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Memento International and Anonymous Content have boarded “Woman Of,” a bold Venice competition entry written and directed by Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert. The film is a pioneering trans drama set in against the landscape of the Polish transformation from communism to capitalism.

“Woman Of” stars Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik as Aniela Wesoły, who lived more than half of her adult life in a provincial Polish town as a man. “Woman Of…” spans 45 years of the life of Aniela as she aspires to find personal liberty as a trans woman and faces hardships in marriage and parenthood, strained family relations and complicated attitudes in her environment.

“‘Woman Of’ is the result of many years of work, a film that tells a story of a mature trans woman living in Poland, who does not fit the social norms of a traditional family,” said Szumowska and Englert, who have been working on movies together for over 20 years.

Naomi Watts is set to headline “Infinite Storm,” the highly anticipated film from Polish helmer Malgorzata Szumowska (“Never Gonna Snow Again”), with Bleecker Street and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions on board.

Bleecker Street will take U.S. rights while Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions is handling international rights on the film. Production will begin later this month.

“Infinite Storm” is written by Josh Rollins, and based on Ty Gagne’s article “High Places: Footprints in the Snow Lead to an Emotional Rescue,” about the story of Pam Bales, a mother, nurse and mountain guide who was on a solitary trek up Mount Washington when she got caught in a blizzard, leading to the daring rescue of a stranger.

“Infinite Storm” is being produced by Maven Screen Media’s Celine Rattray, Trudie Styler and Jenny Halper with Naomi Watts for JamTart Productions, as well as Peter and Michael Sobiloff. Executive producers are Nic Marshall,...

“Never Gonna Snow Again,” which was chosen as Poland’s Oscar submission prior to its world premiere in Venice, marks a further step in cinematographer Michał Englert’s long collaboration with Małgorzata Szumowska. It started in the 1990s with her short “Silence,” followed by her feature debut “Happy Man” in 2000, and continues with “Never Gonna Snow Again,” with Englert serving as both cinematographer and co-director, alongside Szumowska, on the film.

“Our way of working, or our sense of humor, hasn’t really changed. Although the scope of my involvement is constantly expanding,” says Englert, who has been developing screenplays with Szumowska since 2013’s “In the Name Of,” and describes their process as “instinctive.”

“I definitely have an ego, but you can’t make movies all by yourself and in the case of ‘Never Gonna Snow Again’ we decided its power will be bigger if we sign it as a directorial duo.

Malgorzata Szumowska and Michal Englert’s “Never Gonna Snow Again,” one of the buzziest titles out of the Venice Film Festival, has found distribution in the U.K., Italy and Germany.

Following what’s understood to have been a competitive process with wide interest, Picturehouse Entertainment has swooped for U.K./Eire rights. I Wonder has bought the film for Italy, and Real Fiction are on board for Germany. The film is sold internationally by The Match Factory.

“Never Gonna Snow Again” world premiered in Venice on Sept. 7 to critical acclaim. The film tells the story of masseur Zhenia, who hails from the Ukrainian city of Pripyat, which was deeply affected by the nearby Chernobyl blast. Zhenia enters the lives of the rich but troubled residents of a bland, walled-off community in Poland, where he begins to heal them with his hands and companionship, and changes their lives for good.

How much healing can a good massage provide? A fast-fading hour or so of relaxation, or a more sustained sense of general well-being and peace with the world, so long as it’s topped up with repeat appointments? In “Never Gonna Snow Again,” a searching, cryptic satire of bourgeois insularity in modern Poland, the magic hands of an immigrant Ukrainian masseur are tasked with easing a litany of woes, from middle-class guilt to climate change anxiety to terminal cancer — though no one thinks to ask him about his own interior aches and pains. After last year’s moody but mildly received English-language diversion “The Other Lamb,” prolific Polish auteur Malgorzata Szumowska returns to home turf in this Venice competition entry, and the result is her most compelling and hauntingly realized film to date.

With a run of variously provocative, distinctively styled films through the 2010s — including the Juliette Binoche starrer...

Exclusive: And they’re off! Poland is first out of the blocks this year by naming its submission to the 2021 International Oscar race – Malgorzata Szumowska’s Never Gonna Snow Again.

The comedy drama is set to premiere in Competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival. The Italian event is pressing on with plans to become the first major international fest to take place in the pandemic era, running September 2-12.

Szumowska has become one of Poland’s most recognized working directors since her 2001 feature debut Happy Man. Her credits include 2013 pic In The Name Of, which won prizes at the Berlin and Polish film festivals, the 2015 feature Body which won its director the Berlinale Silver Bear for Best Director and also the European Film Awards’ People’s Choice Award, and 2018 movie Mug, which again was a Berlinale winner, this time the Silver Bear Jury Grand Prix. Szumowska’s English-language debut,...

Following in the footsteps of fellow European Claire Denis, Polish director Małgorzata Szumowska will release her English-language debut later this year. Szumowska, with 14 other directorial credits to her name, has been hailed consistently since the turn of the century. Winning the Teddy Award at the Berlinale Film Festival for “In the Name of,” Szumowska makes thrilling, intense films, similar to her contemporary in Denis.

Continue reading ‘The Other Lamb’ Trailer: Małgorzata Szumowska’s English-Language Debut Follows A Teenage Cultist at The Playlist.

Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for “Via Carpatia,” the feature debut from Student Oscar medalist Klara Kochańska and her directing partner Kasper Bajon. The movie premieres Saturday in the East of the West Competition section of the Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival.

The film centers on a middle-class couple from Poland, Piotr and Julia, who have been planning their holiday for months. Their plans are ruined by Piotr’s mother, who wants them to travel to a refugee camp on the Macedonian-Greek border and bring Piotr’s father home.

The film stars Julia Kijowska, who appeared in Agnieszka Holland’s “In Darkness” and Tomasz Wasilewski’s “United States of Love,” and Piotr Borowski, who starred in “Quo Vadis.”

It is produced by MD4’s Agnieszka Kurzydło, whose credits include Małgośka Szumowska’s “In the Name Of,” winner of the Berlinale’s Teddy Award. International sales are...

While attending the 2013 Transylvania Film Festival (full report here), I happened to meet internationally acclaimed Polish director, Malgorzata Szumowska. Malgorzata was at the time touring with her Berlinale Teddy Award winning In the Name Of (W imie...) In The Name Of is the story of a gay priest wrestling with carnal desires while trying to help young orphans in the Polish countryside. Events start taking a dark turn after the suicide of a boy under his auspice. Skeletons start falling out of the closet, as well as the priest's sexuality. Szumowska has made a film not only about the church secrets and its approach to the subject of homosexuality, but also about her country. In our chat Malgorzata also discussed the lack of female...

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