Valentina Maurel’s “I Have Electric Dreams” continued its winning streak this week at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, where the Costa Rican director’s coming-of-age drama took home the Golden Alexander for best feature film.
Maurel’s debut follows a restless 16-year-old girl experiencing her sexual awakening. Desperate to leave the house she shares with her mother and younger sister, she opts to move in with her estranged father, a troubled artist.
The film won the prizes for best director, actress and actor at the Locarno Film Festival, where it bowed in the main competition, as well as the San Sebastián Film Festival’s Horizons Award.
The jury in Thessaloniki, which was comprised of Mexican producer and Pimienta Films founder Nicolas Selis, Polish writer-director Tomasz Wasilewski and Greek filmmaker Penny Panagiotopoulou, praised the film for its “beautiful and gentle portrait on how to love the flaws in a person you love.
Maurel’s debut follows a restless 16-year-old girl experiencing her sexual awakening. Desperate to leave the house she shares with her mother and younger sister, she opts to move in with her estranged father, a troubled artist.
The film won the prizes for best director, actress and actor at the Locarno Film Festival, where it bowed in the main competition, as well as the San Sebastián Film Festival’s Horizons Award.
The jury in Thessaloniki, which was comprised of Mexican producer and Pimienta Films founder Nicolas Selis, Polish writer-director Tomasz Wasilewski and Greek filmmaker Penny Panagiotopoulou, praised the film for its “beautiful and gentle portrait on how to love the flaws in a person you love.
- 11/14/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you intend to watch the film.
Berlinale Silver Bear winner Tomasz Wasilewski isn’t afraid of the subject of his latest film “Fools,” even though he focuses on an incestuous relationship between a mother and a son, played by Dorota Kolak and Łukasz Simlat.
“It was never my intention to shock anyone. I just wanted to tell the story of the hardest love of all,” the Polish director tells Variety.
“Fools,” produced by Extreme Emotions and lensed by Romanian Dp Oleg Mutu, is set to premiere in Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s new section Proxima. New Europe Film Sales is handling the sales.
“I was wondering what would happen if someone close to me came to me now, saying they were in a similar relationship. I guess, and I can only guess, that at this point in my life, it wouldn’t be a problem,...
Berlinale Silver Bear winner Tomasz Wasilewski isn’t afraid of the subject of his latest film “Fools,” even though he focuses on an incestuous relationship between a mother and a son, played by Dorota Kolak and Łukasz Simlat.
“It was never my intention to shock anyone. I just wanted to tell the story of the hardest love of all,” the Polish director tells Variety.
“Fools,” produced by Extreme Emotions and lensed by Romanian Dp Oleg Mutu, is set to premiere in Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s new section Proxima. New Europe Film Sales is handling the sales.
“I was wondering what would happen if someone close to me came to me now, saying they were in a similar relationship. I guess, and I can only guess, that at this point in my life, it wouldn’t be a problem,...
- 7/4/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
As its 56th edition – running July 1-9 – kicks off, Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival is ready to party like it’s 2019.
“We can’t predict how many people will come, as some still don’t want to travel, but it’s supposed to be as close to [pre-pandemic] 2019 as possible,” says artistic director Karel Och, noting the audience is still one of the festival’s biggest assets.
It’s their enthusiasm for cinema that has “enchanted even big Hollywood stars,” echoes president Jiří Bartoška, hoping for a great atmosphere in Karlovy Vary.
But there have been significant changes at the festival, starting with the death of the longtime artistic advisor and former artistic director Eva Zaoralová in March.
“When it happened, it was just like when Bowie died — certain people you just consider immortal,” says Och. The festival will celebrate Zaoralová with an exhibition of photographs and a screening of her favorite film,...
“We can’t predict how many people will come, as some still don’t want to travel, but it’s supposed to be as close to [pre-pandemic] 2019 as possible,” says artistic director Karel Och, noting the audience is still one of the festival’s biggest assets.
It’s their enthusiasm for cinema that has “enchanted even big Hollywood stars,” echoes president Jiří Bartoška, hoping for a great atmosphere in Karlovy Vary.
But there have been significant changes at the festival, starting with the death of the longtime artistic advisor and former artistic director Eva Zaoralová in March.
