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Slovak director Robert Kirchhoff is in postproduction with his documentary “All Men Become Brothers,” which follows the life of Czechoslovak politician Alexander Dubček (1921-1992), Film New Europe reports.

Dubček was leader of Czechoslovakia from January 1968 to April 1969. He attempted to reform the communist government during the Prague Spring, but was forced to resign following the Warsaw Pact invasion in August 1968.

The film is produced by Kirchhoff’s Atelier.doc and coproduced by Radio and Television Slovakia, Czech Republic’s Endorfilm and Czech Television.

Kirchhoff’s past titles include “Normalization,” which received a Special Mention from the Between the Seas jury at Jihlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival.

Production took place from 2018 to 2021 on locations in Kyrgyzstan, Italy, Czech Republic, Germany, Turkey and Slovakia. Well-known figures from Czechoslovak and international politics and culture, such as Italian politician Romano Prodi, Italian novelist Umberto Eco, Czech novelist and playwright Pavel Kohout, and Czech director...

Industry event to showcase four completed films, eight works in progress and 10 pitches.

New feature projects by Piotr Domalewski, Jan Holoubek and Daria Woszek are among 22 films being presented at the 10th edition of industry event Polish Days, which will run from July 24 – 26.

Polish Days takes place during the New Horizons International Film Festival in Wrocław, presenting new projects to festival programmers, sales agents, producers and distributors.

This year’s event will feature closed screenings of four completed films, the pitching of 10 projects in development and eight works in progress.

The closed screenings section will offer sneak previews of Łukasz Machowski...

This March, Film Movement Plus comes in like a lion with a collection of bloody good genre flicks sure to thrill, led by the Middle Ages, in-your-face bloodbath, Sword Of God from Oscar nominee Bartosz Konopka and Abner Pastoll’s stunning A Good Woman Is Hard To Find starring Sarah Bolger (“Mayans M.C.”), both theatrical releases.

Additional streaming highlights featured this month includes Rififi In The City and Death Whistles The Blues, two ‘60s noir crime thrillers from Jesus Franco, just restored from the original negatives, the werebear thriller Lokis: A Manuscript Of Professor Wittembach and Il Demonio, from Director Brunello Rondi.

Available Now...

Zdzisław Najmrodzki, who died in 1995, was one of the most infamous Polish criminals of the communist period. Called the “King of Thieves” and “Master of Escapes,” he evaded pursuit 29 times. Once, he jumped out of the window of a slow-moving train, claiming he saw a stork and felt the call of freedom. But Mateusz Rakowicz’s “The Getaway King,” which will be playing in the main competition at EnergaCamerimage Film Festival this week, isn’t sticking too close to the facts.

“As a historical figure, Najmrodzki is no hero,” says Dp Jacek Podgórski. “At that time, everyone was afraid of the militia, so escaping them 29 times was a feat. But it says more about them than it does about him. One time, he simply got them drunk. We expanded the myth and basically reinvented it.”

Podgórski used his father’s old photographs as a reference, deciding to incorporate their reddish tinge into the film.

Participant and French sales agent MK2 Films have teamed up to jointly represent worldwide rights to Rahul Jain’s documentary feature “Invisible Demons.” The feature film will have its world premiere at Cannes in the cinema for the climate special section.

In “Invisible Demons,” Jain explores the dramatic consequences of India’s growing economy and what it means on the broader world stage.

Using Jain’s experimental style and strong visuals, the documentary zooms in on the situation in New Delhi, where climate change is impacting the daily lives and health of 30 million locals.

Set for July 12, the premiere will mark the Cannes debut of Jain, a rising filmmaking who made his critically acclaimed debut feature with “Machines,” which won Sundance’s best cinematography award in 2017. “Machines” went on to nab 17 international awards at more than 160 festivals.

Rob Williams, Participant’s VP of content sales, and Fionnuala Jamison, MK2 Films’ MD,...

American crime writer Harlan Coben has a 14 book deal with Netflix which has already resulted in buzzy shows The Stranger and Safe, both set in Britain even though the novels were not. For his next Netflix outing Coben’s novel of the same name is transported to Poland, where county Prosecutor Pawel Kopinski (Grzegorz Damiecki) hunts for answers surrounding his sister’s disappearance 25 years earlier. A six part series, with each ep running just under an hour, The Woods is twisty right up to the final moments. Some might say even too twisty, with certain motives oblique and plot threads left untied by the end. The Woods requires full attention, and not just because it’s Polish and subtitled, but once you’re hooked, like Pawel, you’ll be dying to find out what happened all those years ago.

