Closing ceremony of festival in Gdynia sees Polish film community speak up against “awful hatred” directed at Holland in recent weeks.
Pawel Maslona’s second feature Scarborn (Kos) won the Grand Prix - Golden Lion at the 48th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia whose closing ceremony saw the Polish film community express their solidarity with Agnieszka Holland in the light of the vociferous political campaign against her and her film The Green Border.
In his acceptance speech, Maslona spoke out against the “awful hatred” directed at Holland in recent weeks and noted that, despite Poland being a country with a strong Christian faith,...
Pawel Maslona’s second feature Scarborn (Kos) won the Grand Prix - Golden Lion at the 48th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia whose closing ceremony saw the Polish film community express their solidarity with Agnieszka Holland in the light of the vociferous political campaign against her and her film The Green Border.
In his acceptance speech, Maslona spoke out against the “awful hatred” directed at Holland in recent weeks and noted that, despite Poland being a country with a strong Christian faith,...
- 9/25/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Polish film and TV writer/director Agnieszka Smoczyńska's biographical film "The Silent Twins" is heading to Peacock. The movie is inspired by the book of the same name written by investigative journalist Marjorie Wallace. Published in 1986 under the title "The Silent Twins: A true story of love and hate, dreams and desolation, genius and destruction," Wallace's book is itself based on the true story of June and Jennifer Gibbons, twin sisters who only communicated with each other, and came to be known as "the silent twins."
Smoczyńska's film is heading to Peacock after getting a very limited theatrical release from Focus Features on September 16, 2022 -- meaning, this is probably the first time most people have even heard of the movie. So, before it joins acclaimed 2022 films like Scott Derrickson's "The Black Phone" on NBCUniversal's streaming service, here's everything you need to know about the film ahead of time.
Smoczyńska's film is heading to Peacock after getting a very limited theatrical release from Focus Features on September 16, 2022 -- meaning, this is probably the first time most people have even heard of the movie. So, before it joins acclaimed 2022 films like Scott Derrickson's "The Black Phone" on NBCUniversal's streaming service, here's everything you need to know about the film ahead of time.
- 11/4/2022
- by Fatemeh Mirjalili
- Slash Film
Ariel Would Never
We’re finally into September after a wild and diverse August filled with professional women, queer Chosen Families, owl-headed slashers, horny lighthouse keepers, and highly controversial homoerotic underground monsters (which begs the reminder: listen to the podcast instead of just commenting on the post).
Trace and I, along with special guest Jessica Scott, are kicking off the new month with Agnieszka Smoczynska’s ‘The Lure’, a feminist parable about two mermaids – Silver (Marta Mazurek) and Golden (Michalina Olszańska) – who become cabaret sensations in Warsaw in the 1980s.
As their power and popularity grow, the sisters are betrayed by their chosen family, night club singer Krysia (Kinga Preis) and her shitty son Mietek (Jakub Gierszał), for whom Silver undergoes a dramatic physical transformation (cue the trans reading of this already very queer film).
Despite the musical numbers and colourful costumes, this sure as hell ain’t Disney! (It...
We’re finally into September after a wild and diverse August filled with professional women, queer Chosen Families, owl-headed slashers, horny lighthouse keepers, and highly controversial homoerotic underground monsters (which begs the reminder: listen to the podcast instead of just commenting on the post).
Trace and I, along with special guest Jessica Scott, are kicking off the new month with Agnieszka Smoczynska’s ‘The Lure’, a feminist parable about two mermaids – Silver (Marta Mazurek) and Golden (Michalina Olszańska) – who become cabaret sensations in Warsaw in the 1980s.
As their power and popularity grow, the sisters are betrayed by their chosen family, night club singer Krysia (Kinga Preis) and her shitty son Mietek (Jakub Gierszał), for whom Silver undergoes a dramatic physical transformation (cue the trans reading of this already very queer film).
Despite the musical numbers and colourful costumes, this sure as hell ain’t Disney! (It...
- 9/12/2022
- by Joe Lipsett
- bloody-disgusting.com
Polish Days is the industry event for the Wroclaw-based New Horizons International Film Festival (August 12-22).
Anna Jadowska’s Woman On The Roof was the winner of the third annual Screen International Best Pitch Award presented at this year’s Polish Days, the industry event for the Wroclaw-based New Horizons International Film Festival (August 12-22).
The €1.4m production, by Warsaw-based Donten & Lacroix Films with Paris-based Blick Productions and Sweden’s Garagefilm, is Jadowska’s latest feature film after Touch Me (2003), It’s Me (2005) and Wild Roses (2017).
