27/11/2018 - The upcoming film is a biopic of the titular blind jazz pianist, born in Poland in 1944

Mieczysław “Mietek” Kosz is a real-life musician who was born in Poland in 1944. Due to childhood illness, he went blind at a very young age. He played a form of jazz enriched with elements of romantic music and Polish folklore, and performed at the famous Montreux Jazz Festival. Sadly, his brilliant career was cut short: tormented by demons and loneliness, Kosz died at the age of 29. 

In his biopic, Icarus. The Legend of Mietek Kosz [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the leading role of the troubled musician is played by Dawid Ogrodnik (The Last Family [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Dawid Ogrodnik
film profile], Silent Night [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Dawid Ogrodnik
interview: Piotr Domalewski
film profile]), while Justyna Wasilewska (The Art of Loving [+see also:
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film profile], The Best Fireworks Ever) and Piotr Adamczyk (I’m a Killer [+see also:
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interview: Maciej Pieprzyca
interview: Renata Czarnkowska-Listos a…
film profile]) also star. The script was written by Maciej Pieprzyca (I’m a Killer), who is also occupying the director’s chair. “In my films, I look for characters who are not at peace with the world, who can rebel against social norms, politics and their own personal limitations,” Pieprzyca said in a press release.

Icarus. The Legend of Mietek Kosz is being produced by Renata Czarnkowska-Listoś and Maria Gołoś through their Warsaw-based company RE Studio. They previously collaborated with Pieprzyca on I’m a Killer, a crime-thriller that received the Best Director Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival in 2017, and the Silver Lions and the Best Screenplay Award at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia in 2016. The co-producers of Icarus are Poland’s Lightcraft, Polish Television, Canal+ Polska, the Mazovian and Warsaw Film Fund, Silesia Film and the Krakow Festival Office.

The shoot is scheduled to end in mid-December 2018, and the locations include Warsaw, Krakow and Dabrowa Gornicza. The project received support from the Polish Film Institute. The Polish distributor is Next Film, while the international sales are being handled by Italy’s Intramovies. The release of Icarus. The Legend of Mietek Kosz is slated for late 2019.