For Polish cinema-lovers, 11 Minutes is one of the most awaited premieres of 2015. Five years have passed since the action-packed Essential Killing, Jerzy Skolimowski’s multi-threaded contemporary drama with a cast featuring Vincent Gallo, Andrzej Chyra, Agata Buzek, Piotr Głowacki, Jan Nowicki and Dawid Ogrodnik. Not much has been revealed about his new film as the director doesn’t want to disclose the story’s details, not even an outline. The only thing known is that the film will show 11-minute excerpts from the lives of various characters. The Polish-Irish production which has a budget of around 9 million zloty ($2.4 million) will reach cinemas later in 2015.
Jerzy Skolimowski’s film will be shown as part of the Masters section at the festival. Apart from 11 Minutes, there will be twelve other presentations including new films by Wim Wenders and Marco Bellocchio.
Demon in Toronto
The other film making its way into the Toronto festival’s programme is Demon. It tells the story of Piotr (Itay Tiran), a Pole who travels to England to get married to Żaneta (Agnieszka Żulewska). His future father-in-law gives them an old house, and Piotr starts making plans about setting up a family home. Things take a turn on the day before the wedding when the groom finds human remains buried nearby. While examining them, Piotr gets caught up in an accident and loses consciousness. When he wakes up, he finds his macabre find has vanished and he can’t remember anything about the last few hours. In the meantime, the wedding gets going, and the ceremony’s guests, led by Żaneta’s brother Jasny (Tomasz Schuchardt), start to notice that something unsettling is happening with the groom…
Marcin Wrona’s film will be presented in Toronto as part of the Vanguard section, which is described on the festival’s website as: “Provocative, sexy… possibly dangerous. This is what’s next”. In 2010, the same section presented Marcin Wrona’s film The Christening.
The Toronto International Film Festival is regarded as one of the most important movie events in North America. Its organisers offer audiences the chance to experience the newest flavours and trends in the world of cinema.
The 40th edition of the festival takes place from 10th to 20th September 2015. More information can found at the festival's official website.
Sources: PISF, Toronto International Film Festival, own materials. Translated by AZ.