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Every year, the Efa People’s Choice Award allows film fans across Europe to elect their favorite film. When the European Film Academy invites its members, Europe’s greatest film stars, directors, actors and actresses, to attend the European Film Awards, the People’s Choice Award sheds a spotlight on the people films are made for: the audience. This year’s vote has started – vote now and win the chance to join winners and nominees for the awards ceremony in Malta!

Winners in the past have included films like Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver, Roberto Benigni’s La Vita E Bella, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s AmÉLie, Fatih Akin’s Head-on, and Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire.

From 1 September on, film fans can cast their vote on the official website: www.europeanfilmawards.euand win a trip to the 25th European Film Awards on Saturday, 1 December 2012, in Malta!

Nominated Are: The Artist directed by Michel Hazanavicius with Jean Dujardin,

Barbara directed by Christian Petzold with Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld, Rainer Bock, Jasna Fritzi Bauer, Christina Hecke

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel directed by John Madden, written by Ol Parker with Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, Dev Patel, Celia Imrie, Ronald Pickup, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith

Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire) directed by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, written by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, in collaboration with Fabio Cavalli with Giovanni Arcuri, Salvatore Striano, Cosimo Rega, Antonio Frasca, Fabio Cavalli

Come As You Are (Hasta la Vista) directed by da Geoffrey Enthoven, written by Pierre de Clercq, with Robrecht van den Thoren, Gilles de Schryver, Tom Audenaert, Isabelle de Hertogh

Headhunters (Hodejegerne) directed by Morten Tyldum, written by Lars Gudmestad & Ulf Ryberg with Aksel Hennie, Nikolaj Coter-Waldau, Synnøve Macody Lund, Eivind Sander I

N Darkness directed by Agnieszka Holland, written by David F. Shamoon with Robert Więckiewicz, Benno Fürmann, Agnieszka Grochowska, Maria Schrader, Herbert Knaup

The Iron Lady directed by Phyllida Lloy, written by Abi Morgan with Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colman

Salmon Fishing In The Yemen directed by Lasse Hallstrom, written by Simon Beaufoy, based on the novel by Paul Torday with Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, Kristin Scott Thomas, Amr Waked

Shame directed by Steve McQueen, written by Steve McQueen and Abi Morgan with Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale, Nicole Beharie

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy directed by Thomas Alfredson, written by Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan with Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Mark Strong, Tom Hardy, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Toby Jones, Stephen Graham, David Dencik, Ciaran Hinds, Simon McBurney, Kathy Burke, Svetlana Khodenchkova

Untouchable directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano with François Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny, Audrey Fleurot, Clothilde Mollet

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Patrons:centre Du Cinema Of The Federation Wallonia Brussels * Danish Film Institute * Eurimages * Film Fund Luxembourg * Flanders Audiovisual Fund (Vaf) * German Films * MacEdonian Film Fund * Mfg FilmfÖRderung Baden-wÜRttemberg * Ministry Of Education And Culture Of Cyprus (Cultural Services) * Netherlands Film Fund * Polish Film Institute * Ab Svensk Filmindustri * Swedish Film Institute * Swiss Films * Telewizja Polska S.A. (Tvp) *

The European Film Awards 2012 are presented by the European Film Academy e.V. and Efa Productions gGmbH with the support of the Maltese Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment, the Malta Film Commission, Ffa German Federal Film Board, the German State Lottery Berlin, the German State Minister for Culture and the Media, the Media Programme of the EU, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Gls. Pascal Edelmann European Film Academy e.V. Head of Press & PR Kurfürstendamm 225 10719 Berlin Germany Tel. +49 30 887 16 70 Fax +49 30 887 16 777 visit us at www.europeanfilmawards.eu European Film Academy e.V. / Director: Marion Döring / registered at Amtsgericht Charlottenburg 14236 Nz...

Chicago – There were countless foreign films in 2011 more deserving of an Oscar nod than Agnieszka Holland’s “In Darkness.” The film lacks the brutal edge, gut-wrenching tension and memorable characterizations that distinguished so many similar Holocaust-era dramas. Yet the lukewarm “been there, done that” reaction of many American critics has left me rather mystified.

