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Retrospective

Jerzy Skolimowski

Hands Up!

Poland
1967, 72min.

Script: Jerzy Skolimowski, Andrzej Kostenko, Dir.: Jerzy Skolimowski, Dir. of Phot.: Witold Sobocinski, Andrzej Kostenko, Compos.: Krzysztof Komeda, Sound: Jan Czerwinski, Norbert Zbigniew Medlewski,Edit.: Zenon Piorecki, Grazyna Jasinska, Krystina Rutkowska.
Cast: Jerzy Skolimowski, Joanna Szczerbic, Tadeusz Lomnicki, Adam Hanuszkiewicz, Bogumil Kobela.

In the spring of 1981 the director expanded the film by a half -hour episode – diary recorded by the camera. Shreds of life: London, Warsaw, and Lebanon. A home army liaison girl dying in the ruins of Beirut, the dead body of a man shot at the Wilenski Station in Warsaw – truth and fiction. Then we move a dozen or so years back. Hand up was made in 1967. And again reality and imagination blend so accurately that now, in retrospect, fiction becomes truth. Time has played its trick on the film, but the film is falling back to play its trick on time in self-defense.

Awards
Critics Award (Polish FF, 1981).

Production Company
Syrena Film Unit

Skolimowski, Jerzy

Jerzy Skolimowski (born 1938, Lodz, Poland)
Director, scriptwriter, actor, poet and painter. He graduated in ethnography from Warsaw University in 1959 and attended the prestigious Polish Film School in Lodz. Skolimowski has directed more than 20 films in and outside of Poland. At college, he took up boxing, which was the subject of a feature-length documentary, his first film, shot in 1961. By his early 20’s, Skolimowski had published several books of poems, short stories and a play. This led to his writing the screenplay and playing a boxer in Andrzej Wajda’s film The Innocent Sorcerers. He subsequently teamed up with Roman Polanski, writing the script of Knife in the Water in 1962. Between 1964 and 1984, he completed several semi-autobiographical features. While living and working in many countries, he also completed six big budget productions including four international co-productions between 1970 and 1992: The Adventures of Gerard, King, Queen, Knave, The Shout, The Lightship, Torrents of Spring and Ferdydurke, all distinctly bearing Skolimowski’s signature. His first US production, The Lightship, starring Robert Duvall, won Best Director Award at the Venice IFF. His next project, Torrents of Spring, starred Timothy Hutton, Nastassja Kinski and Valeria Golino. Two of his films won awards in Cannes IFF: Grand Prix du Jury for The Shout and Silver Palm for Moonlighting. He also won the Golden Bear in Berlin for Le Depart. His last film, Four Nights with Anna premiered in Cannes, and received Grand Jury Prize at the Tokyo IFF in 2008. Skolimowski’s portrayal of a ruthless yet composed KGB colonel in White Nights, established his credentials as an actor. His acting credits are L.A., Without a Map, Mars Attacks!, Torrents of Spring, and Big Shots among others. His paintings were exhibited all around Europe and in the United States. He took part in the Venice Biennale, and his work was acquired by Contemporary Art Museums in Poland and Greece, as well as private collectors in the US, UK, France, Italy, Germany, and other countries. Skolimowski currently resides in Malibu, California and Warsaw, Poland.

Filmography
Oko wykol/The Menacing Eye (1960, short), Hamles/Little Hamlet (1960, short), Eroty/Erotique (1960, short), Boks/Boxing (1961), Pienadze albo zycie/Money or Life (1961, short), The Nude (1962), Rysopis/Identificqtion Marks: None (1964), Walkower/Walkover (1965), Bariera/Barrier (1966), Rece do gory/Hands Up! (1966), Le depart (1966), Deep End (1970), The Adventures of Gerard (1970), King, Queen, Knave (1972), The Shout (1978), Moonlighting (1982), Dialog 20-40-60 (segment The Twenty-Year-Olds, 1968), Succes Is the Best Revenge (1984), The Lightship (1985), Torrents of Spring (1989), Ferdydurke/Thirty Door Key (199!), The Hollow Man (1993), Cztery noce z Anna/Four Nights with Anna (2008).

Screenings

July 17 15:00Moscow Cinema, Red Hall
July 19 16:00Nairi Cinema
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