Pedro Almodóvar makes his triumphant return with Pain and Glory (Dolor y gloria), which has enjoyed an enthusiastic response from audiences and critics along, and Céline Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Portrait de la jeune fille en feu), which took home the award for best screenplay at Cannes, will be part of the program at this year’s New Horizons International Film Festival in Wrocław. The French director’s film will open the 19th edition of the festival. Festival passes will remain on sale until this upcoming Sunday, 30 June.
Pain and Glory (Dolor y gloria), dir. Pedro Almodóvar
The main character in Pain and Glory is film director Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas won the best actor award at Cannes for his performance), an audience favorite now mired in a crisis. Salvador breaks a series of ties with the world and turns to the past: to his childhood, to his first great love and to the moment when cinema became his purpose in life. Swayed by these thoughts, as well as several chance encounters with people who are important to him, Salvador attempts to return to filmmaking. While being surprisingly intimate and subdued, Pain and Glory also manages to contain everything audiences love about Almodóvar. The Spanish director once again impresses with his visual sensitivity, neatly combining subtlety with an eccentric sense of humor and giving vent to his love of cinema. The clear self-references in the film caused journalists in Cannes, with good reason, to notice variations on Felllini's immortal 8 1/2. Almodóvar’s new film should also appeal to all those who fell in love with Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty several years ago.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Portrait de la jeune fille en feu), dir. Céline Sciamma
Céline Sciamma’s wonderful melodrama dresses up modern desires and emotions in old-fashioned costumes (the film is set in Brittany in 1760). The feelings in question are those of an aristocrat getting ready for an arranged marriage, Heloiza (Adèle Haenel), and the woman painting her portrait, the independent, liberated Marianna (Noemie Merlant). The intimate bond that unexpectedly arises between them will become a powerful force, capable of shattering many a taboo. Inspired by romantic painting, Sciamma’s subtle yet passionate film is also admiration for a woman’s perspective and an impressive visual manifesto.
We look forward to seeing you at the 19th New Horizons International Film Festival from 25 July to 4 August 2019.
New Horizons invites you to Cinema for Children
The 6th Kids Film Festival will be hosted in over 20 cities across Poland from 21 to 29 September 2019. The program includes the nine films taking part in the main competition, including The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily (La famosa invasione degli orsi in Sicilia), an animated film that was presented in Cannes and Annecy; the film discoveries competition – artistic cinema for young viewers; and the following special sections: Italian cinema and a retrospective of the work of Stanisław Jędryka, who passed away earlier this year, in other words a return to classics of Polish cinema for youngsters. The festival also includes a number of special events, such as a Kids Film series about growing up (including a lecture by Wojciech Eichelberger) and film industry meetings – the Warsaw Kids Film Forum.
More information is available at: www.kinodzieci.pl