Directing début by Agata Trzebuchowska to be screened during Tofifest
To this day, she has been mostly associated with playing the leading role in Academy Award-winning “Ida”. Two years ago, she was a guest to Tofifest, as an actress. This year, Agata Trzebuchowska will come to Tofifest with her short début entitled “Skwar”, which will be screened as part of the Shortcut International Competition of short films.
“It is hot beyond measure. A young boy is doing his friend an unusual favour – he pays a visit to his grandma suffering from dementia, pretending to be her grandson. The woman takes him for a walk to a place that evokes memories from her distant past, and hides the greatest secret of her life.” The above is a short summary of “Skwar”. It was directed and scripted by Agata Trzebuchowska and Mateusz Pacewicz.
It will be a big surprise for cinema enthusiasts. In countless interviews she has given in the wake of “Ida’s” success, Agata emphasised that she was not interested in the film industry whatsoever. One such declaration was offered during a meeting at Tofifest 2014, when she replied that “she was not thinking about that, and she was not going to pursue an acting career, although she had found the experience quite wonderful” – when asked whether she was going to continue her career.
The short film by Agata Trzebuchowska was produced by Solopan. That distribution company has been established by Jacek Szumlas and it was the first independent film distribution company in the former Eastern Bloc. Since its dawn in 1990, the company has brought films by the best film directors in the world to the Polish market. Solopan was also responsible for distributing “Ida”.
The film stars Anna Milewska (she played in the following TV series: “Dom/The House”, “Złotopolscy/The Zlotopolski”, and “07 zgłoś się/Calling 07”), Antoni Mitraszewski, and Bruno Jasienski (known for his appearance in “Na dobre i na złe/For better and for worse” TV series). The author of cinematography in the film is Zuzanna Kernbach, who won a Student Academy Award for cinematography in “Tenants” by Klara Kochanska (the latter is also screened as part of Shortcut), and an award at San Geo Verona Video Film Festival.
Mateusz Pacewicz, co-director and co-screenwriter of the film, has also successfully started his filming career. He won the Second Prize for his script to “Boże Ciało” (the awards are funded by the Polish Film Institute), during the prestigious Script Pro competition dedicated to scriptwriting – the film tells a story of 20-year-old man released conditionally from prison , who pretends to be a priest in a small town.
We have also been told that Agata is currently working on a very enigmatic full-feature project under the working title “Bela”. Keeping our fingers crossed!
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