STRENGTH AND HONOUR (Ireland)
by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor
One of the three prestigious film competitions at FESTROIA, the Portugese festival which is nearing its mid-point, is the Primerias Obras/First Works section. This has always been a program that has attracted interested from the attending industry and public, because it points to stellar talents at the beginning of their careers.
Of the eleven films in competition, ten are from Europe and ...
One of the most celebrated American Independent films of the past year has opened the American Independents Competition at Festroia: Troia International Film Festival last evening. STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING, a character drama set in the literary world of New York City, features an award-winning performance by veteran stage and screen actor Frank Langella, who won the Best Actor prize from the Boston Film Critics last year. Langella's performance was critically hailed by major critics groups an...
Saturday, June 7-------The Troia International Film Festival (Festroia), known as the "Cannes of Portugal" opened last evening with a Gala Screening of the Oscar nominated Polish film KATYN. The film, directed by European screen legend Andrezj Wajda, is a dramatic recreation of the one of the great human crimes of the Second World War.....the mass slaughter of Polish army officers by the Russians in the beginning days of the conflict. Wajda brings his customary sweep mixed with intimac...
GDYNIA, SEPTEMBER 18, 2007ALEX DELEON FOR www.filmfestivals.com"KATYN FEVER” IN POLAND AS THE WAJDA VERSION OPENS GDYNIA FESTAndrej Wajda’s new film “KATYN” concerning the mass murder of Polish Prisoners of War perpetrated by the Russians in 1940 and for years either hushed up or cynically blamed on the Germans, is more than just another film by a famous director. It has become a “cause celebre” and a national event stirring up the collective Polish memory of this incredible Rus...
On Tuesday Andrzej Wajda accompanied by a retinue of actors and others connected with the 'Katyn' production showed up in Gdynia as scheduled for a press conference preceding multiple screenings of the heavily anticipated film. (One screening especially for the foreign press had English subtitles). The 81 year old director sporting a full head of white hair, full cheeks, and a ruddy complexion, seemed to be in good health and spoke with confidence about his latest work before a roomful of journ...
Andrzej Wajda, 81, the dean of Polish filmmakers and generally recognized as one of the all time great film directors -- period -- will open the 32nd Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia on September 17. This long awaited dissertation on the egregious massacre of Polish officers (POW!) in WW II perpetrated by the Russians -- then cynically blamed by them on the Germans-- has been a pet project brewing in the mind of the Polish screen maestro for a number of years. The new Wajda opus will pr...
One of the great assets for a journalist at the Berlin film festival is the very well organized press conference structure and the constant parade of leading figures, directors, stars and others, from film industries around the world. The day here starts out with two matinee press screenings of films in competition in the same giant hall, the Berlinale Palast, where the gala red-carpet screenings are held in the evening. These press screenings are immediately followed by a press conference in th...
