Sikora’s triple presence at Era New Horizons
Considered to be one of the most talented Polish cinematographers, Adam Sikora, who has worked with Lech Majewski (Wojaczek, The Mill and the Cross) and Jerzy Skolimowski (Four Nights With Anna [+see also:
trailer
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Presented in official competition at the festival, Expelled (Wydalony ) portrays an unknown, unidentifiable, even symbolic man, who could be any one of us and nobody at the same time. To speak about this film, inspired by Samuel Beckett’s prose (Molloy, First Love, The End), the concept of negation seems appropriate as the audience follows the anti-protagonist’s non-action, outside of time and outside of a concrete space.
Pushed outside the frame of reality, he is like a Heideggerian "being-thrown-into-the-world”, with no direction, objective or will. The lead actor, Krzysztof Siwczyk, is thus faced with a real challenge for there are no dialogues and his performance is limited to simple, everyday, repetitive gestures, which govern an existence marked by profound solitude, sterility, total passivity, and finally... a gravitation towards nothingness.
Selected in competition in the New Polish Cinema section, Ewa, jointly directed by Sikora and playwright Ingmar Villquist, is completely different from Expelled. The story looks at a social phenomenon and centres on a woman (Barbara Lubos-Święs) who prostitutes herself to overcome her family’s poverty.
The film is particularly moving in its exploration of family relationships with the power of love, trust and forgiveness. The cast also includes Andrzej Mastalerz, Anna Guzik, Aleksandra Popławska and Dawid Smaczny. The film was lensed by Sikora himself and edited by Beata Walentowska.
Shown out of competition, Sikora’s documentary Paweł centres on his friend Paweł Targiel, a poet, philosopher and writer. It is the portrait not only of a man battling against fatal illness, but also of his thought and conscience which, as death approaches, is surprising in its growing richness.
The three films were produced by Magic Production. Ewa was co-produced by Mastershot Studio, Piramida Film and Farat Film.
(Translated from French)
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