Skolimowski leads Polish presence at the Venice Film Festival

A joint Polish-Irish production written by Skolimowski himself, it follows the same eleven minutes in the lives of a host of different characters from various walks of life.

Five years ago, Skolimowski’s ‘Essential Killing’ received the Special Jury Prize in Venice, and Vincent Gallo won the Best Actor Award for his role in the film.

'11 minutes’ is to be shown on 9 September. A week later, it will be screened at the Gdynia Film Festival on Poland's Baltic coast.

The other Polish film in the programme of the Venice Festival is ‘Baby Bump’ by the thirty one year-old Kuba Czekaj. It was shown in the Biennale College section on Thursday.

According to the festival’s publicity materials, “the film follows 11-year-old Mickey House, who flees the harsh reality of his corporeal changes and escapes into a fantasy world, accompanied by his animated friend, the Jerboa Mouse – his long-eared alter ego.

“Having not only directed but also written the screenplay, Czekaj is not afraid to take risks and experiment with close-ups and animated sequences in this film.

“He even re-introduces the now-rare split screen, and by doing this, it seems that even the filmic body is under an immense pressure to mature. It is all about pushing boundaries.”

Meanwhile, Pawel Pawlikowski, who won an Academy Award this year for his film 'Ida', is one of the nine members of the jury for the main competition. (mk/nh/rk)