05/01/2009

At its last 2008 session, the Polish Film Institute (PISF) decided to support four international productions backed by Polish producers.

The selected projects include Danish director Lars von Trier’s Antichrist, co-written by Anders Thomas Jensen. The film – shelved for a long time due to a period of depression suffered by the director – is a thriller centred on a deranged woman and her psychotherapist husband who take refuge in a country house (called "Eden") after the sudden death of their son.

The story is based on the idea that the universe is created by Satan rather than God. The Polish co-producer – Zentropa International Poland, headed by Malgorzata Szumowska (director of 33 Scenes from Life [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) – will receive €270,000 in funding (the film’s total budget is €7.7m).

John Irvin’s UK/Polish co-production Golgotha – which is set against the military backdrop of the Great War – will receive €432,400 (Polish producer: WF Czolowka - total budget of €1.6m). Meanwhile, €124,000 will go to Grzegorz Hajdarowicz of Gremi Film Production (Nightwatching [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), who are currently co-producing Raymond De Felitta’s US film City Island.

Finally, Hysteria Film AB has been granted €83,800 (overall budget: €369,000) for Jerzy Sladkowski’s documentary project Fabryka wodki. Filmed with a Russian team, the title will reveal the dreams of women employed in the alcohol industry.

(Translated from French)