She directed the Netflix series Ultraviolet 2.0. The Bear and a segment of its mini-series Erotica 2022,...
Anna Jadowska’s Woman On The Roof was the winner of the third annual Screen International Best Pitch Award presented at this year’s Polish Days, the industry event for the Wroclaw-based New Horizons International Film Festival (August 12-22).
The €1.4m production, by Warsaw-based Donten & Lacroix Films with Paris-based Blick Productions and Sweden’s Garagefilm, is Jadowska’s latest feature film after Touch Me (2003), It’s Me (2005) and Wild Roses (2017).
She directed the Netflix series Ultraviolet 2.0. The Bear and a segment of its mini-series Erotica 2022,...
- 8/18/2021
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
No jokes about fish and visitors please — Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s horror fantasy musical is indeed about delectable creatures from the deep, but these particular mythical misses have their own agenda, and woe to the man who trifles with their affections. What’s today’s catch? A Polish phantasmagoria seemingly teleported from the glitzy 1980s.
The Lure
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 896
2015 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 92 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 10, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Kinga Preis, Michalina Olszańska, Marta Mazurek, Jakub Gierszał, Andrzej Konopka, Zygmunt Malanowicz, Marcin Kowalczyk.
Cinematography: Kuba Kijowski
Film Editor: Jarosław Kamiński
Production Design: Joanna Macha
Costume: Katarzyna Lewińska
Special Effects makeup: Tomasz Matraszek
Choreography: Kaya Kołodziejczyk and Jarosław Staniek
Original Music and Lyrics: Barbara Wrońska and Zuzanna Wrońska
Written by Robert Bolesto
Produced by Włodzimierz Niderhaus
Directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska
I’m normally an easy mark for bizarre genre-bending horror fare. I also like musicals of all sorts,...
The Lure
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 896
2015 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 92 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 10, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Kinga Preis, Michalina Olszańska, Marta Mazurek, Jakub Gierszał, Andrzej Konopka, Zygmunt Malanowicz, Marcin Kowalczyk.
Cinematography: Kuba Kijowski
Film Editor: Jarosław Kamiński
Production Design: Joanna Macha
Costume: Katarzyna Lewińska
Special Effects makeup: Tomasz Matraszek
Choreography: Kaya Kołodziejczyk and Jarosław Staniek
Original Music and Lyrics: Barbara Wrońska and Zuzanna Wrońska
Written by Robert Bolesto
Produced by Włodzimierz Niderhaus
Directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska
I’m normally an easy mark for bizarre genre-bending horror fare. I also like musicals of all sorts,...
- 10/7/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Just in time for Halloween, musical oddity The Lure has joined The Criterion Collection. Here's Chris on its soundtrack...
Yet another Polish lesbian mermaid pop musical? Geez. For those that complain that musicals have no originality anymore, may I introduce a bloody disco ball of a film: The Lure. The story of two mermaids who come aground and quickly rise to success singing in a Warsaw nightclub, it’s both fairy tale and metaphor for female sexuality. But most importantly, the music kicks a whole lot of ass.
Led by young stars Marta Mazurek and Michalina Olszańska and with some disco diva stylings from Kinga Preis, the film is about the most delightful genre hybrid we have seen in some time. It’s a femme-centric mix of musical and horror, with more pointedly ironic sexuality than any music video once banned from MTV. It would be glib to describe it as a t.
Yet another Polish lesbian mermaid pop musical? Geez. For those that complain that musicals have no originality anymore, may I introduce a bloody disco ball of a film: The Lure. The story of two mermaids who come aground and quickly rise to success singing in a Warsaw nightclub, it’s both fairy tale and metaphor for female sexuality. But most importantly, the music kicks a whole lot of ass.
Led by young stars Marta Mazurek and Michalina Olszańska and with some disco diva stylings from Kinga Preis, the film is about the most delightful genre hybrid we have seen in some time. It’s a femme-centric mix of musical and horror, with more pointedly ironic sexuality than any music video once banned from MTV. It would be glib to describe it as a t.
- 10/4/2017
- by Chris Feil
- FilmExperience
Cannibalistic mermaid movie. If that doesn't make your heart flutter, we can't be friends.
The very concept of director Agnieszka Smoczynska's feature film debut The Lure is this perfect mesh of material specifically designed for someone who, like me, loves a good fairy tale, a dash of horror and cheesy 80s dance music.
Silver (Marta Mazurek) and Golden (Michalina Olszanska) are mermaid sisters who are adopted into a cabaret in Warsaw by the house band led by a singer (Kinga Preis) and her husband and drummer (Andrzej Konopka). The girls are an instant hit, performing a nightly show for a packed house.