“When it happened, it was just like when Bowie died — certain people you just consider immortal,” says Och. The festival will celebrate Zaoralová with an exhibition of photographs and a screening of her favorite film,...
- 7/1/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Polish filmmaker’s latest work world premieres at Karlovy Vary.
Fools is the latest feature from Polish filmmaker Tomasz Wasilewski whose previous films include Floating Skyscrapers and United States Of Love, which won the Silver Bear for best script at the 2016 Berlinale.
Fools is debuting in the Proxima competition at Karlovy Vary, and centres around a couple, played by Dorota Kolak and Lukasz Simlat, who live a contentedly secluded lifestyle in a house by the coast. But when the woman brings her sick son to come and live with them, the façade of their relationship begins to crumble around them...
Fools is the latest feature from Polish filmmaker Tomasz Wasilewski whose previous films include Floating Skyscrapers and United States Of Love, which won the Silver Bear for best script at the 2016 Berlinale.
Fools is debuting in the Proxima competition at Karlovy Vary, and centres around a couple, played by Dorota Kolak and Lukasz Simlat, who live a contentedly secluded lifestyle in a house by the coast. But when the woman brings her sick son to come and live with them, the façade of their relationship begins to crumble around them...
- 7/1/2022
- by Laurence Boyce
- ScreenDaily
Tomasz Wasilewski’s “Fools” (Głupcy) has debuted its trailer ahead of its world premiere at Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Proxima Competition. World sales are being handled by Jan Naszewski’s New Europe Film Sales.
Wasilewski won the best script award for “United States of Love” at the Berlin Film Festival in 2016, and the East of West Award at Karlovy Vary in 2013 for “Floating Skyscrapers.”
“Fools” follows Marlena and Tomasz, hidden away from the world in a small seaside town, who have been in a happy relationship for many years. Their intricately woven everyday life slowly begins to unravel when, against Tomasz’s wishes, Marlena allows her sick son to move in with them. As the past comes back to them in full force they will have to redefine their love, choices and life.
Karlovy Vary’s Lenka Tyrpáková commented: “After the triumph of his previous film ‘United States of Love,...
Wasilewski won the best script award for “United States of Love” at the Berlin Film Festival in 2016, and the East of West Award at Karlovy Vary in 2013 for “Floating Skyscrapers.”
“Fools” follows Marlena and Tomasz, hidden away from the world in a small seaside town, who have been in a happy relationship for many years. Their intricately woven everyday life slowly begins to unravel when, against Tomasz’s wishes, Marlena allows her sick son to move in with them. As the past comes back to them in full force they will have to redefine their love, choices and life.
Karlovy Vary’s Lenka Tyrpáková commented: “After the triumph of his previous film ‘United States of Love,...
- 6/28/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Geoffrey Rush and Benicio Del Toro will receive special awards at the 2022 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Kviff organizers announced on Tuesday. The two actors will both receive their awards during the closing ceremony on July 9 in the festival’s namesake spa town outside Prague in the Czech Republic.
Rush will receive the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema, an award that in the past has gone to Michael Caine, Julianne Moore, Jude Law and Judi Dench. Three of Rush’s films – “The King’s Speech,” “Quills” and “Shine,” for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor – will be screened at the festival.
Del Toro will receive the President’s Award for making “a fundamental contribution to the development of film and cinema.” “The Usual Suspects” and his Oscar-winning turn in “Traffic” will be screened for the occasion. Ethan Hawke received the President’s Award last year.
Rush will receive the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema, an award that in the past has gone to Michael Caine, Julianne Moore, Jude Law and Judi Dench. Three of Rush’s films – “The King’s Speech,” “Quills” and “Shine,” for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor – will be screened at the festival.
Del Toro will receive the President’s Award for making “a fundamental contribution to the development of film and cinema.” “The Usual Suspects” and his Oscar-winning turn in “Traffic” will be screened for the occasion. Ethan Hawke received the President’s Award last year.
- 6/21/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
A host of anticipated upcoming titles from the growing Polish industry have hit the Cannes Film Market.
