On the 1st of October at 20.00 CET, a unique conversation will be held #online between Agnieszka Holland and the Polish film critic Barbara HollenderThe latest film by the acclaimed director, “Charlatan”, will be presented in Sofia at the special FIPRESCI Gala Screening on the 3rd of Octoberat 18.00at Cinema House
The conversation between Agniezska Holland and Barbara Hollender will be streamed on social media and made available to all the admirers of the great Polish director’s work – not only in Bulgaria as a part of the 24th Sofia International Film Festival, but also worldwide. The special FIPRESCI 94 Platinum Award is granted by the International Federation of Film Critics to esteemed filmmakers. It was sent to Agnieszka Holland’s residence in Poland, since the world pandemic did not allow for us to meet her in person as a guest of honour in Sofia in 2020.
At the special FIPRESCI Gala on the 3rd of October at Cinema House, the latest feature film by Agnieszka Holland – “CHARLATAN”, will be presented. It is an incredible story based on real life events – the fate of a man gifted with supernatural powers, who is obliged to comply with the reality of the 1950’s totalitarianism. Agnieszka Holland once again turns to history to remind the nowadays’ generation of the mistakes that humanity lived through and the conclusions we fail to draw… The script was written by Marek Epstein and the main parts are performed by Ivan Trojan, Joachim Paul Assböck, Jan Vlasák, Jana Kvantiková and others.
The General Secretary of FIPRESCI Klaus Eder and the director of the Sofia Film Festival Stefan Kitanov will welcome online the this year‘s holder of the special FIPRESCI Award.
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Agnieszka Holland was born on the 28th of November 1948 in Warsaw. She graduated filmmaking from the famous film academy FAMU in Prague. Her carrier began as an assistant to the director Krzysztof Zanussi; Andrzej Wajda subsequently became her mentor. Holland wrote several scripts together with Wajda – “Without Anesthesia” (1978), “Danton” (1983), “Korczak” (1990). Her works as a director have been widely acclaimed by the audience and professionals of the most prestigious international film forums. She received the FIPRESCI award for “Provincial Actors” in 1978 in Cannes, she was nominated for “Golden Bear” award for “Fever” in 1981, Berlin, nominated for “Golden Lion” for “Julie Walking Home” in 2002, Venice. “Angry Harvest” was nominated for “Oscar” for best foreign language film in 1986, and “Copying Beethoven” with Ed Harris was named best film at San Sebastian in 2006. Agnieszka Holland was nominated for “Oscar” for best screenplay of “Europe, Europe” (1990), as well as with “Golden Globe” for best foreign language film “In Darkness” (2012).
Agnieszka Holland was a chairwoman of the board of the European Film Academy from 2014 until 2019. In 2018 she received the Sofia Award at Sofia IFF, and in 2019 she presented her film “Mr. Jones” as part of the Focus on Poland in Sofia, organized in partnership with Polish Film Institute, Polish Institute – Sofia and Warsaw International Film Festival. A special essay on Holland's work by Barbara Hollender you can find HERE.
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The “FIPRESCI 90 Platinum Award” was first granted to distinguished filmmakers in 2015 – 90 years after the establishment of the International Federation of Film Critics in 1925. The initiative began in Bari and the first filmmakers to be awarded were Margarethe von Trotta, Andrzej Wajda, Alan Parker, Ettore Scola, Jean-Jacques Annaud, Costa-Gavras, Edgar Reitz, Nanni Moretti. In 2016 the award was granted to Béla Tarr during his visit at the 20th Sofia Film Festival. In 2017 the Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel was granted the award in Łódź, as well as the Serbian director Goran Paskaljević at Sofia Film Festival. The tradition continued in 2018 with the wonderful directors Sally Potter in Łódź and Ildikó Enyedi in Sofia, as well as last year when Bille August received the award at the 23rd Sofia Film Festival. After the change of the name of the award to “FIPRESCI 94 Platinum Award”, it was given also to the Mexican director Arturo Ripstein.