Despite Pandemic’s Setbacks, Polish Filmmakers Forge Ahead With Busy 2021 Slate

The coronavirus pandemic couldn’t have arrived at a worse time for Leszek Bodzak, the producer behind Jan Komasa’s Oscar-nominated “Corpus Christi.” With just five days to spare before principal photography was set to begin on “Leave No Traces,” the latest feature from acclaimed director Jan P. Matuszyński (“The Last Family”), Bodzak was forced to postpone the shoot.

Yet in the four months of hand-wringing before cameras finally began to roll last July, Bodzak’s French co-producer, Les Contes Modernes, was able to secure additional financing from Arte and regional French funds, giving the film’s budget a much-needed boost. “That was something unexpectedly good from the pandemic,” says Bodzak, whose Aurum Film is also prepping Komasa’s next project, “Shine of the Sun.”

That strange twist of fate is perhaps emblematic of these uncertain times for the Polish industry, in which producers determined to soldier through the pandemic are looking for any signs of a silver lining. Though cinema closures and production shutdowns have battered the booming biz, a raft of high-profile titles are nevertheless slated to hit the market this year, even as questions loom over how, when, and where those films will ultimately be released. “Our world is going upside-down,” says Oscar-winning producer Ewa Puszczyńska (“Ida”).

Puszczyńska is wrapping post-production on “Fools,” the long-awaited feature from arthouse darling Tomasz Wasilewski (“United States of Love”), which has been hit by numerous delays brought on by the pandemic. “Due to lockdowns, and the impossibility of traveling, and sitting next to the other creators to work together…it took us much, much longer to get to closure,” she says, citing the difficulty of working remotely with post-production partners in Romania and Germany.

A strain of pragmatism nevertheless reigns throughout the Polish industry. After wrapping production during the pandemic, debut director Aleksandra Terpinska’s urban musical set in modern-day Warsaw, “Other People” (pictured), is currently in post. Pic is produced by Klaudia Śmieja (“Mr. Jones”) and Beata Rzezniczek for Madants, with New Europe Films Sales handling sales during EFM. Another buzz title to wrap production during the pandemic is “Lipstick on the Glass,” the English-language debut of acclaimed Polish director Kuba Czekaj (“Baby Bump”).

“It was quite hard for us,” says producer Pawel Kosun, of Centrala Film, citing the logistical challenges of working with an international cast at a time when global travel has been curtailed. In the case of American actor Bobbi Salvör Menuez (“Euphoria”), who was meant to travel to Poland for one shooting day, they stayed on for an additional four weeks—something Kosun saw as a necessary precaution. “We didn’t know how the situation would develop,” he says. “There was a lot of uncertainty—during the shooting, after the shooting.”