Fools
Director: Tomasz Wasilewski
Producer: Ewa Puszczyńska (Extreme Emotions)
Logline: Marlena (62) and Tomasz (42), hidden away from the world in a small seaside town, have been in a happy relationship for many years. Their intricately woven everyday life slowly begins to crumble when, against Tomasz’s will, Marlena allows her son to move in with them. As the past comes back to them in full force, they’ll have to redefine their love, choices and life.
Sales: New Europe Film Sales
Leave No Traces
Director: Jan P. Matuszyński
Producers: Leszek Bodzak and Aneta Hickinbotham (Aurum Film)
Logline: Poland, 1983. The country is shaken by the case of Grzegorz Przemyk, a high school student beaten to death by a militia. Based on true events, the film follows the story of Jurek, the only witness to the beating,...
Fools
Director: Tomasz Wasilewski
Producer: Ewa Puszczyńska (Extreme Emotions)
Logline: Marlena (62) and Tomasz (42), hidden away from the world in a small seaside town, have been in a happy relationship for many years. Their intricately woven everyday life slowly begins to crumble when, against Tomasz’s will, Marlena allows her son to move in with them. As the past comes back to them in full force, they’ll have to redefine their love, choices and life.
Sales: New Europe Film Sales
Leave No Traces
Director: Jan P. Matuszyński
Producers: Leszek Bodzak and Aneta Hickinbotham (Aurum Film)
Logline: Poland, 1983. The country is shaken by the case of Grzegorz Przemyk, a high school student beaten to death by a militia. Based on true events, the film follows the story of Jurek, the only witness to the beating,...
- 7/10/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
French distributor Arp has acquired the rights to “Fools,” an upcoming drama by Berlinale Silver Bear winner Tomasz Wasilewski (“United States of Love”). Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based sales outlet New Europe Film Sales brokered the deal.
“Fools” is the story of Marlena and Tomasz, who are hidden away from the world in a small seaside town and have been in a happy relationship for many years. But when Marlena allows her son to move in with them against Tomasz’s will, the past comes back to haunt them, and their intricately woven everyday life slowly begins to come apart.
“We were extremely impressed by the powerful way the director brings us along with him on such a powerful journey,” said Arp’s Michele Halberstadt. “The film is beautifully composed, and the lead actress is just mesmerizing. It is the kind of film that commands you to watch it. Tough at times,...
“Fools” is the story of Marlena and Tomasz, who are hidden away from the world in a small seaside town and have been in a happy relationship for many years. But when Marlena allows her son to move in with them against Tomasz’s will, the past comes back to haunt them, and their intricately woven everyday life slowly begins to come apart.
“We were extremely impressed by the powerful way the director brings us along with him on such a powerful journey,” said Arp’s Michele Halberstadt. “The film is beautifully composed, and the lead actress is just mesmerizing. It is the kind of film that commands you to watch it. Tough at times,...
- 7/8/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Producer Ada Solomon, whose credits include Cãlin Peter Netzer’s Berlin Golden Bear winner “Child’s Pose,” Radu Jude’s Berlin Silver Bear winner “Aferim!” and Maren Ade’s Oscar-nominated “Toni Erdmann,” has announced new projects from Jude and Ivana Mladenovic, whose debut feature “Soldiers. Story from Ferentari” premiered in Toronto in 2017.
Jude’s “Uppercase Print” (pictured) is an adaptation of a documentary play by Gianina Cărbunariu that interweaves two narrative strands. One is the true story of Mugur Călinescu, a Romanian teenager who wrote graffiti messages of protest against the regime of dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and was subsequently apprehended, interrogated, and ultimately crushed by the secret police. The other story uses archival footage from the public broadcaster to depict everyday life in Romania in the 1980s.
Solomon said the film will celebrate the “unknown heroes of the Communist era,” using a cinematic method to reveal the brutal mechanisms of repression by juxtaposing “secret vs.
Jude’s “Uppercase Print” (pictured) is an adaptation of a documentary play by Gianina Cărbunariu that interweaves two narrative strands. One is the true story of Mugur Călinescu, a Romanian teenager who wrote graffiti messages of protest against the regime of dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and was subsequently apprehended, interrogated, and ultimately crushed by the secret police. The other story uses archival footage from the public broadcaster to depict everyday life in Romania in the 1980s.
