Photo: 44th. Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych in Gdynia / Polska Agencja Prasowa / Adam Warawa
The Grand Prix Golden Lions of the annual Gdynia Film Festival for the best movie was given to Agnieszka Holland on Saturday for her “Mr. Jones” (“Obywatel Jones”) that brings the audience to the very heart of the atrocious Soviet-perpetrated Famine-Genocide in Ukraine.
Ms Holland’s image is based on a true story of Gareth Jones (James Norton), a Welsh journalist who revealed the terrifying truth about the Soviet-perpetrated Holodomor – a genocide by famine that was orchestrated by the USSR on the territory of Soviet Ukraine in 1932-1933 and reaped a harvest of 7.5 million lives, although some estimates are that as many as 12 million people were starved to death.
The Golden Lions-winning movie starred James Norton, Vanessa Kirby, Peter Sarsgaard, Michalina Olszańska and Krzysztof Pieczyński, among others.
Awarded with the Platinium Lions for his lifetime movie achievement was Krzysztof Zanussi, filmmaker, screenwriter and producer of many a winning picture, with his portfolio including the Golden Lion Award of the Venice Film Festival that he received for his “A year of the quiet sun”.
The Silver Lions awards went to Maciej Pieprzyca’s “Icarus. The Legend of Mietek Kosz” (“Ikar. Legenda Mietka Kosza”), which tells the story of Mieczysław Kosz – a Polish pianist and jazz composer gone-blind at the age of 12 recognized for markedly influencing the Polish school jazz.
Starring in “Icarus...”, Dawid Ogrodnik received the best main male actor award. The best main female actor award was given to Magdalena Boczarska playing in Michał Rosa’s “Piłsudski” – a biopic about one of Poland’s founding fathers Józef Piłsudski.
Jan Komasa was handed the best director award for his “Corpus Christi” ("Boże Ciało"). The movie is a story of spiritual awakening that a young man experiences while serving his sentence in a youth detention centre for second-degree murder. Being marked with criminal past the man faces difficulties in pursuing the calling and becoming a priest after having been released from the centre.
“Corpus Christi” was also apprised for its screenplay written by Mateusz Pacewicz. The jury handed Mr Pacewicz the best screenplay award.
The Grand Jury Prize went to Łukasz Kośmicki’s “Clandestine Game” (“Ukryta gra”).
source: PAP / Onet