Real-life pianist Tymoteusz Bies and his younger brother Jacek star in Damian Kocur’s extraordinary and intriguing debut
There’s an icy, unforgiving clarity and compositional rigour to this arresting feature debut from Polish film-maker Damian Kocur, made using non-professionals and partly inspired by a violent incident from real life; it won the special jury prize at Venice in 2022.
Real-life Polish pianist Tymoteusz Bies plays Tymek, a high-achieving young man studying piano at Warsaw’s Chopin University of Music. He’s returned for the summer break to his drab home town, perhaps based on Ełk in the north-east, where all the kids he grew up with are heading for useless jobs and humdrum lives. He’s happy to be back with his music teacher mum and his brother Jacek (played by his actual brother Jacek Bies) but is perplexed and irritated by the fact that Jacek, despite his own piano talent,...
There’s an icy, unforgiving clarity and compositional rigour to this arresting feature debut from Polish film-maker Damian Kocur, made using non-professionals and partly inspired by a violent incident from real life; it won the special jury prize at Venice in 2022.
Real-life Polish pianist Tymoteusz Bies plays Tymek, a high-achieving young man studying piano at Warsaw’s Chopin University of Music. He’s returned for the summer break to his drab home town, perhaps based on Ełk in the north-east, where all the kids he grew up with are heading for useless jobs and humdrum lives. He’s happy to be back with his music teacher mum and his brother Jacek (played by his actual brother Jacek Bies) but is perplexed and irritated by the fact that Jacek, despite his own piano talent,...
- 11/27/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Stars: Tymoteusz Bies, Jacek Bies | Written by Damian Kocur, Marta Konarzewska | Directed by Damian Kocur
While studying at the Warsaw Academy of Music, Tymoteusz (Tymoteusz Bies) returns to his hometown for a visit. Surrounded by his friends and younger brother Jacek (Jacek Bies), his group makes a beeline for the new kebab shop opened up by two Arabic immigrants. As tensions rise throughout the summer, Tymoteusz assesses where he stands in the gap between a familiar past and an ever-changing present.
It’s possibly fair to say that those rocking up to a mid-month film festival without much idea of what’s on the schedule might not be too au fait with Polish cinema. Classics such as Ida and Interrogation are heralded as worthy watches, yet the visual imagery of Polish culture instead often comes from BBC News clips of homophobic policies and immigrants who are despised by the Brits.
While studying at the Warsaw Academy of Music, Tymoteusz (Tymoteusz Bies) returns to his hometown for a visit. Surrounded by his friends and younger brother Jacek (Jacek Bies), his group makes a beeline for the new kebab shop opened up by two Arabic immigrants. As tensions rise throughout the summer, Tymoteusz assesses where he stands in the gap between a familiar past and an ever-changing present.
It’s possibly fair to say that those rocking up to a mid-month film festival without much idea of what’s on the schedule might not be too au fait with Polish cinema. Classics such as Ida and Interrogation are heralded as worthy watches, yet the visual imagery of Polish culture instead often comes from BBC News clips of homophobic policies and immigrants who are despised by the Brits.
- 3/30/2023
- by Jasmine Valentine
- Nerdly
Damian Kocur’s 2022 Venice Film Festival winner “Bread and Salt” will open the 21st Kinoteka Polish Film Festival.
“Bread and Salt” follows the journey of two brothers, played by real-life siblings Tymoteusz Bies and Jacek Bies, in a small Polish town during one hot summer.
The closing gala will be Feliks Falk’s 1977 classic “Top Dog.” Causing much debate in Poland on its original release, the film follows the story of small-town entertainer Danielak, played by Polish acting legend Jerzy Stuhr, who will stop at nothing to achieve his aim of hosting the town’s 500th anniversary celebrations.
In collaboration with BFI, Kinoteka will also present Outsiders and Exiles: The Films of Jerzy Skolimowski, a month-long retrospective at BFI Southbank. Skolimowski’s latest film “Eo” has earned enormous critical acclaim across the world since its premiere at Cannes, culminating with the film’s recent Academy Award nomination in the international feature category.
“Bread and Salt” follows the journey of two brothers, played by real-life siblings Tymoteusz Bies and Jacek Bies, in a small Polish town during one hot summer.
The closing gala will be Feliks Falk’s 1977 classic “Top Dog.” Causing much debate in Poland on its original release, the film follows the story of small-town entertainer Danielak, played by Polish acting legend Jerzy Stuhr, who will stop at nothing to achieve his aim of hosting the town’s 500th anniversary celebrations.
In collaboration with BFI, Kinoteka will also present Outsiders and Exiles: The Films of Jerzy Skolimowski, a month-long retrospective at BFI Southbank. Skolimowski’s latest film “Eo” has earned enormous critical acclaim across the world since its premiere at Cannes, culminating with the film’s recent Academy Award nomination in the international feature category.
- 1/27/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Since its premiere in Venice, where it scooped the Special Jury Prize in the Horizons section, Damian Kocur’s feature debut “Bread and Salt” has been enjoying a stellar festival run. But the Polish helmer is already planning his next move, teasing a new project under the working title “A Night Without an End” at the Cairo Film Festival, where “Bread and Salt” plays in the International Competition section.
The story will deal with the infamous refugee crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border, reveals Kocur. He is determined to focus on the human side of the story, not politics.
“Ultimately, it’s about one person meeting another,” he says. Anna Gawlita of Kijora Films will produce.
“Damian will tackle the extremely important yet sensitive topic: the attitude of local residents toward migrants who show up in their neighborhood, depicting the complex system of relationships that exist in closed communities like small towns and villages,...
The story will deal with the infamous refugee crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border, reveals Kocur. He is determined to focus on the human side of the story, not politics.
“Ultimately, it’s about one person meeting another,” he says. Anna Gawlita of Kijora Films will produce.
“Damian will tackle the extremely important yet sensitive topic: the attitude of local residents toward migrants who show up in their neighborhood, depicting the complex system of relationships that exist in closed communities like small towns and villages,...
- 11/17/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
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