This isn’t a great film, per se, but it is still a harrowing and compelling portrait of resilience in the face of evil. Best known for her fact-based exploration of Hitler youth, “Europa, Europa,” Holland is skilled at creating the sort of vividly atmospheric environment that seeps into a viewer’s bones. One of my favorite films as a child was Holland’s sublime 1993 adaptation of “The Secret Garden,” which viewed the gothic interiors and lush mazes through the eyes of bewitched children.

Blu-ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

With “In Darkness,” Holland burrows beneath the chaotic streets of a Polish city,...

In Darkness

Written by David F. Shamoon

Directed by Agnieszka Holland

Poland / Germany / France / Canada, 2011

When Claude Lanzmann was developing his landmark nine-hour Holocaust documentary Shoah, his greatest self-appointed challenge was to chronicle the facts and lasting legacy of the massacring of millions of people while avoiding even the slightest intimation that the events described could be easily encapsulated within a mere film, regardless of length or scope. Lanzmann’s film is still the object of study and appreciation is cineaste circles, but in general, filmmakers haven’t been nearly as skittish as Lanzmann in tackling what he considered to be insurmountable. In the nearly two decades since that film’s release, Holocaust movies have grown into an awards-season cliché, often derided as exploiting human tragedy in order to showcase performances in the service of awards-hungry studios. It’s in this context that one will inevitably view Agnieszka Holland’s In Darkness; in this instance.

This story first appeared in the Feb. 17 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Holocaust dramas often have been rewarded with Academy Awards, but when David F. Shamoon first approached Agnieszka Holland about directing his spec script based on the true story of a Polish Catholic crook who hid Jews from Nazis in the sewers of Lvov, Poland, she resisted. An Oscar nominee in 1992 for her screenplay for Europa Europa and a foreign-language film nominee for 1985's Angry Harvest, Holland explains her initial refusal: "I know how painful it is and how long recovery is after this kind

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Trailer for In Darkness, starring Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann and Agnieszka Grochowska. After recently adding several new movie clips from tIn Darkness, we are pleased to add the trailer, which is also available in high definition. Agnieszka Hollan directs the drama which opens January 27th via Sony Pictures Classics, from the writing by David F. Shamoon. In Darkness is based on a true story and tells of Leopold Socha, a sewer worker and petty thief in Lvov, a Nazi occupied city in Poland, who one day encounters a group of Jews trying to escape the liquidation of the ghetto. He hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers beneath the bustling activity of the city above. What starts out as a straightforward and cynical business arrangement turns into something very unexpected, the unlikely alliance between Socha and the Jews as the enterprise seeps deeper into Socha’s conscience.

Trailer for In Darkness, starring Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann and Agnieszka Grochowska. After recently adding several new movie clips from tIn Darkness, we are pleased to add the trailer, which is also available in high definition. Agnieszka Hollan directs the drama which opens January 27th via Sony Pictures Classics, from the writing by David F. Shamoon. In Darkness is based on a true story and tells of Leopold Socha, a sewer worker and petty thief in Lvov, a Nazi occupied city in Poland, who one day encounters a group of Jews trying to escape the liquidation of the ghetto. He hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers beneath the bustling activity of the city above. What starts out as a straightforward and cynical business arrangement turns into something very unexpected, the unlikely alliance between Socha and the Jews as the enterprise seeps deeper into Socha’s conscience.

Trailer for In Darkness, starring Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann and Agnieszka Grochowska. After recently adding several new movie clips from tIn Darkness, we are pleased to add the trailer, which is also available in high definition. Agnieszka Hollan directs the drama which opens January 27th via Sony Pictures Classics, from the writing by David F. Shamoon. In Darkness is based on a true story and tells of Leopold Socha, a sewer worker and petty thief in Lvov, a Nazi occupied city in Poland, who one day encounters a group of Jews trying to escape the liquidation of the ghetto. He hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers beneath the bustling activity of the city above. What starts out as a straightforward and cynical business arrangement turns into something very unexpected, the unlikely alliance between Socha and the Jews as the enterprise seeps deeper into Socha’s conscience.