Solomon said the film will celebrate the “unknown heroes of the Communist era,” using a cinematic method to reveal the brutal mechanisms of repression by juxtaposing “secret vs.
- 5/31/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
“Charlatan”
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Producers: Marlene Film Production, Film & Music Entertainment, Madants
Logline: Inspired by the real-life figure of Jan Mikolášek, Holland’s latest follows an herbalist who devotes his life to care for the sick, despite the challenges.
Sales: Films Boutique
“The Coldest Game”
Director: Lukasz Kosmicki
Producer: Watchout Studio, K5 Intl.
Logline: Bill Pullman stars in this spy thriller, set against the backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis, as an American chess master whisked off to Warsaw to square off against a Russian champion.
Sales: Hyde Park Entertainment
“Corpus Christi”
Director: Jan Komasa
Producers: Aurum Film, Les Contes Modernes
Logline: Inspired by real events, the third feature from Komasa (Berlin player “Suicide Room”) follows a teenage delinquent who dreams of becoming a priest, only to find himself mistakenly taking over a village parish and transforming the local community.
Sales: New Europe Film Sales
“Fools”
Director: Tomasz Wasilewski
Producers: Extreme Emotions,...
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Producers: Marlene Film Production, Film & Music Entertainment, Madants
Logline: Inspired by the real-life figure of Jan Mikolášek, Holland’s latest follows an herbalist who devotes his life to care for the sick, despite the challenges.
Sales: Films Boutique
“The Coldest Game”
Director: Lukasz Kosmicki
Producer: Watchout Studio, K5 Intl.
Logline: Bill Pullman stars in this spy thriller, set against the backdrop of the Cuban missile crisis, as an American chess master whisked off to Warsaw to square off against a Russian champion.
Sales: Hyde Park Entertainment
“Corpus Christi”
Director: Jan Komasa
Producers: Aurum Film, Les Contes Modernes
Logline: Inspired by real events, the third feature from Komasa (Berlin player “Suicide Room”) follows a teenage delinquent who dreams of becoming a priest, only to find himself mistakenly taking over a village parish and transforming the local community.
Sales: New Europe Film Sales
“Fools”
Director: Tomasz Wasilewski
Producers: Extreme Emotions,...
- 5/16/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based sales outlet New Europe Film Sales has picked up world sales rights for the upcoming drama “Fools,” by Berlinale Silver Bear winner Tomasz Wasilewski (“United States of Love”), produced by Ewa Puszczynska, the producer behind Pawel Pawlikowski’s Oscar-winner “Ida” and nominee “Cold War.”
Leading Polish actors Dorota Kolak and Lukasz Simlat star in a film about the difficult relationship between a mother and son, and how their choices have dramatic consequences.
Puszczynska is producing for her company Extreme Emotions, in co-production with Ada Solomon at Romania’s Hi-Film and Jamila Wenske of Germany’s One Two Films, and in association with Nem Corp. Romanian DoP Oleg Mutu returns after his previous collaboration with Wasilewski on “United States of Love,” which New Europe sold to over 30 territories.
New Europe’s Cannes line-up includes the Critics’ Week selection “A White, White Day,” by Hlynur Palmason, which sold...
Leading Polish actors Dorota Kolak and Lukasz Simlat star in a film about the difficult relationship between a mother and son, and how their choices have dramatic consequences.
Puszczynska is producing for her company Extreme Emotions, in co-production with Ada Solomon at Romania’s Hi-Film and Jamila Wenske of Germany’s One Two Films, and in association with Nem Corp. Romanian DoP Oleg Mutu returns after his previous collaboration with Wasilewski on “United States of Love,” which New Europe sold to over 30 territories.
New Europe’s Cannes line-up includes the Critics’ Week selection “A White, White Day,” by Hlynur Palmason, which sold...
- 5/14/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
With more international co-productions in cinemas than ever before and a new crop of high-profile titles this year, Germany’s renown as fertile ground for foreign filmmakers continues to soar.
