The 2018 Gdynia Film Festival is underway. This is the main and most prestigious Polish film festival in which the best movie is awarded the Golden Lions. This year’s nominees include “Cold War” and “Fuga”.
The movie “Cold War” by Paweł Pawlikowski, awarded the Palme d’Or in Cannes for directing, is at the helm of this female revolution in Polish cinema. The lead female role of Zula played by Joanna Kulig is perhaps the director’s favorite and the actress filled it with something more than simple acting – with charisma and her self. Kulig’s acting intuition was masterful, hinting that what seemed obvious was not so obvious on the screen.
(Zimna Wojna, photo: Łukasz Bąk, Kino Świat)
“Fuga” directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska is home to another strong female role. Here, Gabriela Muskała plays into the spiritual aura of the movie with anger, rage and finally empathy. The actress is unrivaled in her creation of character depth. Although much was expected from Muskała, she had exceeded all expectations.
(Fuga, photo: Jakub Kijowski)
Interestingly, the movie “Odnajdę Cię” (“I’ll find you”) by Beata Dzianowicz was not nominated. Despite the well-played role of a hardened police officer by Ewa Kaim, genre cinema remains a deadly sin in Poland. Such roles win Oscars in Hollywood, but in Poland it is not so.
(Odnajdę Cię, press stock)
