Poland's Oscar candidate '11 Minutes' goes on general release

The movie, made in Warsaw by one of Poland's most distinguished veteran film-makers, follows the lives of a series of disparate characters whose paths are set to collide.

The film had its Polish premiere at the 40th Gdynia Film Festival last month, where the movie won the Special Jury Prize.

In an interview with Radio Poland at the festival, the director said that his aim had been to shock viewers.

“This film is a bit of a provocation,” he admitted.

“I wanted to force the audience into a definite reaction, a strong reaction.

“Some of them were shocked, some of them were anxious, some of them were disturbed, some of them just had a lot of fun.”

Last February, director Paweł Pawlikowski won Poland's first ever Oscar in the category of Best Foreign Language Film for his black and white post-Holocaust work 'Ida'.

Pawlikowski was on the Polish Film Institute's panel that chose the latest Oscar contender last month.

“We chose one of the best and most original Polish directors,” Pawlikowski said.

“His personality and creativity are well known in [the US].

“'11 Minutes' is a universal film, realised in a dynamic cinematic language, portraying chaos, cacophony and the emptiness of the modern world.”

A shortlist of nine movies will be picked by America's academy in mid-December, and the final five nominees for the Oscar are set to be announced on 14 January 2016, with the awards ceremony scheduled for 28 February. (nh/rk)