The Culture Commission of the Jagiellonian University’s PhD Student Association invites you to choose the film we will watch during the next edition of the Doctoral Students’ Film Club, which will take place on Thursday January 26th. You can vote up through Sunday January 21st using the following link:
All the following synopses have been provided by the films' distributors.
The Fabelmans, dir. Steven Spielberg, United States, 2022
The Fabelmans is Steven Spielberg’s personal, highly autobiographical account of growing up in the postwar United States.
This film tells the story of Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle), a boy growing up in isolation who is only beginning to define his dreams and follow them. His discovery of the movies is a formative experience; he becomes passionate about film not only as a viewer but also as an artist. Although Sammy is raised by creative parents, the pianist Mitzi (Michelle Williams) and the scholar Burt (Paul Dano), their visions of the world sometimes greatly differ.
In The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg provides a glimpse into his own childhood recollections, his relationship with his parents, and his passion for the silver screen, which he has honed since childhood. It has been his desire to make this film for many years, but he needed almost sixteen years to process his memories and transform them into a screenplay about growing up.
EO, dir. Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland, 2022
Shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
This visionary film by European cinema veteran Jerzy Skolimowski made a sensational splash at last year's Cannes Festival, where it deservedly won the Jury Prize. The director of Barrier, The Shout, and Essential Killing references Robert Bresson’s legendary film Au Hasard Balthazar with a donkey as the protagonist. We watch the epic journey of the eponymous EO, who comes under the care of the wise and the stupid, the good and the brutal, as well as empathetic and vain people. Skolimowski creates a simple though visually stunning universal parable about the condition of contemporary society, and about the imbalance between the worlds of man and animal. It is also a wonderfully poetic film about the need for freedom and about incapacitation. The Polish master filmmaker is unafraid to experiment; Michał Dymek's camera performs extraordinary acrobatics – resulting in a mesmerizingly fresh work that seems directed by a young artist leveraging the possibilities of contemporary cinema. That's Skolimowski – eternally New Wave, a searcher full of bravado and confidence. We're lucky to have him.
In Polish with English subtitles.
ŚUBUK (Backwards), dir. Jacek Lusiński, Poland, 2022
ŚUBUK (Backwards) is the latest film by the producers of Carte Blanche, The Last Family, and the Oscar-nominated hit Corpus Christi.
Inspired by real events, this film tells the story of the young mother of an autistic child; her many years’ stubborn struggle against bureaucracy and human callousness resulted in important changes in the Polish education system.
ŚUBUK (Backwards) strikes directly at the heart. It is an emotional, optimistic, and tenderly funny story of female strength, the joy of life, a distinct perception of the world, and the hidden potential that slumbers in each of us. The main role is played, for the first time, by Małgorzata Gorol, one of the most promising Polish actresses of recent years, known for her performances in Małgorzata Szumowska’s Mug and Maciej Bochniak’s Magnesia. Supporting roles are played by internationally renowned actor Andrzej Seweryn; Aleksandra Konieczna, who has several times received the Eagle Polish Film Award (The Last Family, Corpus Christi); and Marta Malikowska of HBO’s Blinded by the Lights.
ŚUBUK (Backwards) was directed by Jacek Lusiński, director of the moving Carte Blanche. Along with Szymon Augustyniak, he co-wrote the screenplay that won the prestigious Script Pro contest in 2019 and was awarded at the 47th Gdynia Film Festival.
In Polish with English subtitles.