Silver quickly falls in love with the band's base player but Golden is more interested in eating the locals. Eventually Silver makes the ultimate sacrifice and trades [Continued ...]...
The very concept of director Agnieszka Smoczynska's feature film debut The Lure is this perfect mesh of material specifically designed for someone who, like me, loves a good fairy tale, a dash of horror and cheesy 80s dance music.
Silver (Marta Mazurek) and Golden (Michalina Olszanska) are mermaid sisters who are adopted into a cabaret in Warsaw by the house band led by a singer (Kinga Preis) and her husband and drummer (Andrzej Konopka). The girls are an instant hit, performing a nightly show for a packed house.
Silver quickly falls in love with the band's base player but Golden is more interested in eating the locals. Eventually Silver makes the ultimate sacrifice and trades [Continued ...]...
- 3/22/2017
- QuietEarth.us
Agnieszka Smoczynska’s The Lure demands praise as one of the year’s most unique, unexpected treats; a fanciful feast of cannibalistic Eurotrash ultra-sweetness. Believe in this female-directed debut about playful sirens who pack disco-drenched nightclubs. Dive headfirst into musical mayhem spawned from pixie-punks with gigantic eel tails. Have your minds blown by a foreign-romantic-musical-thriller about murderous sea seductresses who’d dominate the next Eurovision competition. You are not ready for The Lure, and nor should you be – Smoczynska’s unconventional creation is pure sonic seduction.
Marta Mazurek and Michalina Olszanska star as the film’s young muses, Srebrna (Silver) and Zlota (Golden). The two mermaid sisters emerge from blackened waters, captivated by a Polish nightlife band known as Figs ‘N Dates. Before long, they become part of a Warsaw cabaret act that incorporates their mermaid forms (hey, kink sells). Silver and Golden unleash their voices, splash a little water...
Marta Mazurek and Michalina Olszanska star as the film’s young muses, Srebrna (Silver) and Zlota (Golden). The two mermaid sisters emerge from blackened waters, captivated by a Polish nightlife band known as Figs ‘N Dates. Before long, they become part of a Warsaw cabaret act that incorporates their mermaid forms (hey, kink sells). Silver and Golden unleash their voices, splash a little water...
- 2/2/2017
- by Matt Donato
- We Got This Covered
"All you need to do is have fun. The rest is easy." Janus Films has debuted an official Us trailer (red band for mermaid nudity) for a film titled The Lure, a wacky Polish indie about two mermaid girls who join a human band in Warsaw. Part comedy, part cabaret, part horror, part romance, you won't find anything else like this film out there, though it may be a little too wacky for some. The cast includes Marta Mazurek, Michalina Olszanska, Kinga Preis, Andrzej Konopka, Jakub Gierszal, Zygmunt Malanowicz, Katarzyna Herman and Marcin Kowalczyk. I've been hearing about this film for a while, ever since it premiered at Sundance last year, and it's destined to become a cult classic - catch it in theaters this winter. Here's the first red band trailer (+ poster) for Agnieszka Smoczynska's The Lure, originally from EW.com: One dark night, at water's edge, a...
- 1/6/2017
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Spending a good part of last year hitting nearly every corner of the festival circuit, those who delight in the off-beat and weird have been singing the praises of “The Lure.” Agnieszka Smoczynska‘s film is a cannibal mermaid musical, and if that three-word description doesn’t at least make you curious, I’m not sure what to tell you.
Read More: The 20 Best Movies Of 2017 That We’ve Already Seen
Marta Mazurek, Michalina Olszanska, Jakub Gierszal, Kinga Preis, Andrzej Konopka, and Zygmunt Malanowicz are the ensemble that bring this ’80s-set story to life, one that sees the bond between mermaid sisters tested when a man enters the mix.
Continue reading New Trailer For Cannibal Mermaid Musical ‘The Lure’ Brings The Weirdness at The Playlist.
Read More: The 20 Best Movies Of 2017 That We’ve Already Seen
Marta Mazurek, Michalina Olszanska, Jakub Gierszal, Kinga Preis, Andrzej Konopka, and Zygmunt Malanowicz are the ensemble that bring this ’80s-set story to life, one that sees the bond between mermaid sisters tested when a man enters the mix.
Continue reading New Trailer For Cannibal Mermaid Musical ‘The Lure’ Brings The Weirdness at The Playlist.
- 1/5/2017
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Locarno premiere took home eight awards; meanwhile Ukraine greenlights cash rebate scheme.
Jan P. Matuszynski’s feature debut The Last Family swept the board at this year’s Gdynia Film Festival in Poland (19-24 September) with eight awards, including the Golden Lions Grand Prix as well as the awards for Best Actor and Actress and the Audience Award.
