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Berlin-based Rise and Shine World Sales has acquired international rights to Lidia Duda’s documentary “Forest,” which will have its world premiere at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.

Previously noticed at Ji.hlava, where it picked up the New Visions Award. Duda’s film focuses on a Polish family living right next to the oldest European forest, trying to create a safe haven for their children. But soon, they start noticing refugees stranded in the wilderness, unwelcome both in Poland and Belarus.

“From the beginning, we felt a strong connection to the story,” Rise and Shine manager Anja Dziersk says.

“The encounters of the family with the refugees, in the midst of the forest, bring world politics down to a very personal experience. It reflects on all of us: ‘What would I do in the same situation?’ Lidia Duda manages to create a film which is subjective yet highly relatable.”

The Polish director – also behind “Fledglings,...

The 26th Thessaloniki Intl. Documentary Festival has revealed the lineup of the International Competition section, which includes “A New Kind of Wilderness,” winner of the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema – Documentary section of Sundance Film Festival. Thessaloniki Documentary Festival runs from March 7-17.

The films participating in the section have their world, international or European premiere at the festival.

The films compete for a number of awards, accompanied by monetary prizes. Among them are the Golden Alexander award, accompanied by a 12,000 euro prize, and the Silver Alexander award, accompanied by 5,000 euros.

The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival is an Oscars qualifying festival and the film that wins the Golden Alexander award will automatically be eligible to submit for Academy Awards consideration in the documentary feature category.

The documentaries that will participate in the International Competition section are as follows. (Descriptions supplied by the festival).

“A New Kind of Wilderness”

Silje Evensmo Jacobsen,...

Michal Gazda’s Forgotten Love (Zanchor in the original Polish language) had a lot going against it. The novel, which is also called Zanchor,”on which Gazda’s Netflix film is based, has already been adapted twice before: once back in 1937, the same year the book was released, and then in 1985. The 1985 adaptation, The Quack, was helmed by acclaimed Polish director Jerry Hoffman. I saw the widely appreciated film years ago, and as I went into the new film not knowing this, it took me a while to figure out that this one also happens to follow the same story. The interesting thing is, I soon forgot about that and didn’t even know how two and a half hours passed by.

In this day and age, a runtime of more than two hours is actually quite a big deal, unless it is a superhero/franchise film or something like Oppenheimer.

Project is targeting an autumn festival premiere.

Polish star Marcin Dorociński will lead the cast for Minghun, the latest feature from Leave No Traces director Jan P. Matuszynski.

Dorociński’s credits include The Queen’s Gambit, Vikings: Valhalla and the forthcoming Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One.

The cast also includes Daxing Zhang, young actors Natalia Bui and Antek Sztaba, as well as Ewelina Starejki, Wiktoria Gorodeckaja, Fenfen Huang, Kwong Loke and Yuk Han. The script was written by Grzegorz Łoszewski.

The project, which is currently shooting, is targeting an autumn festival premiere (with Venice a potential destination) and will be...

Glitter (Brokat) is a series starring Magdalena Poplawska and Wiktoria Filus. It is directed by Anna Kazejak, Julia Kolberger, Marek Lechki and Rafal Skalski.

Ten 30 minute episodes that stand out for the well elaborated retro aesthetics.

The year is 1976, in Sopot (Poland), three resolute women face the social and political norms and customs in pursuit of their independence and freedom – financially, sexually and romantically.

About the Series

Through the multiple narratives, the characters in the series offer us a portrait of life in Poland in the 1970’s where the traditional culture meets new trends.

This unavoidably covers the taboo subject this series seemingly revolves around: sex. Also a means to land well paid jobs.

A depiction of an era that counts on a very elaborate production and is well worth watching, particularly, for its good reconstruction of an epoch and the good atmospherics. With good photography, scenography, and performances.

A...

Delivery by Christmas (Jeszcze przed swietami) is a comedy movie starring Monika Frajczyk and directed by Aleksandra Kulakowska and Maciej Prykowski.

A comedy that fuses social realism with the Christmas spirit, in this story of a corporate mix-up.

Premise

Marysia’s career as a courier is on line as a spiteful coworker sabotages her deliveries. Thankfully, a helpful customer comes to the rescue.

Movie Review

Very paced and different to the customary Christmas numbers we are used to see. A genuinely Polish, European movie that distances itself from Hollywood, as you will see in the characterizations, which are more realistic and natural. But, that does not stand in the way for the “magic” that is so characteristic of Christmas rom-coms.

With some deadpan schticks pulled off by good performers it lightens the mood of the film. A comedy that pokes fun at everything quotidian.

This is not a formulaic Christmas movie,...