“The decision of the jury was unanimous: the Polish Oscar candidate is Cold War [+leggi anche:
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Q&A: Pawel Pawlikowski
scheda film],” Jan AP Kaczmarek, an Oscar-winning composer, founder and director of the Transatlantyk Film Festival, and the chairman of the Oscar committee, announced in Warsaw on Monday. “Cold War is an artistically accomplished, universal story of impossible love, inscribed in the turbulent history of 20th-century Poland. Paweł Pawlikowski's film captivates with its performances, excellent acting and unique use of Polish folk-music motifs. The movie’s previous success in the international arena will certainly help in further promotional activities,” wrote the committee in their statement.

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“You all must be shocked,” Radosław Śmigulski, general director of the Polish Film Institute, commented wryly, alluding to the fact that Pawlikowski’s film is already hugely successful, having racked up over 800,000 admissions in its native Poland and been sold to 62 territories. “We all felt that Cold War was the most accomplished of all the movies that were eligible, and we were hugely impressed with the artistic excellence of the film and the unique way in which it depicts Polish history. It is also a powerful melodrama, a musical film and a showcase for some wonderful Polish actors,” another Oscar committee member, critic Michał Oleszczyk, told Cineuropa exclusively.

The Oscar committee consisted of directors Maria Sadowska (The Art of Loving [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Dorota Kobiela
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Pawlikowski previously won an Academy Award for Best Foreign-language Film in 2015 for Ida [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Pawel Pawlikowski
intervista: Pawel Pawlikowski
scheda film]; the picture was also nominated in the Best Cinematography category (for DoPs Ryszard Lenczewski and Łukasz Żal). Likewise, the Polish film industry has high hopes that Cold War will also be in with a chance of bagging more than one Oscar, as Joanna Kulig’s name regularly turns up on many lists of Best Actress candidates, and actor Tomasz Kot has also been turning a lot of heads recently.

The most recent Polish Oscar entries were Spoor [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Agnieszka Holland
intervista: Zofia Wichlacz
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intervista: Zofia Wichlacz
scheda film], 11 Minutes [+leggi anche:
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Q&A: Jerzy Skolimowski
scheda film], Ida and Walesa: Man of Hope [+leggi anche:
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scheda film].