaufman and Sam Flancher. The Festival’s highest honor is the Gold Hugo, named for the mythical God of Discovery.
International Feature Film Competition
‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire,’ (France) Directed by Céline Sclamma
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival
The Gold Hugo for Best Film: “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” (France) Directed by Céline...
- 10/27/2019
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Exclusive: Film Movement has picked up North American rights on Jan Komasa’s Polish drama Corpus Christi, which is the country’s entry to the 2020 International Oscar race.
Film Movement president Michael Rosenberg struck the deal at the recent Mia market, held during Rome Film Fest, with Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales.
The film has been a box office hit in its native Poland, attracting 488,000 admissions in just 10 days, equating to an impressive gross of $2.6m. It has sold to 30+ international territories.
Film Movement is lining up a release for 2020 and, alongside New Europe and the Polish Film Fund, is planning to give the film an awards season push – it will also feature as part of Deadline’s La Contenders event on November 2.
Corpus Christi stars Bartosz Bielenia as a 20-year-old who experiences a spiritual transformation in a youth detention centre. Though his previous crime denies him...
Film Movement president Michael Rosenberg struck the deal at the recent Mia market, held during Rome Film Fest, with Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales.
The film has been a box office hit in its native Poland, attracting 488,000 admissions in just 10 days, equating to an impressive gross of $2.6m. It has sold to 30+ international territories.
Film Movement is lining up a release for 2020 and, alongside New Europe and the Polish Film Fund, is planning to give the film an awards season push – it will also feature as part of Deadline’s La Contenders event on November 2.
Corpus Christi stars Bartosz Bielenia as a 20-year-old who experiences a spiritual transformation in a youth detention centre. Though his previous crime denies him...
- 10/23/2019
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
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