„DRAWN FROM MEMORY” SELECTED TO DIRECTORS' FORTNIGHT IN CANNES!

Short fiction film directed by Marcin Bortkiewicz, produced in frame of 30 minutes programme by Munk Studio was selected to the screening at the accompanying section of the Cannes film festival - Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs)!

 The invitation for “Drawn from Memory” to the selection of Directors' Fortnight at the 65th International Cannes Film Festival is  the biggest success of this sort for the short film. So far it was only twice that  Polish films were selected to participate in Directors' Fortnight – in 2008 it was “4 nights with Anna” by Jerzy Skolimowski while last year “Code blue” directed by Polish director Urszula Antoniak.

„Drawn from memory“ is a story of Marek, a fledgling filmmaker who, together with his mother, is taking care of his grandmother suffering from Alzheimer. She is convinced that in the past she used to be a great actress. As her condition worsens, the grandmother loses both memory and recognition turning more and more agressive and domineering. Marek decides to turn his camera on her. When the two are acting out the most prominent scenes from the history of world cinema, a very special bond develops between them. Shot as a home video, the film is a poignant study of family and generation relations. Even though the grandmother used to unconsciously act heartless toward her dear ones, in the end her portrait, shot by Marek, will help the family to retain warm memories of her.

Right after receiving the unofficial news on selecting „Drawn from memory” to Directors' Fortnight, Zofia Ścisłowska from Krakow Film Foundation (that promotes the film) had the chance to talk with Marcin Bortkiewicz:

Z.Ś.: Your short fiction film „Drawn from memory”, that was so far screened only in Poland, didn’t have much luck abroad. And suddenly such a news came out – what was your first reaction on hearing that the film is selected to Director’s Fortnight?

M. B.: At first I was greatly taken aback, as the film was screened last year at Cannes’ Short Film Corner – a film market devoted exclusively to short fiction films. I didn’t even know that this year our short film was submitted to the festival and considered as a candidate for the final selection…!

When I received the information about selecting “Drawn from memory” from Munk Studio (the producer of my film) I was convinced that it had to be some kind of misunderstanding. In the end however it turned out that there was no mistake involved. The programmers have described my film precisely and pointed out why they found it exceptional. That was a huge surprise!

Z.Ś.: Your film pictures a very exceptional bond between the young man and his grandmother, about whom he decides to make a film. What was the most interesting in confronting such a different protagonists?

I wanted to show how their feelings develop. Marek gets to know his grandmother better only when he discovers her as a subject matter of his film. This gives him a chance of asking about the things he would have never asked. It is just now, through the film that he discovers his grandmother once again. If it weren’t for the camera he would have never felt what he is experiencing right now. The camera allowed both of them to understand each other better.

Z.Ś.: What does it mean for you to have your film screened in Director’s Fortnight? What are your expectations?

M.B.: Well, to be honest I don’t really know as this is going to be first such a screening in my life. Still I know that the directors whom I truly respect and admire - Michael Haneke, Dardenne Brothers, Werner Herzog, Jerzy Skolimowski to name just a few, were presenting their films in the very same, Director’s Fortnight section. Time will tell how this is going to influence my professional life. I am now very much focused on directing my feature debut. If those who are to produce my film are going to trust me, and believe in my film because somebody in Cannes believed in “Drawn from memory” that would be the best result we might expect of our participation in Cannes Festival. 

Z.Ś.: Can you tell us then what are you working on right now?

M.B.: I am right now finishing my short documentary: “Nakręceni”. It is a small social portrait of the pupils of junior high school having difficulties with learning, law and social adjustment. In the end of May I am going to start working on another project, “Left side of the face”, a documentary about the photographer Leszek Krutulski, who travels through Poland and takes so called halfportraits – photographing left side of the face of his models regardless of age, race, nationality, beliefs, social status etc.  He will return to photograph their right side in 10 years. Krutulski told me that never before had he talked so much with people about death and passing like in the last six months when he was working on halfportraits. Apart from that I have written a script for the feature film and a treatment for another fiction. Both projects are related to comedy-drama genre. Time will tell if any of those is going to be executed and which of them is to become my full length debut

The Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) was created by the French Directors Guild in the wake of the events of May ’68. Organized annually since then the section seeks to help filmmakers have their film discovered by the critics and audiences alike. The jury of the competition seeks to promote the avant-garde cinema and discover new talent of the author driven cinema. Although Directors’ Fortnight is a non-competitive section, the films screened in this programme are eligible to the following independent prizes: SACD prize, Label Europa Cinemas, Art Cinema Award, Illy Prize Short Film.

The screening in Cannes will be followed by the series of screenings in Paris, Marseilles, Rome, Milan and Brussels, where among the others the audience will be able to watch also Marcin Bortkiewicz’s film. 

This years Directors' Fortnight line up to be found here