At the closing ceremony of the 66th Berlin International Film Festival, Tomasz Wasilewski - writer and director of Zjednoczone Stany Miłości (United States of Love) - received the Silver Bear Award for Best Screenplay.
Jury members Meryl Streep (president of the jury), Małgorzata Szumowska, Clive Owen, Alba Rohrwacher, Brigitte Lacombe, Nick James and Lars Eidinger awarded the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay to Poland's competition entry. The Golden Bear for Best Film of the 66th Berlinale went to Fuocoammare by Gianfranco Rosi.
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay "I am at a loss for words. If I could describe it, I certainly would. I'd like to thank the Berlinale — it is an honour to be here tonight. I'd like to thank the Jury for noticing us. And I'd like to thank the audience for this incredible experience; our premiere was only last night and we'll never forget that evening. I want to thank my entire crew, my actors, our sales agent, and everyone who has supported me. It is amazing. I wrote in order to be able to direct. Now I must do it more often. Thank you!" said Tomasz Wasilewski as he accepted the award.
Zjednoczone Stany Miłości (United States of Love) features performances by Julia Kijowska, Magdalena Cielecka, Dorota Kolak, Marta Nieradkiewicz, Tomasz Tyndyk, Andrzej Chyra, and Łukasz Simlat.
Tomasz Wasilewski's latest film is a Polish-Swedish co-production lensed by Oleg Mutu (cinematographer on Cristian Mungiu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, winner of the Palme d'Or in Cannes, and Sergey Loznitsak's In the Fog). Zjednoczone Stany Miłości (United States of Love) was produced by Mañana and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. In 2014, the project had been presented at the CineMart Co-Production Market of the 43rd Rotterdam International Film Festival. World sales are handled by New Europe Film Sales.
At the press conference before the film's world premiere screening, director Tomasz Wasilewski said: "My film is set in early 1990 and all the women in the film, as well as the men, are at a turning point in their lives." He said that the emotions shown in is movie are universal and not tied only to the period of transformation in Poland. "I love characters who are broken, who need to fight, search, who are standing at the edge of a cliff. It is the audience who decides whether they're going to jump, or whether we'll pull them back inside," said Wasilewski.
Further details about the awards of the 66th Berlin IFF are available at www.berlinale.de.
Source: Polish Film Institute website
Translated by Karolina Kołtun
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