Agent Scully and Belarusian guerrillas – The films of Tofifest 2012
It’s high time we have disclosed titles of the films you are going to watch during this year’s IFF Tofifest. The festival starts on 20th October. The programme of the festival includes over 150 titles, among which there are Polish premieres of Peddlers by Vasan Bal, In the Fog by Sergey Loznitsa or Paradise: Faith by Ulrich Seidl.
Peddlers by Vasan Bal is an excellent example of the new wave of independent Indian cinema. It is a criminal thriller that tells a story of a drug underground in the metropolis of Mumbai, showing the face of India that never comes to light in the Bollywood movies watched in European cinemas. We will also see Gillian Andersson, famous all around the world for her role as Agent Scully in X-file, in one of the most anticipated films of the festival. It is Sister by Ursula Meier – the Swiss candidate for Academy Awards in 2012. Ursula Meier’s debut film Home was awarded the Golden Angel of Tofifest. This year she comes back to Torun with her second feature film, which has been awarded Silver Bear at Berlinale 2012.
Many people are having their eye on In the Fog by Sergey Loznitsa. It is a second feature film by this Belarusian director, who has permanently settled and made his films in Germany. He is the author of the shocking My Joy, which made its debut at the last year’s Tofifest. In the Fog was based on a novel under the same title, written by a Belarusian Vasil Bykaw – a monumental figure of the Russian literature and a candidate for the Nobel Prize. As for the Polish element in the festival, there are great expectations for Being Like Deyna by Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz. This film “proves that it is possible to make films with little action, but with great meaning”, as one film critic from Natemat.pl has written about the film. What makes us particularly happy is the role of Torun-born Piotr Głowacki, winner of Flisak Tofifest for an outstanding film personality connected with the region of Kujawsko-Pomorskie. The title of another film we are going to disclose and present for the first time in Poland has been accused of being blasphemous, by ultra-orthodox Catholic organisations in Austria. Director Ulrich Seidl, actress Maria Hofstätter, who portrays the lead character and the producer of the film have all been accused of committing blasphemy. The reason to bring this charge was Paradise: Faith – the second part of Seidl’s trilogy.
You will find more information about the films below. Come and be part of Tofifest!
PEDDLERS
Polish premiere
Directed by Vasan Bala, India 2012
It is a debut film of Vasan Bala, an Indian director and screenwriter. This crime thriller tells a story of a drug underground in the great metropolis of Mumbai. Bala presents three parallel stories of young people: Mac (Siddharth Menon) – a petty pusher, Ranjit (Gulshan Devaiah) – a beginner police officer and Bilkis (Kriti Malhotra) – a former chemistry teacher. Their paths suddenly cross, which leads them to making quite unexpected decisions, at the end of the film. The director portrays lost people, against the background of a demoralised city. This is a perfect example of a new independent Indian cinema.
SISTER
Directed by Ursula Meier, France/Switzerland 2012
Simon lives with her sister in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Louise does not take care of her brother, spending most of her time meeting new boyfriends. The boy needs make his own living. Every single morning, he goes to a skiing resort in the Alps to steal skiing gear and resell it to the residents of a nearby town. All of a sudden, a deeply hidden secret comes to light and it destroys the bond between the brother and sister. It is an intriguing social drama, made by the director who was awarded the Golden Angle of Tofifest 2009 for her debut Home.
IN THE FOG
Polish premiere
Directed by Sergey Loznitsa; Germany, The Netherlands, Russia, Belarus, Latvia 2012
The film takes us near the Western border of the USSR, in 1942, which was then an area occupied by the German army. Guerrilla fighters are engaged in a war against the aggressor. Sushenya, a railway worker, is accused of collaboration. Two guerrilla fighters Burov and Voitik hunt him down to take revenge for his actions, but all three men fall into a German trap. Now, they must face the choice between good and evil. In the Fog was based on a novel under the same title, written by a Belarusian Vasil Bykaw – a monumental figure of the Russian literature and a candidate for the Nobel Prize. The previous film by Loznica, My Joy, was presented during Tofifest 2011.
BEING LIKE DEYNA
Directed by Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz, Poland 2012
Being Like Deyna is a fascinating story about a growing boy, who was born in October 1977, when the Polish football team played against Portugal. His father had a dream that Kazimierz would step in his shoes and become his successor as a footballer. Deyna’s entire childhood revolved around training, but when he grew up there was quite a different career path in his mind – of a scholar... It is a humorous story about the turbulent times of political transformation and a sentimental journey to the People’s Republic of Poland – a story about dreams and the difficult path to their fulfilment.
PARADISE: FAITH
Polish premiere
Directed by Ulrich Seidl; Austria, Germany, France 2012
This is the second part of the Ulrich Seidl’s trilogy about Christian virtues (love, faith and hope), which comes after Paradise: Love. The lead character in Paradise: Faith is Anna Maria, who spends every free minute of her time on missionary activities, as she intends to bring Austria back on the path of faith. Every day, she stands in front of a cross and flagellates herself, thus sacrificing for the sinners enslaved by sex. She makes pilgrimages to the houses of random Vienna residents and tries to make them pray with her. One day, her Muslim husband returns, after many years of absence. What effect will that have on Anna Maria, a fanatic Christian?
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