The tragicomic story also picked up the Journalists Award, the Onetu Award for the three lead actors Aleksandra Konieczna, Andrzej Seweryn and Dawid Ogrodnik, as well as the Elle Crystal Star and the Golden Kangaroo for director Matuszynski.
Handled internationally by New Europe Film Sales and distributed theatrically in Poland by Kino Swiat, The Last Family had its world premiere in competition at last month’s Locarno Film Festival where the Leopard for Best Actor was awarded to star Andrzej Seweryn for his performance.
Tomasz Wasilewski’s Berlinale competition title United States Of Love - also with New Film...
Jan P. Matuszynski’s feature debut The Last Family swept the board at this year’s Gdynia Film Festival in Poland (19-24 September) with eight awards, including the Golden Lions Grand Prix as well as the awards for Best Actor and Actress and the Audience Award.
The tragicomic story also picked up the Journalists Award, the Onetu Award for the three lead actors Aleksandra Konieczna, Andrzej Seweryn and Dawid Ogrodnik, as well as the Elle Crystal Star and the Golden Kangaroo for director Matuszynski.
Handled internationally by New Europe Film Sales and distributed theatrically in Poland by Kino Swiat, The Last Family had its world premiere in competition at last month’s Locarno Film Festival where the Leopard for Best Actor was awarded to star Andrzej Seweryn for his performance.
Tomasz Wasilewski’s Berlinale competition title United States Of Love - also with New Film...
- 9/26/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
This is the most amazing, mouth dropping film I saw at Sundance this year.
Firstly, hats off to the programmers and the organization for finding and presenting this one. Sundance's docs and international features are usually superb but this one takes the cake.
We describe it - hold onto your hats now - as a lesbian vampire mermaid horror musical comedy. No kidding.
And it has a female director and 2 amazing female mermaid leads. More powerful woman filmmaking.
What's it about?? I dunno. Maybe don't ever mess with (or fall in love with) a mermaid even if she's a cute, nude and impossibly young. Your life is no longer yours then.
Takes place in a (very) shabby music hall type bar where the (um) 'girls' are put on display. Pour water on them and they grow 12 foot fish tails. Dry them off and they become 'normal' girls except for no normal female genitals, just smooth skin down there.
The musical numbers work very well.
I couldn't stop watching or laughing, amazed at how this rollicking weird story just keeps going.
In Polish made in Poland.
Wow!!
"The Lure" won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Unique Vision and Design
From the catalog -
One dark night, at water’s edge, a family of musicians encounter aquatic sirens Silver and Golden. After assuring the family that they won’t eat them up, the winsome mermaids are recruited to join the Figs and Dates band at a neon-lit Warsaw dance club. When Silver becomes romantically entangled with beautiful blonde bassist Mietek, the more cunning Golden, who cannot escape her bloodthirsty nature and assimilate, worries that her sister’s relationship will doom their shared dream of swimming to a new life in America.
This weird, wild, 1980s-set musical horror film wittily plays with the lust and repulsion the bewitching sisters create with their combination of Barbie doll–smooth bodies and impressively long glittering mermaid tails. With a knack for both burlesque and the grotesque, first-time feature director Agnieszka Smoczyńska creates a world saturated in color and Europop slickness that twists with absurdity and drips with blood.
"The Lure" Director: Agnieszka Smoczyńska Screenwriter: Robert Bolesto Cast: Zygmunt Malanowicz, Andrzej Konopka, Kinga Preis, Jakub Gierszal, Michalina Olszanska, Marta Mazurek Poland / 92 Min
Director bio -
Agnieszka Smoczyńska is a graduate of the University of Silesia’s Krzysztof Kieślowski Faculty of Radio and Television (in directing), the Wajda School, and the University of Wroclaw (in culture studies). She received the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Scholarship and won the My Talent for Poland program and Golden Pen award, granted by the president of Poland. Her short films Kapelusz, 3 Love, and Aria Diva have won awards at film festivals around the world.
Firstly, hats off to the programmers and the organization for finding and presenting this one. Sundance's docs and international features are usually superb but this one takes the cake.
We describe it - hold onto your hats now - as a lesbian vampire mermaid horror musical comedy. No kidding.
And it has a female director and 2 amazing female mermaid leads. More powerful woman filmmaking.
What's it about?? I dunno. Maybe don't ever mess with (or fall in love with) a mermaid even if she's a cute, nude and impossibly young. Your life is no longer yours then.
Takes place in a (very) shabby music hall type bar where the (um) 'girls' are put on display. Pour water on them and they grow 12 foot fish tails. Dry them off and they become 'normal' girls except for no normal female genitals, just smooth skin down there.
