15/09/2008

Jakub Duszynski was only 24 when he started working for Gutek Film, where he is currently artistic director and head of programming (along with Roman Gutek) at the Muranow movie theatre. He is also film selector for the different festivals held at the theatre, and for Poland’s largest film event: the Era New Horizons Film Festival in Wroclaw. A lawyer by training and a fan of Asian genre films, Duszynski has also set up a distribution company (Blink) specialised in this type of film, in order to share his passion with viewers.

Cineuropa: Gutek Film has always been a launching pad for auteur films and has released in Poland films by Lars Von Trier, Pedro Almodóvar, Jim Jarmush and Wong Kar-Wai. What are the company’s priorities today?
Jakub Duszynski: The key is to put together a balanced and harmonious annual programme. Every year, we distribute at least two or three films that are not aimed solely at auteur film enthusiasts, but also at multiplex audiences. Among such titles, we have released for example films by Almodovar, Tom Tykwer’s Perfume: The Story of a Murderer [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Control [+see also:
trailer
film profile], etc.

This autumn, we’re going to release some Polish features (Jerzy Skolimowski’s Four Nights With Anna [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Piotr Lazarkiewicz’s 0_1_0 and Katarzyna Adamik’s Boisko bezdomnych) for this is also important to us. If we manage to put together a balanced programme, this gives us the freedom to include non-commercial titles that give us the satisfaction of being able to preserve our reputation for experimentation, with a line-up of films by the best directors.

You also exercise this freedom by organising the Era New Horizons Film Festival.
Exactly. We explore the whole range of non-Hollywood films as part of this festival. For it is impossible to talk about world cinema, about its value and quality, without discovering films from all over the globe. The festival was created with the aim of discovering and sharing the results of this discovery with audiences.

What place does European film occupy in Gutek Film’s annual line-up?
It’s our number one priority. We distribute almost exclusively European films. And in this respect, the support provided by the Media programme is very valuable. I would like to take this opportunity to point out that it is wrong to say that auteur films perform badly in Poland. The box office is certainly dominated by US films, but this domination is led by only a few titles which often have, interestingly, something European about them, for example they are inspired by European literature.

What do you expect to gain from your participation in the European Distributors: Up Next! programme?
What’s essential is meeting people. Usually, this type of encounter with professionals is inspiring and enriching. I’m happy to be able to discuss with others the fundamental questions about creative ideas and the current situation of the market. Reality and audiences change constantly, so I really appreciate this chance to exchange experiences and knowledge.