It’s 1994, and teenage Pawel is a chaperone at a Polish summer camp.

Exclusive: David Ayer has found his next film for Netflix. He is set to write, direct and produce with Chris Long through their Cedar Park banner an adaptation of the Harlan Coben bestseller Six Years. Netflix has just acquired the book for Ayer, who directed the Will Smith-Joel Edgerton-starrer Bright for the streamer.

As Louis Leterrier finalizes a deal to direct that sequel – Ayer’s co-wrote the script and is producing – the filmmaker will lean into the 2018 suspense novel.

The title refers to the number of years that passed since Jake Fisher watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. With a heart broken, he throws himself into his career as a college professor, while keeping a promise to leave her alone while he simmers in a slow building rage. His hopes rise when he reads that her husband died. Unable to help himself, he...

"He wanted to destroy the kingdom I've been building my whole life." Film Movement has released the Us trailer for a Polish historical epic titled Sword of God, which originally premiered at a Polish film festival in 2018. It also played at Cinepocalypse, and the Fantastic Film Festival Australia last year. Directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Bartosz Konopka, this genre-bending historical epic has been hailed as a "stunning showcase of experiential horror." Two men in the early Middle Ages come to a pagan land: one to bring Christianity, the other to find his way of living. They choose two different ways of reaching the pagans. In the fight between dialogue and force, one of them will die. This stars Krzysztof Pieczynski, Karol Bernacki, Wiktoria Gorodecka, Jacek Koman, Jan Bijvoet, and Jeroen Perceval. It looks crazy violent and intense as all hell, perhaps a taste of what things were really like back in the middle ages.

Vietnamese drama Between Shadow And Soul, Polish thriller Sword Of God also join roster.

Icelandic Oscar submission A White, White Day is one of three new international additions to Film Movement’s Virtual Cinema that will get their first-run North American launch on the digital platform.

Vietnamese drama Between Shadow And Soul and Polish thriller Sword Of God also join the roster, which New York distributor Film Movement set up with Art House Convergence last month in response to theatre closures amid the coronavirus pandemic, launching with five titles.

Since then more than 275 theatres across North America including Laemmle Theatres,...

Vietnamese drama Between Shadow And Soul, Polish thriller Sword Of God also join roster.

Icelandic Oscar submission A White, White Day is one of three new international additions to Film Movement’s Virtual Cinema that will get their first-run North American launch on the digital platform.

Vietnamese drama Between Shadow And Soul and Polish thriller Sword Of God also join the roster, which New York distributor Film Movement set up with Art House Convergence last month in response to theatre closures amid the coronavirus pandemic, launching with five titles.

Since then more than 275 theatres across North America including Laemmle Theatres,...

Netflix is adapting Harlan Coben’s mystery thriller The Woods as a Polish original.

The Svod series has commissioned the European original from directors Leszek Dawid (You Are God) and Bartosz Konopka (Rabbit a la Berlin) and writers Agata Malesińska and Wojtek Miłoszewsk. Atm Grupa with Coben exec producing alongside Anna Nagler (The Coldest Game) and Andrzej Muszyński.

The six-part series will launch in 2020. It is the latest international adaptation of a Coben book for Netflix; the digital platform is remaking El Inocente in Spain with Oriol Paulo and The Stranger and Safe in the UK. The series is financially supported by the Polish Film Institute.

Set in two time spans, 1994 and 2019, The Woods tells the story of a Warsaw prosecutor, Paweł Kopiński, who is still grieving the loss of his sister from twenty five years ago – the night she walked into the woods at a summer camp and was never seen again.

Mayhem returns to Nottingham, England this October and it is bringing some friends. The festival announced the first three titles for this year's program.    The Mayhem audience can look forward to Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman's wonderful horror comedy Extra Ordinary, Bartosz Konopka's period actioner Sword of God (The Mute/Krew Boga) and Jeremy Gardner and Christian Stella's romantic creature feature Something Else. Personally, I have seen two of these, reviewed one myself, and can vouch for their entertainment value.   Early Bird passes are on sale now at £70, allowing access to the full festival including previews, premieres, and special events.   Mayhem Film Festival announces Extra Ordinary, Sword Of God (The Mute), Something Else and first guests   Following its biggest ever edition...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

With another year of eclectic screenings of movies both old and new in the books, the juried winners of Cinepocalypse 2019 have been revealed, with Sara Summa’s The Last to See Them taking home the coveted "Best Film" award from a jury that includes Joel Schumacher.