The musical numbers work very well.
I couldn't stop watching or laughing, amazed at how this rollicking weird story just keeps going.
In Polish made in Poland.
Wow!!
"The Lure" won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Unique Vision and Design
From the catalog -
One dark night, at water’s edge, a family of musicians encounter aquatic sirens Silver and Golden. After assuring the family that they won’t eat them up, the winsome mermaids are recruited to join the Figs and Dates band at a neon-lit Warsaw dance club. When Silver becomes romantically entangled with beautiful blonde bassist Mietek, the more cunning Golden, who cannot escape her bloodthirsty nature and assimilate, worries that her sister’s relationship will doom their shared dream of swimming to a new life in America.
This weird, wild, 1980s-set musical horror film wittily plays with the lust and repulsion the bewitching sisters create with their combination of Barbie doll–smooth bodies and impressively long glittering mermaid tails. With a knack for both burlesque and the grotesque, first-time feature director Agnieszka Smoczyńska creates a world saturated in color and Europop slickness that twists with absurdity and drips with blood.
"The Lure" Director: Agnieszka Smoczyńska Screenwriter: Robert Bolesto Cast: Zygmunt Malanowicz, Andrzej Konopka, Kinga Preis, Jakub Gierszal, Michalina Olszanska, Marta Mazurek Poland / 92 Min
Director bio -
Agnieszka Smoczyńska is a graduate of the University of Silesia’s Krzysztof Kieślowski Faculty of Radio and Television (in directing), the Wajda School, and the University of Wroclaw (in culture studies). She received the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Scholarship and won the My Talent for Poland program and Golden Pen award, granted by the president of Poland. Her short films Kapelusz, 3 Love, and Aria Diva have won awards at film festivals around the world.
- 2/5/2016
- by Peter Belsito
- Sydney's Buzz
The Lure (2016) Film Review from the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, a movie directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska, starring Marta Mazurek, Michalina Olszanska, Jakub Gierszal, Kinga Preis, Andrzej Konopka, and Zygmunt Malanowicz. A Polish, vampire mermaid, horror-musical set in the 1980’s – how’s that for a concept? The film made a splash on Twitter prior to its Sundance premiere this past weekend, with […]...
- 1/25/2016
- by Drew Stelter
- Film-Book
This Polish vampire musical featuring mermaid siblings seems to have it all – but after a while the wackiness gets weary and even the foam seems thin
Agnieszka Smoczynska’s tale of sibling mermaids could possibly be the strangest film in this year’s world cinema competition. Marta Mazurek and Michalina Olszanska star as two sirens, Golden (Olszanska) and Silver (Mazurek), who swap swimming, seduction and hunting men for a life as star turns at a seedy gentleman’s club.
Looked after by the club’s matriarch Krysia (played by Kinga Preis) they use their vocal ability to draw the crowds (their act is called The Lure), but there are a couple of problems with their adopted lives. The first is that Golden can’t stop chomping on the vital organs of the male townsfolk, and the other is that Silver has managed to fall in love with her band’s bass player.
Agnieszka Smoczynska’s tale of sibling mermaids could possibly be the strangest film in this year’s world cinema competition. Marta Mazurek and Michalina Olszanska star as two sirens, Golden (Olszanska) and Silver (Mazurek), who swap swimming, seduction and hunting men for a life as star turns at a seedy gentleman’s club.
Looked after by the club’s matriarch Krysia (played by Kinga Preis) they use their vocal ability to draw the crowds (their act is called The Lure), but there are a couple of problems with their adopted lives. The first is that Golden can’t stop chomping on the vital organs of the male townsfolk, and the other is that Silver has managed to fall in love with her band’s bass player.
- 1/24/2016
- by Lanre Bakare
- The Guardian - Film News
This Polish vampire musical featuring mermaid siblings seems to have it all – but after a while the wackiness gets weary and even the foam seems thin
Agnieszka Smoczynska’s tale of sibling mermaids could possibly be the strangest film in this year’s world cinema competition. Marta Mazurek and Michalina Olszanska star as two sirens, Golden (Olszanska) and Silver (Mazurek), who swap swimming, seduction and hunting men for a life as star turns at a seedy gentleman’s club.
Looked after by the club’s matriarch Krysia (played by Kinga Preis) they use their vocal ability to draw the crowds (their act is called The Lure), but there are a couple of problems with their adopted lives. The first is that Golden can’t stop chomping on the vital organs of the male townsfolk, and the other is that Silver has managed to fall in love with her band’s bass player.