Clips from Agnieszka Holland's In Darkness, starring Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann and Agnieszka Grochowska. Sony Pictures Classics releases the David F. Shamoon-scripted In Darkness, which is based on a true story following Leopold Socha, a sewer worker and petty thief in Lvov, a Nazi occupied city in Poland, who one day encounters a group of Jews trying to escape the liquidation of the ghetto. He hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers beneath the bustling activity of the city above. What starts out as a straightforward and cynical business arrangement turns into something very unexpected, the unlikely alliance between Socha and the Jews as the enterprise seeps deeper into Socha’s conscience. The film is also an extraordinary story of survival as these men, women and children all try to outwit certain death during 14 months of ever increasing and intense danger.

Clips from Agnieszka Holland's In Darkness, starring Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann and Agnieszka Grochowska. Sony Pictures Classics releases the David F. Shamoon-scripted In Darkness, which is based on a true story following Leopold Socha, a sewer worker and petty thief in Lvov, a Nazi occupied city in Poland, who one day encounters a group of Jews trying to escape the liquidation of the ghetto. He hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers beneath the bustling activity of the city above. What starts out as a straightforward and cynical business arrangement turns into something very unexpected, the unlikely alliance between Socha and the Jews as the enterprise seeps deeper into Socha’s conscience. The film is also an extraordinary story of survival as these men, women and children all try to outwit certain death during 14 months of ever increasing and intense danger.

Clips from Agnieszka Holland's In Darkness, starring Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann and Agnieszka Grochowska. Sony Pictures Classics releases the David F. Shamoon-scripted In Darkness, which is based on a true story following Leopold Socha, a sewer worker and petty thief in Lvov, a Nazi occupied city in Poland, who one day encounters a group of Jews trying to escape the liquidation of the ghetto. He hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers beneath the bustling activity of the city above. What starts out as a straightforward and cynical business arrangement turns into something very unexpected, the unlikely alliance between Socha and the Jews as the enterprise seeps deeper into Socha’s conscience. The film is also an extraordinary story of survival as these men, women and children all try to outwit certain death during 14 months of ever increasing and intense danger.

Title: In Darkness Directed By: Agnieszka Holland Written By: Robert Marshall (book), David F. Shamoon (screenplay) Cast: Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Furmann, Agnieszka Grochowska, Maria Schrader, Herbert Knaup, Kinga Preis Screened at: Sony, NYC, 10/24/11 Opens: December 9, 2011 Human life in sewers has been in the news. Not so long ago, Saddam Hussein was found in a make-shift ditch with a growth of beard that he kept up through his trial and execution. In October of this year, Libyan dictator Muamar Gadhafi was flushed out of a drainpipe and summarily executed. But not all inhabitants of sewers are rats like them. Agnieszka Holland, a Warsaw-born, Prague-educated director best known in...

Sony Pictures Classics as acquired the Us distribution rights to the new Agnieszka Holland drama called, In Darkness, which is based on a true story that takes place in 1943 in the the Polish town of Lvov, which was occupied by the Nazis. One day a selfish thief and burglar by the name of Leopold Socha encounters a group of Jewish refugees – and hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers. At first Socha is only interested lucrative business, but the whole thing reaches more and more Socha’s conscience. The Polish small-time crook makes up his mind and finally risks his own life for the refugees...

Sounds like a great story, the full details of the film can be found in the official press release below.

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all Us rights to Academy Award® nominee Agnieszka Holland's In...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all U.S. rights to Academy Award nominee Agnieszka Holland’s “In Darkness” from sales agent Beta Cinema. The film, based on the true story “In the Sewers of lvov” by Robert Marshall, is written by David F. Shamoon and stars Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann, Maria Schrader and Herbert Knaup. “In Darkness” is produced by The Film Works, Schmidtz Katze Filmkollektiv and Zebra Films.

