The festival features works by both established directors such as Nanni Moretti from Italy or Hou Hsiao-hsien from Taiwan and their younger counterparts, including Asif Kapadia from the UK or this year's stunning début Làszló Nemes from Hungary. Tickets to their films are selling like hot cakes.
The T-Mobile New Horizons Festival kicked off on Thursday 23 July and comes to an end on Sunday 2 August. The coming week brings a selection of great films, the most publicised of which drawing large audiences. Don't hesitate. Buy your ticket now!
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Amy by Asif Kapadia, 128 minutes.
This documentary is devoted to Amy Winehouse, one of the greatest singers of the 21st century, who died prematurely at the age of 27. She was both self-destructive and extremely vibrant, whimsical and wicked. And she was blessed with a voice like no other. Amy fell in love with a wrong man and fell victim to a wrong addiction. Asif Kapadia, who combined a number of archive materials in his film, was condemned by Winehouse's family, but a number of viewers and critics say he revealed nothing but the truth about the singer.
Screenings still available: 2 August at 6.45 p.m.
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The Assassin by Hou Hsiao-hsien, 105 minutes.
This nearly seventy-year-old Taiwanese was awarded the title of the Best Film Director at this year's Cannes Festival for The Assassin, a picture both visionary and mastery in every single detail. The film tells a story of a female assassin, beautiful woman who knows how to wield her sword and a general's daughter (abducted and raised among strangers). On her return to the old haunts, she has to make a difficult choice, especially since she is commissioned to assassinate a man plotting against the emperor.
Screenings still available: 30 July at 1 p.m.
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My Mother by Nanni Moretti, 102 minutes.
Intellectual films by Italian Nanni Moretti have a lot fans in Poland and elsewhere. My Mother has won an award from the Ecumenical Jury at this year's Cannes Festival. The film tells a story of a female film director who starts to ponder over the meaning of her work as a number of problems pile up in her life: with her mother and with a fussy actor she has hired for her film. As usual, Moretti raises important questions and offers food for thought to his viewers.
Screenings still available: 1 August at 6.30 p.m., 2 August at 12.45 p.m. and 3.45 p.m.
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Son of Saul by Làszló Nemes, 107 minutes.
This picture was an absolute sensation at this year's Cannes Festival. The film is a full-feature début from Hungarian director Làszló Nemes, and it tells a harrowing story of the member of the Sonderkommando, a special group of Jewish inmates at Auschwitz who were forced to work in crematoria and be accessory to the Holocaust. The main hero in the film decides to bury one of the dead boys. His entire life revolves around this, even as the unrest is beginning to mount among the Sonderkommando members.
Screenings still available: 25 July at 9.45 a.m. 1 August at 12.45 p.m.
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The Duke of Burgundy by Peter Strickland, 104 minutes.
This erotic and sensual feature is like a remedy to disgusting and embarrassing pap served by run-off-the-mill American productions. English director Peter Strickland has hired great (although unknown) actresses to tell a story of two women playing a Lady and her servant. The film combines great costume designs, atmospheric interiors, compelling acting and suspenseful photography. All this is so refined that no impression of adult entertainment is likely to creep up on the viewers.
Screenings still available: 27 July at 9.45 p.m., 29 July at 3.45 p.m. and 30 July at 12.45 p.m.