Agnieszka Smoczynska’s tale of sibling mermaids could possibly be the strangest film in this year’s world cinema competition. Marta Mazurek and Michalina Olszanska star as two sirens, Golden (Olszanska) and Silver (Mazurek), who swap swimming, seduction and hunting men for a life as star turns at a seedy gentleman’s club.
Looked after by the club’s matriarch Krysia (played by Kinga Preis) they use their vocal ability to draw the crowds (their act is called The Lure), but there are a couple of problems with their adopted lives. The first is that Golden can’t stop chomping on the vital organs of the male townsfolk, and the other is that Silver has managed to fall in love with her band’s bass player.
- 1/24/2016
- by Lanre Bakare
- The Guardian - Film News
Kate Plays ChristineThe lineup for the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, taking place between January 21 -31, has been announced.U.S. Dramatic COMPETITIONAs You Are (Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, USA): As You Are is the telling and retelling of a relationship between three teenagers as it traces the course of their friendship through a construction of disparate memories prompted by a police investigation. Cast: Owen Campbell, Charlie Heaton, Amandla Stenberg, John Scurti, Scott Cohen, Mary Stuart Masterson. World Premiere The Birth of a Nation (Nate Parker, USA): Set against the antebellum South, this story follows Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner, accepts an offer to use Nat’s preaching to subdue unruly slaves. After witnessing countless atrocities against fellow slaves, Nat devises a plan to lead his people to freedom. Cast: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King, Jackie Earle Haley, Gabrielle Union, Mark Boone Jr. World PremiereChristine (Antonio Campos,...
- 12/7/2015
- by Notebook
- MUBI
The Sundance Film institute has released the line-up of film for the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Going to Sundance is one of my favorite events of the year. I love going because you never know what kind of movies you're going to see. Sometimes they are great films that amaze and entertain, other times they completely suck ass, but that's all part of the fun of going to the festival. It's an awesome experience for any hardcore movie geek, and if you ever get a chance to go, you need to.
The event takes place in Park City, Utah next year from January 21st to the 31st. It looks like there's a great line-up of movies at next year's event. My favorite portion of the event is the Midnight section because it deals more with geeky genre type movies, but I also enjoy the various sections of other line-ups.
Some of...
The event takes place in Park City, Utah next year from January 21st to the 31st. It looks like there's a great line-up of movies at next year's event. My favorite portion of the event is the Midnight section because it deals more with geeky genre type movies, but I also enjoy the various sections of other line-ups.
Some of...
- 12/6/2015
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
In last year’s section which included Ariel Kleiman’s Partisan and Anne Sewitsky’s Homesick, it was John Maclean’s debut Slow West claimed the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize, Alanté Kavaïté’s The Summer of Sangailé landed the Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic, Umrika was the audience’s won the Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic. In this year’s dozen offerings we have names we normally associate with Cannes in The Misfortunates‘ Felix van Groeningen (Belgica), The Other Side of Sleep‘s Rebecca Daly (Mammal – see pic above) and A Stray Girlfriend‘s Ana Katz (Mi Amiga del Parque). Here are the selections.
Belgica / Belgium, France, Netherlands (Director: Felix van Groeningen, Screenwriters: Felix van Groeningen, Arne Sierens) — In the midst of Belgium’s nightlife scene, two brothers start a bar and get swept up in its success.Cast: Stef Aerts, Tom Vermeir, Charlotte Vandermeersch, Hélène De Vos. World Premiere.
Belgica / Belgium, France, Netherlands (Director: Felix van Groeningen, Screenwriters: Felix van Groeningen, Arne Sierens) — In the midst of Belgium’s nightlife scene, two brothers start a bar and get swept up in its success.Cast: Stef Aerts, Tom Vermeir, Charlotte Vandermeersch, Hélène De Vos. World Premiere.
- 12/2/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Titles include Tallulah starring Ellen Page and Allison Janney, and Chad Hartigan’s Morris From America (pictured); Next strand also announced.Scroll down for full list
Sundance Institute has announced the 65 films selected for the Us Competition, World Competition and out-of-competition Next categories set to screen at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival (Jan 21-31) in Park City.
Us Dramatic Competition selections include Sian Heder’s Tallulah with Ellen Page and Allison Janney; Antonio Campos’ Christine; Clea DuVall’s feature directorial debut The Intervention; and Richard Tanne’s Southside With You, about Barack Obama’s first date with the First Lady.
Among the Us Documentary Competition selections are: Holy Hell by undisclosed; Jeff Feuerzeig’s Author: The Jt LeRoy Story; and Sara Jordenö’s Kiki.