“In Darkness” is set in the Polish town of Lvov is occupied by the Nazis. Poverty grows. One day the selfish thief and burglar Leopold Socha encounters a group of Jewish refugees, and hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers. At first only interested in making money, the arrangement reaches Socha’s conscience. The small-time crook ultimately decides to risk his own life for the refugees.

The acquisition of “In Darkness” continues a longstanding relationship between...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all U.S. rights to Academy Award nominee Agnieszka Holland’s “In Darkness” from sales agent Beta Cinema. The film, based on the true story “In the Sewers of lvov” by Robert Marshall, is written by David F. Shamoon and stars Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann, Maria Schrader and Herbert Knaup. “In Darkness” is produced by The Film Works, Schmidtz Katze Filmkollektiv and Zebra Films.

“In Darkness” is set in the Polish town of Lvov is occupied by the Nazis. Poverty grows. One day the selfish thief and burglar Leopold Socha encounters a group of Jewish refugees, and hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers. At first only interested in making money, the arrangement reaches Socha’s conscience. The small-time crook ultimately decides to risk his own life for the refugees.

The acquisition of “In Darkness” continues a longstanding relationship between...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired U.S. rights to "In Darkness" from sales agent Beta Cinema, the studio announced on Tuesday. The film centers on a Polish thief who hides a group of Jewish refugees in Nazi occupied Poland. Agnieszka Holland ("Olivier, Olivier") directs the film, which is based on a true story.   "In Darkness" was written by David F. Shamoon and stars Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann, Maria Schrader and Herbert Knaup. It is produced by The Film Works, Schmidtz Katze Filmkollektiv and Zebra Films.   Related Articles: ...

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all Us rights to Academy Award nominee Agnieszka Holland's In Darkness from sales agent Beta Cinema. The film, based on the true story In the Sewers of lvov by Robert Marshall, is written by David F. Shamoon and stars Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno F&#252rmann (North Face, Merry Christmas), Maria Schrader (Aimee & Jaguar DVD) and Herbert Knaup (Run Lola Run, The Lives of Others). In Darkness is produced by The Film Works, Schmidtz Katze Filmkollektiv and Zebra Films.

In Darkness is set in 1943 and the Polish town of Lvov is occupied by the Nazis. Poverty grows. One day the selfish thief and burglar Leopold Socha encounters a group of Jewish refugees - and hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town's sewers. At first only interested in lucrative business the whole thing reaches more and more Socha's conscience. The...

New York (February 15, 2011) – Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all Us rights to Academy Award® nominee Agnieszka Holland’s In Darkness from sales agent Beta Cinema. The film, based on the true story “In the Sewers of lvov” by Robert Marshall, is written by David F. Shamoon and stars Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann (North Face, Merry Christmas), Maria Schrader (Aimee & Jaguar) and Herbert Knaup (Run Lola Run, The Lives Of Others). In Darkness is produced by The Film Works, Schmidtz Katze Filmkollektiv and Zebra Films. In In Darkness, it is 1943, the Polish town of Lvov is occupied by the Nazis. Poverty grows. One day the selfish thief and burglar Leopold Socha encounters a group of Jewish refugees – and hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers. At first only interested in lucrative business the whole thing reaches more and more Socha’s conscience.

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all Us rights to Academy Award® nominee Agnieszka Holland's In Darkness from sales agent Beta Cinema. The film, based on the true story "In the Sewers of lvov" by Robert Marshall, is written by David F. Shamoon and stars Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann ( North Face , Merry Christmas ), Maria Schrader ( Aimee & Jaguar ) and Herbert Knaup ( Run Lola Run , The Lives of Others ). In Darkness is produced by The Film Works, Schmidtz Katze Filmkollektiv and Zebra Films. In In Darkness , it is 1943, the Polish town of Lvov is occupied by the Nazis. Poverty grows. One day the selfish thief and burglar Leopold Socha encounters a group of Jewish refugees . and hides them for money in the labyrinth of the...