EXPANDING HORIZONS
As the T-Mobile New Horizons film festival (July 19-29) kickstarts the Polish Days initiative, Marcin J Sobczak explains how
government support and an emphasis on co-productions is giving the Polish film industry a stronger international standing
F
or the fi rst time, local fi lms will get their own spotlight at this year’s T-Mobile New Horizons Film Fes-
tival in Wroclaw. The organisers say the time is right for the initiative because the Polish industry is in such good health, with more attention being paid to Polish fi lms internationally. Titles to screen this year include You Are God by Leszek Dawid and Oblawa by Marcin Krzysztalowicz. “The number of fi lms made in Poland
has been going up every year since the creation of the Polish Film Institute [in 2005],” says the festival’s artistic direc- tor, Joanna Lapinska. “Currently, it’s around 50 films each year. There is a wide variety among them — from com- mercial hits to auteur cinema, on which we would like to focus at Polish Days [see sidebar, right]. We will present fi lms in different stages of production, from pitching fi lms in development, to works in progress and fi nished fi lms. That way we can keep an eye on the whole produc- tion chain and see what’s coming up.” Recent Polish hits include Jacek Bor-
cuch’s All That I Love, a music drama set in the Solidarity era that was selected for Sundance 2010; Marcin Wrona’s art- house crime thriller The Christening, which was a popular selection at festi- vals including San Sebastian and Toronto; Agnieszka Holland’s well-sold Nazi-occupation tale In Darkness, which was nominated for an Oscar; and Jan Komasa’s Berlinale 2011 Panorama pick Suicide Room. The Polish Film Institute and the Film
Commission Poland are the two main bodies that support production efforts for both local and incoming foreign shoots. There are also plenty of private foundations and companies interested in fi nancially supporting fi lm-making or in advertising their brands in fi lms. The Polish Film Institute is focused
The state-of-the-art facilities at Alvernia Studios near Krakow
■ 14 Screen International June-July 2012
on supporting Polish fi lm-makers, both administratively and financially. The institution oversees the government’s budget for fi lm support — stable for the last few years at around $16.2m annu- ally. Most funding has traditionally gone to Polish feature fi lms, but recently more and more grants have been given to the growing number of co-productions. To qualify for financial support from the institute as a foreign production com- pany, at least one Polish producer must be on board and 80% of the film’s budget must be spent in Poland.
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