Press Release: The Music Box Theatre is honored to announce the juried winners of the 2019 edition of Cinepocalypse. As the festival wraps, it is also immensely proud to note that, in its third year, the festival shattered its second-year attendance record, and won accolades for its once-in-a-lifetime, center-of-the-cinematic-universe programming and guests. Cinepocalypse welcomed over 6,000 attendees, over 25 film guests from around the world, and hosted multiple sold out screenings, including Glenn Danzig’s buzzed about debut Verotika, first-ever screening of the hyper rare ‘Gore-Cut’ of Tammy And The T-rex, and special 70mm screening of Total Recall with Michael Ironside in attendance, all at the Music Box Theatre.

Film Movement picks up title from Reel Suspects.

Sword Of God, Bartosz Konopka’s Polish historical drama which was previously titled The Mute, has had its North American rights picked up by Film Movement. The distributor will release in Q1, 2020.

Paris-based Reel Suspects is handling sales on the title, and has also struck further deals here in Cannes for Germany, Austria and Switzerland (Indeed Films) and South Korea (Inolmedia).

Writer-director Konopka’s previous credits include Fear Of Falling. He was also Oscar-nominated in 2010 for his documentary short Rabbit à la Berlin.

His latest feature follows two knights, the experienced Willibrord and the young,...

Paris-based sales company adds Chained For Life, Demons to slate.

Paris-based sales outfit Reel Suspects has added several titles to its slate ahead of the upcoming European Film Market (Efm) in Berlin.

Among the additions are two films which will have their world premieres in Berlin: Aaron Schimberg’s satire Chained For Life, which will screen in Berlin Critics’ Week, and Daniel Hui’s psychological thriller Demons, which will be presented at Berlinale Forum.

Reel Suspects will also be screening footage of Bartosz Konopka’s polish historical drama The Mute. The director’s previous credits include Fear Of Falling and...

Feature comes from Oscar-nominated shorts director Bartosz Konopka.

The Mute, the Polish historical drama from Bartosz Konopka, has been boarded for world sales by Paris-based Reel Suspects.

Writer-director Konopka’s previous credits include Fear Of Falling, he was also Oscar-nominated in 2010 for his documentary short Rabbit à la Berlin.

His latest feature follows two knights, the experienced Willibrord and the young, mysterious Unnamed, who set off to christen a small pagan village hidden deep in the mountains. Despite the differences in their views and perspectives on religion, the two men become travel companions and create a father-son relationship. When they reach the village,...

Polish Days takes place during the New Horizons International Film Festival in Wroclaw.

New films by Bartosz Konopka, Jan Komasa and Leszek Dawid are among the line-up of 25 completed films, works in progress and projects to be presented at the sixth edition of the Polish Days (July 30 - August 1) during the New Horizons International Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland.

Konopka’s The Mute, which was presented as a work in progress at last year’s Polish Days, is among five completed films being shown in closed industry screenings to international sales agents, distributors, film funders and festival programmers.

The further...

Polish biopic Walesa. Man of Hope has been submitted for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Walesa. Man of Hope debuted at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month and went on to screen at Toronto. It will next be shown at film festivals in Rio, Chicago and London.

The film is a depiction of the life of Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Poland’s Solidarity movement, Lech Walesa, as events in the 1970s lead to a peaceful revolution.

The role of Wałęsa was played by Robert Więckiewicz. The film also stars Agnieszka Grochowska (Danuta Wałęsa), Maria Rosaria Omaggio (Oriana Fallaci) . Cinematography was handled by Paweł Edelman.

Review: Walesa. Man of Hope

Click here for the Best Foreign-Language Film Academy Award submissions 2013

The film was produced by Akson Studio, and co-produced by Telewizja Polska Sa – Film Agency, Telekomunikacja Polska, Canal+ Poland, Narodowe Centrum Kultury. The film received financial support from the Polish Film Institute...

Oscar nominated for his short documentary Rabbit a la Berlin in 2010, Polish director Bartosz Konopka turns to the world of feature fiction with Fear Of Falling and the results look very impressive indeed.A dark domestic drama the trailer for the film blends the emotional immediacy of documentary film with more style in the staging and camera work than you often see from anyone, never mind a director stepping out from docs. The trailer is English subtitled and is well worth the time to take a look at below....

