POLISH PROJECTS AT EAST EUROPEAN FORUM 2014

The list of projects qualified for the East European Forum, which takes place in Prague in March, has been announced. On the list, there are two Polish projects: the Polish-British co-production “You have to be there” by Magdalena Szymków and “Love Express: The Strange Case of Walerian Borowczyk” by Kuba Mikurda.

East European Forum, which takes place from 3 to 9 March this year, is the largest co-production forum in Eastern Europe. Every year, East European Forum is visited by the representatives of documentary film branch from around the world. Within the frames of the forum, first there are the pitching workshops (3-7 March), and then the pitching itself and individual meetings with commissioning editors from leading television channels, distributors and representatives of film funds (8-9 March).

The organizers of the East European Forum have just announced the list of projects selected to participate in this year's forum. Two Polish films has been selected: "Love Express: The Strange Case of Valerian Borowczyk" by Kuba Mikurda and “You have to be there” by Magdalena Szymków.

Kuba Mikurda's project tries to solve the mystery of the sudden turn in the artistic work of Walerian Borowczyk. What was the reason why the respected creator of art house cinema suddenly started to make pornographic films? In 1970s., Borowczyk was listed as one of the great visionaries of European cinema, alongside Buñuel, Fellini and Bresson. A decade later, when Borowczyk started to make “artistic soft-porn,” the critics turned away from him. The filmmakers try to put the story of Borowczyk within the wider context of cultural changes taking place in Europe in the 70s and 80s. The film “Love Express: The Strange Case of Valerian Borowczyk" is produced by Colab Pictures and Otter Films.

Polish-British co-production “You have to be there” by Magdalena Szymków is a documentary portrait of Ryszard Kapuściński, based largely on recordings found in the studio of the brilliant journalist several years after his death. The film observes Kapuściński’s creative process, follows him on his journeys through post-colonial Africa, South America, Iran or the collapsing Soviet Union. The filmmakers look closely at Kapuściński’s personal involvement in his journalist assignments, and evoke his reflections, which are an unsurpassed model in today’s world of information chaos. The film is produced by Otter Films and Vezfilm Ltd.

The full list of films qualified for the East European Forum can be found here.