The number of German-backed cross-border titles in local theaters rose 30% last year to 98 — the most ever — and the trend looks set to continue. This year a slew of German co-productions are vying for Cannes’ Palme d’Or, among them Terrence Malick’s historical drama “A Hidden Life”; Jessica Hausner’s sci-fi thriller “Little Joe”; Marco Bellocchio’s mafia pic “The Traitor”; Corneliu Porumboiu’s “The Whistlers”; and Elia Suleiman’s “It Must Be Heaven.”
Key to the country’s filmmaking allure is a generous system of federal and regional funding sources and a dynamic film industry geared toward international co-production.
Leading companies include Pallas Films, whose credits include “It Must Be Heaven” and Sergey Dvortsevoy’s “Ayka”; Pandora Film, co-producer...
The number of German-backed cross-border titles in local theaters rose 30% last year to 98 — the most ever — and the trend looks set to continue. This year a slew of German co-productions are vying for Cannes’ Palme d’Or, among them Terrence Malick’s historical drama “A Hidden Life”; Jessica Hausner’s sci-fi thriller “Little Joe”; Marco Bellocchio’s mafia pic “The Traitor”; Corneliu Porumboiu’s “The Whistlers”; and Elia Suleiman’s “It Must Be Heaven.”
Key to the country’s filmmaking allure is a generous system of federal and regional funding sources and a dynamic film industry geared toward international co-production.
Leading companies include Pallas Films, whose credits include “It Must Be Heaven” and Sergey Dvortsevoy’s “Ayka”; Pandora Film, co-producer...
- 5/14/2019
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Fools (Glupcy)
Poland’s Tomasz Wasilewski is about to begin working on his fourth film, the tentatively titled Fools. The Polish-Romanian co-production will be produced by Ewa Puszczynska (of Pawlikowski’s Ida and Cold War) through her own company, Extreme Emotions, co-produced through Romania’s Micro Film. Wasliewski will once again work with Romanian Dp Oleg Muntu, who lensed his 2016 feature The United States of Love. In the cast of his latest is Dorota Pomykała and Łukasz Simlat. Wasilewski’s 2013 film Floating Skyscrapers, one of a handful of Lgbt cinema from Poland, won the East of West award at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival (his 2012 debut In a Bedroom also screened there).…...
Poland’s Tomasz Wasilewski is about to begin working on his fourth film, the tentatively titled Fools. The Polish-Romanian co-production will be produced by Ewa Puszczynska (of Pawlikowski’s Ida and Cold War) through her own company, Extreme Emotions, co-produced through Romania’s Micro Film. Wasliewski will once again work with Romanian Dp Oleg Muntu, who lensed his 2016 feature The United States of Love. In the cast of his latest is Dorota Pomykała and Łukasz Simlat. Wasilewski’s 2013 film Floating Skyscrapers, one of a handful of Lgbt cinema from Poland, won the East of West award at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival (his 2012 debut In a Bedroom also screened there).…...
- 1/4/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Ewa Puszczyńska, the producer behind Pawel Pawlikowski’s Oscar-winner “Ida” and the director’s Cannes best director award winner and Toronto Film Festival entry “Cold War,” is setting up a new production company, Nem Corp., with Klaudia Śmieja, the producer of Claire Denis’ Toronto film “High Life” and Agnieszka Holland’s upcoming “Gareth Jones,” and sales agent Jan Naszewski’s New Europe Film Sales.
Nem Corp. intends to attract “prestigious international film projects” to Poland, both as co-productions and service work, as well as develop projects of its own with top Polish talent. The company, which is already working on a slate of projects, wants to take advantage of the 30% tax incentive newly introduced by the Polish parliament as well as the soft money and private funding opportunities available in Poland.
Puszczyńska co-produced Robert Schwentke’s “The Captain” and Rezo Gigineishvili’s Berlinale-selected “Hostages,” and works as an expert for the Torino Film Lab.
Nem Corp. intends to attract “prestigious international film projects” to Poland, both as co-productions and service work, as well as develop projects of its own with top Polish talent. The company, which is already working on a slate of projects, wants to take advantage of the 30% tax incentive newly introduced by the Polish parliament as well as the soft money and private funding opportunities available in Poland.
Puszczyńska co-produced Robert Schwentke’s “The Captain” and Rezo Gigineishvili’s Berlinale-selected “Hostages,” and works as an expert for the Torino Film Lab.
- 8/31/2018
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
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