The 13th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (Mami) that kick started on 13th October, concluded this evening, after showcasing over 200 films from 60 countries across various sections at its three venues- Cinemax Versova, Cinemax Sion and Metro Big Cinemas. The gala eight day affair came to an end with its closing film Dolphin's Tale directed by Charles Martin Smith starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd amongst others which was followed by the closing night awards function event at 'Sun n Sand' hosted by actress Essha Koppikhar. The event witnessed numerous celebrities that include award winning International and Indian actors, directors and producers. The International lifetime achievement award was given to Morgan Freeman and Indian lifetime achievement award was given to Gulzar. In the International Competition category, The Golden Gateway Award and cash prize of Us $ 100,000 for The Best Film was presented to French...

The 13th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (Mami) that kick started on 13th October, concluded this evening, after showcasing over 200 films from 60 countries across various sections at its three venues- Cinemax Versova, Cinemax Sion and Metro Big Cinemas. The gala eight day affair came to an end with its closing film Dolphin's Tale directed by Charles Martin Smith starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd amongst others which was followed by the closing night awards function event at 'Sun n Sand' hosted by actress Essha Koppikhar. The event witnessed numerous celebrities that include award winning International and Indian actors, directors and producers. The International lifetime achievement award was given to Morgan Freeman and Indian lifetime achievement award was given to Gulzar. In the International Competition category, The Golden Gateway Award and cash prize of Us $ 100,000 for The Best Film was presented to French...

Facelift, directed by Ameya Gore and Sunaina Mahadik won the Silver Gateway Award and cash prize of Rs 100,000 for the Best Film in the Dimensions Mumbai category at the 13th Mumbai Film Festival. The film portrays the transition of Mumbai from a city of mills to a city of malls.

The Second Best Film was presented to Life is a Beach, directed by Abhay Kumar.

The Jury Special Mention Award was given to Chinmaya Nagesh Dalvi for Bombay Snow and to Harshvir Oberai for The Circle Is Mine. To read more about the films, click here.

The Dimensions Mumbai Jury was headed by Kiran Rao and comprised Vikramaditya Motwane, Nishikant Kamat, Onir and Renuka Shahane.

In the Celebrate Age category, The Silver Gateway Award and cash prize of Rs 50,000 for The Best Film was presented to Grandma, A Thousand Times’(Teta, Alf Marra) directed by Mahmoud Kaabour. The Silver Gateway...

We’re really excited about an upcoming event we’re doing, a series of Roman Polanski’s early short films with live musical accompaniment by Polish duo Sza/Za. Polanski is a master of his craft, one of the truly great filmmaking talents of our time, and these short films from the late ’50s and early ’60s demonstrate some of the same preoccupations and creativity that show up in his later work like Chinatown, Rosemary’S Baby, and The Pianist. These rarely seen, vintage 35mm prints are going to make for an awesome night at the Ritz.

That would be enough, but Sza/Za is going to be here to make the night that much better. If you don’t know their unique style, check this video out:

They also incorporate fun gags and theatrics during their performances that will never compete with the beauty of Polanski’s films but always complement them.

Icarus Films has picked up North American rights to "Rabbit a la Berlin," a Polish-German doc that is nominated for an Oscar in the documentary short category.

Created by Bartosz Konopka, Piotr Rosolowski and Anna Wydra, the film recounts the history of the Berlin Wall through the eyes of wild rabbits that lived in its shadow for 28 years.

"Rabbit," which has screened at 32 festivals, will open theatrically at Film Forum in New York.

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Author Maurice Sendak, whose childrens' book "Where the Wilds Things Are" arrives on the big screen next Friday, also is the subject of one of eight short documentaries that will contend for Oscar honors at the 82nd annual Academy Awards.

Spike Jonze, who directed "Wild Things," is one of the directors of the short-listed film, "Tell Them Anything You Want, A Portrait of Maurice Sendak," that made the cut.

Thirty-seven films were submitted in the short doc category and on Friday the Academy's documentary branch released a list of the eight films that have been short-listed. Three to five of them will be nominated when the nominations are announced on Feb. 2.

The contenders are:

-- "China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province," from filmmakers Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill and Downtown Community Television Center, which looks at the aftermath of the earthquake that hit Sinchuan Province last year.

--...