The World Cinema Dramatic Competition entries include: Belgica (Belgium-France-Netherlands), Felix van Groeningen’s follow-up to The Broken Circle Breakdown; Manolo Cruz and Carlos del Castillo’s Between Sea And Land (Colombia); and Nicolette Krebitz’s Wild...
Sundance Institute has announced the 65 films selected for the Us Competition, World Competition and out-of-competition Next categories set to screen at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival (Jan 21-31) in Park City.
Us Dramatic Competition selections include Sian Heder’s Tallulah with Ellen Page and Allison Janney; Antonio Campos’ Christine; Clea DuVall’s feature directorial debut The Intervention; and Richard Tanne’s Southside With You, about Barack Obama’s first date with the First Lady.
Among the Us Documentary Competition selections are: Holy Hell by undisclosed; Jeff Feuerzeig’s Author: The Jt LeRoy Story; and Sara Jordenö’s Kiki.
The World Cinema Dramatic Competition entries include: Belgica (Belgium-France-Netherlands), Felix van Groeningen’s follow-up to The Broken Circle Breakdown; Manolo Cruz and Carlos del Castillo’s Between Sea And Land (Colombia); and Nicolette Krebitz’s Wild...
- 12/2/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Chicago – There were countless foreign films in 2011 more deserving of an Oscar nod than Agnieszka Holland’s “In Darkness.” The film lacks the brutal edge, gut-wrenching tension and memorable characterizations that distinguished so many similar Holocaust-era dramas. Yet the lukewarm “been there, done that” reaction of many American critics has left me rather mystified.
This isn’t a great film, per se, but it is still a harrowing and compelling portrait of resilience in the face of evil. Best known for her fact-based exploration of Hitler youth, “Europa, Europa,” Holland is skilled at creating the sort of vividly atmospheric environment that seeps into a viewer’s bones. One of my favorite films as a child was Holland’s sublime 1993 adaptation of “The Secret Garden,” which viewed the gothic interiors and lush mazes through the eyes of bewitched children.
Blu-ray Rating: 3.5/5.0
With “In Darkness,” Holland burrows beneath the chaotic streets of a Polish city,...
This isn’t a great film, per se, but it is still a harrowing and compelling portrait of resilience in the face of evil. Best known for her fact-based exploration of Hitler youth, “Europa, Europa,” Holland is skilled at creating the sort of vividly atmospheric environment that seeps into a viewer’s bones. One of my favorite films as a child was Holland’s sublime 1993 adaptation of “The Secret Garden,” which viewed the gothic interiors and lush mazes through the eyes of bewitched children.
Blu-ray Rating: 3.5/5.0
With “In Darkness,” Holland burrows beneath the chaotic streets of a Polish city,...
- 6/28/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Oscar-nominated WWII drama In Darkness is out in the UK this Friday. Here’s our review of a flawed yet uplifting film...
Attempting to write about In Darkness is a tricky proposition. A heartfelt, Oscar-nominated movie based on the real-life suffering of Jews in World War II, critically dissecting it seems almost cruel - like analysing a charity record, or a cake baked for a church fete. In Darkness is well acted and made with such good intentions that it seems almost sacrilegious to say it’s anything less than perfect.
When viewed against other movies based on the Holocaust, such as Claude Lanzmann’s sprawling, extraordinary documentary Shoah (1985), Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (1993) or Roman Polanski’s The Pianist (2002), In Darkness isn’t without flaw. But then again, the story it has to tell is so remarkable that it’s not difficult to see why it gained attention at this year's Academy Awards.
Attempting to write about In Darkness is a tricky proposition. A heartfelt, Oscar-nominated movie based on the real-life suffering of Jews in World War II, critically dissecting it seems almost cruel - like analysing a charity record, or a cake baked for a church fete. In Darkness is well acted and made with such good intentions that it seems almost sacrilegious to say it’s anything less than perfect.
When viewed against other movies based on the Holocaust, such as Claude Lanzmann’s sprawling, extraordinary documentary Shoah (1985), Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (1993) or Roman Polanski’s The Pianist (2002), In Darkness isn’t without flaw. But then again, the story it has to tell is so remarkable that it’s not difficult to see why it gained attention at this year's Academy Awards.
- 3/13/2012
- Den of Geek
In Darkness Trailer 1, Trailer 2. Agnieszka Holland‘s In Darkness (2011) movie trailer stars Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann, Agnieszka Grochowska, Maria Schrader, and Kinga Preis. In Darkness‘ plot synopsis: “In Darkness is based on a true story. Leopold Socha, a sewer worker and petty thief in Lvov, a Nazi occupied city in Poland, one day encounters a group of Jews trying to escape the liquidation of the ghetto. He hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers beneath the bustling activity of the city above.
