The film tells the story of a Ukrainian family of four spending their vacations on the Spanish island of Tenerife. Their carefree holiday is cut short by the Russian invasion on their homeland. Overnight, they become refugees.
A verdict by the Polish Oscar selection committee stresses that in Under the Volcano "a private drama becomes a universal portrayal of the people who, against their will, are entangled into big politics."
The verdict adds that the film, which touches upon the most difficult problems of our time, those of war and migration, "leaves viewers with the feeling that we can all find ourselves under a waking volcano."
Chaired by Oscar-winning film director Paweł Pawlikowski (Ida), the selection committee included cinematographer Sławomir Idziak, actress Krystyna Janda, actor Tomasz Ziętek, film scholar and historian Tomasz Kolankiewicz, Millennium Docs Against Gravity Festival organizer Artur Liebhart, Polish pianist and jazz musician Marcin Masecki, and film critic and presenter Grażyna Torbicka.
Under the Volcano had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8. Next week, it will open the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia.
Damian Kocur, 41, is a graduate of the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School in Katowice, southern Poland. In 2022, his debut feature Bread and Salt received the Special Jury Prize in the Orizzonti (Horizons) category at the 79th International Film Festival in Venice.
Source: IAR/PAP/YouTube/@SalaudMorisset/X/@polskieradiopl/@MiastoGdynia/@Klassiki_Online
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