"THE PRINCE AND THE DYBBUK" WINS IN VENICE
Documentary film "The Prince and the Dybbuk" directed by Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosołowski was the only Polish representative at this year's edition of the Venice IFF. It was presented in the Venice Classics Documentary section. The screening was the world premiere. Awards in the Venice Classics sections were given by the Jury consisting of Cinema History students and chaired by a director and screenwriter Giuseppe Piccioni.
"The Prince and the Dybbuk" is a cinematic journey following the steps of Michał Waszyński, the author of the renown pre-war films with Eugeniusz Bodo, the director of the mystic Jewish "Dybbuk" and the producer of Hollywood blockbusters starring Sophia Loren and Claudia Cardinale. Niewiera and Rosołowski's film tries to unravel the mystery of Waszyński, who in his lifetime was constantly switching identities and writing anew his own biography. People who had the opportunity to meet him remembered him as a dignified nobleman, a notorious layer, a wandering Jew and finally a homosexual and Italian countess's husband in one person.
The film's directors and screenwriters are Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosołowski, the authors of e.g. "Domino Effect", documentary movie awarded in Poland and abroad. The cinematographer is also Piotr Rosołowski.
Film is a Polish-German co-production. The producers are: Krakow company Film Art Production (Małgorzata Zacharko, who with this film debuted as a producer) together with two partners from Berlin: Kundschafter Filmproduktion (Matthias Miegel) and zero one film (Ann Carolin Renninger). Other co-producers are: TVP Kultura, Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg, the National Film Archive - Audiovisual Institute, Chimney Poland and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. The film was co-financed by PISF – the Polish Film Institute, Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg, the Polish-German Film Fund and the European Cinema Support Fund - Eurimages .
The project was also supported by the Nipkow Programm, 18. Bremer Dokumentarfilm Förderpreis, DEFA Stiftung. It also took part in the ArchiDoc workshops and was presented at the Pitching du Réel – Visions du Réel, IDFA Forum 2015, MIA Market Rome 2016 and Docs to go! - a part of DOC LAB POLAND 2017 in Krakow.
Polish audience will have a chance to see "The Prince and the Dybbuk" during the 15th edition of the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival. The film distributor is Against Gravity.