What starts out as a straightforward and cynical business arrangement turns into something very unexpected, the unlikely alliance between Socha and the Jews as the enterprise seeps deeper into Socha’s conscience. The film is also an extraordinary story of survival as these men, women and children all try to outwit certain death during 14 months of ever increasing and intense danger.”
In Darkness...
What starts out as a straightforward and cynical business arrangement turns into something very unexpected, the unlikely alliance between Socha and the Jews as the enterprise seeps deeper into Socha’s conscience. The film is also an extraordinary story of survival as these men, women and children all try to outwit certain death during 14 months of ever increasing and intense danger.”
In Darkness...
- 2/21/2012
- by filmbook
- Film-Book
In Darkness
Written by David F. Shamoon
Directed by Agnieszka Holland
Poland / Germany / France / Canada, 2011
When Claude Lanzmann was developing his landmark nine-hour Holocaust documentary Shoah, his greatest self-appointed challenge was to chronicle the facts and lasting legacy of the massacring of millions of people while avoiding even the slightest intimation that the events described could be easily encapsulated within a mere film, regardless of length or scope. Lanzmann’s film is still the object of study and appreciation is cineaste circles, but in general, filmmakers haven’t been nearly as skittish as Lanzmann in tackling what he considered to be insurmountable. In the nearly two decades since that film’s release, Holocaust movies have grown into an awards-season cliché, often derided as exploiting human tragedy in order to showcase performances in the service of awards-hungry studios. It’s in this context that one will inevitably view Agnieszka Holland’s In Darkness; in this instance.
Written by David F. Shamoon
Directed by Agnieszka Holland
Poland / Germany / France / Canada, 2011
When Claude Lanzmann was developing his landmark nine-hour Holocaust documentary Shoah, his greatest self-appointed challenge was to chronicle the facts and lasting legacy of the massacring of millions of people while avoiding even the slightest intimation that the events described could be easily encapsulated within a mere film, regardless of length or scope. Lanzmann’s film is still the object of study and appreciation is cineaste circles, but in general, filmmakers haven’t been nearly as skittish as Lanzmann in tackling what he considered to be insurmountable. In the nearly two decades since that film’s release, Holocaust movies have grown into an awards-season cliché, often derided as exploiting human tragedy in order to showcase performances in the service of awards-hungry studios. It’s in this context that one will inevitably view Agnieszka Holland’s In Darkness; in this instance.
- 2/18/2012
- by Simon Howell
- SoundOnSight
The new film from Agnieszka Holland, In Darkness, has been nominated for Best Foreign Film at this year's Academy Awards after already winning a clutch of festival gongs. And now, for your viewing pleasure, here's the UK poster for the film.It's all based on the true story of Leopold Soha (Robert Wieckiewicz), a sewer worker and petty thief who makes a living following the Nazi occupation of his home town of Lvov by hiding Jewish refugees in the sewers under the town. Only - as you can see from the trailer below - it's not quite that simple.The film also stars Benno Fürmann, Agnieszka Grochowska and Kinga Preis, and it's out in the UK on March 16. brightcove.createExperiences();...
- 2/9/2012
- EmpireOnline
Title: In Darkness Directed By: Agnieszka Holland Written By: Robert Marshall (book), David F. Shamoon (screenplay) Cast: Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Furmann, Agnieszka Grochowska, Maria Schrader, Herbert Knaup, Kinga Preis Screened at: Sony, NYC, 10/24/11 Opens: December 9, 2011 Human life in sewers has been in the news. Not so long ago, Saddam Hussein was found in a make-shift ditch with a growth of beard that he kept up through his trial and execution. In October of this year, Libyan dictator Muamar Gadhafi was flushed out of a drainpipe and summarily executed. But not all inhabitants of sewers are rats like them. Agnieszka Holland, a Warsaw-born, Prague-educated director best known in...
- 10/25/2011
- by Brian Corder
- ShockYa
The New York Film Festival opened its 2008 edition Friday night with a screening of French director Laurent Cantet's "The Class" and a blowout at Tavern on the Green.
Now it's down to the serious task of watching movies. Trying to decide which to see can be daunting, so please allow me to recommend three.
"Four Nights With Anna" (2008) is the first film in 17 years by respected Polish auteur Jerzy Skolimowski. It concerns Leon (Artur Steranko), a weird crematory worker in a dreary village,...
Now it's down to the serious task of watching movies. Trying to decide which to see can be daunting, so please allow me to recommend three.
"Four Nights With Anna" (2008) is the first film in 17 years by respected Polish auteur Jerzy Skolimowski. It concerns Leon (Artur Steranko), a weird crematory worker in a dreary village,...
- 9/28/2008
- NYPost.com
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