NEWS


Eagles go to “Hatred”

Nine awards including Best Picture and Best Director goes to “Hatred”. “The Last Family” by Jan P. Matuszyński  was prized in four categories, “I Am a Killer” directed by Maciej Pieprzyca got two awards. 

– I made my film to make my audience hug their children when they come back home after screeing. It depands on us, adults in what world they will grow up. – said  Wojciech Smarzowski, director of “Hatred” in his thank you speech.

“Hatred” is one of the most discussed movies of 2016. “Trying to fill in the blanks in Polish history, Smarzowski showcased the slaughter on the Eastern borderlands. But he didn’t afford himself the luxury of easy judgments. He didn’t show merely the Ukrainians killing their Polish landlords. He found cracks in the myth of multicultural Poland – conflicts that had been fanned for decades until they erupted, buoyed by nationalisms. The film also shows Polish revanchists. The director decided to forego any titles that would inform us about the time and place. This film wasn’t meant as a political or educational tool, even though obviously it sparked a debate in the country. It is a universal reflection on the influence of ideologies and stereotypes. On nationalism and hatred. – Krzysztof Kwiatkowski writes about Smarzowski’s film.

read more about Wojciech Smarzowski

Eagles Polish Film Academy Awards 2017/ East News

“The Last Family”, a great winner of Gdynia Film Festival, prized all over the world reciever four Academy Awards  including best scipt for Robert Bolesto and Discovery of The Year for director Jan P. Matuszyński. Eagles went also to both leading actors: Aleksandra Konieczna and Andrzej Seweryn.

In “The Last Family” Matuszyński shows the painter Zdzisław Beksiński and his family between 1977 and 2005. The director created a painful chronicle of death punctuated by the suicide of his son Tomasz, the funerals of his mother, mother in law, wife, and the murder of Zdzisław himself. But it is also a record of life, filled with nuances, eschewing simple tricks and judgments.  –  Krzysztof Kwiatkowski writes. – Matuszyński made a film about the contagiousness of psychological problems, about being unable to talk about feelings, about all the unspoken problems that poison into everyday life. But also one about love that is difficult to express and shines through in subtle gestures. About depression and fear for someone you love. About art, the act of recording and filtering the world through the lens of your sensibility.

read an article about Jan P. Matuszyński

Jan P. Matuszyński and Andrzej Seweryn / fot. East News

Nominated in nine categories “I Am a Killer” eventually won two Eagles for actors in supporting roles: Arkadiusz Jakubik and Agata Kulesza.

At a glance it’s a thriller about the hunt for a serial killer set in 1970s Silesia; however, this superficial impression conceals a tale akin to an initiation story. Its protagonist, Janusz, a young Communist-era policeman, heads a task force tracking a killer nicknamed the Zagłębie Vampire. Overcome with the thrill of the hunt, he abandons all ground rules, sacrificing everything in the pursuit of success – even the truth. – Jacek Wakar writes.

read more about Maciej Pieprzyca