POLISH FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

UTRATA RÓWNOWAGI

2024 / 98 min / color

Maja (Nel Kaczmarek, in a moving performance) has devoted her life to acting, but she doesn’t believe in herself and her potential. She’s convinced that she’ll end up being the kind of student that can’t get an acting job after theater school. She’s already in that situation to some extent, waitressing in a bar part-time. Her negative thoughts lead her to think about applying for a much “safer” degree program after finishing her acting program — marketing and management. All that changes when she meets the charismatic new director (Tomasz Schuchardt) who will guide her group of students through graduation. When he offers Maja a leading role as Lady Macbeth, he restores her love for acting and her belief in her own talent, but it quickly becomes clear that things aren’t as simple as they seem. Maja is increasingly torn between preparing for her important role and trying to expose the truth about the controversial director. Korek Bojanowski’s first film deals with a problem that has long been taboo to speak about openly: psychological violence and the bullying of young actors in theater and film schools. It tackles the issue in a powerful and uncompromising yet principled way.

A Q&A session with the filmmakers will take place during the film screening on May 2 at 3:00 PM at the Małopolska Garden of Arts – Mastercard Birthday Cinema.
Please note: the Q&A will be in Polish.

• Gdynia PFF – Jury Special Mention (Nel Kaczmarek), Special Mention for Directing Debut or Second Film (Korek Bojanowski), Don Quixote – Polish Film Clubs Federation Award, Radio Gdańsk “Golden Claqueur” Award