Archive for the ‘Paweł Pawlikowski’ Category

Palm d’Or:  Shoplifters directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda

Best Director:  Paweł Pawlikowski for Cold War

Best Actor:   Marcello Fonte for Dogman

Best Actress:  Samal Yeslyamova for Ayka

Best Screenplay:   Jafar Panahi and Nader Saeivar for 3 Faces &   Alice Rohrwacher for Happy as Lazzaro

Cold War

Director: Pawel Pawlikowski

Cast: Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Borys Szyc, Agata Kulesza, Cedric Kahn

Polish and French with English Subtitles

Polish British-based director Pawel Pawlikowski gives the cinematic world another beautiful masterpiece in all its stark complexity with the poignant film Cold War which was nominated for three Oscars at the 2019 Academy Awards including Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Foreign Language Film.

As part of the 6th European Film Festival https://www.eurofilmfest.co.za/ which will have screenings at Cinema Nouveau in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria, South African audiences will get a chance to watch Cold War and admire filmmaking at its best.

Pawel Pawlikowski won the Best Director prize at the prestige 2019 Cannes International Film Festival and watching Cold War viewers can understand why. This film’s stark beauty is mesmerizing and seductive.

Pawlikowski’s masterful story centres on the epic romance of Zula beautifully played by Polish actress Joanne Kulig and Wiktor played by actor Tomasz Kot as they first encounter each other at the rudimentary auditions for a Polish folk song competition whereby Wiktor immediately spots the sultry Zula as a talent to behold. Cold War is set between the years 1949 and 1964 when Poland was under strict Soviet control and the harshness of this oppression is accentuated in the gorgeous black and white cinematography which heightens the plight between these two star crossed lovers.

Gradually as the action moves from rural Poland to East Berlin to Paris and then the former Yugoslavia and then back to Poland, Zula and Wiktor experience a tempestuous relationship laced with all the ironies of betrayal, fear and lust as the Soviet Party apparatus attempt to intervene in their lives and control the Polish folk singing group for propaganda purposes and to further push forward the agenda of Communism and Populism.

Against this harsh setting, Cold War weaves a fascinating tale filled with brilliant music from traditional Polish folk music to Elvis Presley all gorgeously shot by two time Oscar nominated cinematographer Lukasz Zal (Ida, Cold War) as Zula and Wiktor‘s relationship is examined, dissected and reconfigured through the 1950’s when Wiktor decides to defect to Paris and work as a film musician.

Pawlikowski’s Cold War is a beautiful examination not just of a relationship between a man and woman through music and love, but also of the brittle and distrustful relationship between the Soviet Bloc of Countries and the West which defined the political stagnation which the film gains its distinctive title.

Cold War is a superb film and anyone interested in quality cinema should make an effort to see this flawless film, which gets a film rating of 8 out 10 and deserves all the international recognition heaped upon it. A cinematic gem.  

THE  68th BAFTA AWARDS /

THE BRITISH ACADEMY FILM AWARDS

Took place on Sunday 8th February 2015 in London

BAFTA WINNERS IN THE FILM CATEGORY:

Best Film: Boyhood

Best Director: Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything 

Best Actress: Julianne Moore – Still Alice

Best Supporting Actor: J. K. Simmons – Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

Rising Star Award: Jack O’Connell

Best British Film: The Theory of Everything directed by James Marsh

Best Original Screenplay: Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Adapted Screenplay: Anthony McCarten – The Theory of Everything

Best Costume Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel – Milena Canonero

Best Foreign Language Film: Ida – Pawel Pawlikowski (Poland)

Source: 68th BAFTA Awards

THE  58TH BAFTA AWARDS /

THE BRITISH ACADEMY FILM AWARDS

Took place on Sunday 12th February 2005 in London

BAFTA WINNERS IN THE FILM CATEGORY:

Best Film: The Aviator

Best Director: Mike Leigh – Vera Drake

Best Actor: Jamie Foxx – Ray

Best Actress: Imelda Staunton – Vera Drake

Best Supporting Actor: Clive Owen – Closer

Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett – The Aviator

Best British Film: My Summer of Love directed Pawel Pawlikowski

Best Original Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Best Adapted Screenplay: Sideways by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor

Best Costume Design: Vera Drake

Best Foreign Language Film: The Motorcycle Diaries directed by Walter Salles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/58th_British_Academy_Film_Awards

The 87th Academy Awards / The Oscars

Sunday 22nd February 2015

OSCAR WINNERS AT THE 87TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS

Best Picture: Birdman

Best Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu – Birdman

Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

Best Actress: Julianne Moore – Still Alice

Best Supporting Actor: J. K. Simmons – Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

Best Adapted Screenplay: Graham Moore – The Imitation Game 

Best Original Screenplay: Alejandro Gonzalez Inaritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo – Birdman

Best Foreign Language Film: Ida – (Poland) directed by Paweł Pawlikowski

Best Documentary Feature: Citizen Four

Best Animated Feature Film: Big Hero 6

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman

Best Film Editing: Tom Cross – Whiplash

Best Sound Editing: Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman – American Sniper

Best Visual Effects: Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher – Interstellar

Best Makeup and Hair: Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier – Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Original Score: Alexandre Desplat – Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Production Design: Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock – Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Costume Design: Milena Canonero – Grand Budapest Hotel

Source: http://oscar.go.com/