With her debut as a director and screenwriter, Smoczyńska won the audience over in no time, but also irritated and overwhelmed them. The wild genre crossover of musical, romantic comedy, modern fairy tale, nostalgic trip, trash and horror allows for many possible interpretations – from a social study of the late People's Republic shortly before its downfall to an allegory of the unbridled feminine to an alternative history of the Warsaw heraldic figure, the armed mermaid.
Text: Rainer Mende
Robert Bolesto
Jakub Kijowski
Barbara Wrońskie, Zuzanna Wrońskie
Marta Mazurek,
Michalina Olszańska,
Kinga Preis
Agnieszka Smoczyńska - Agnieszka Smoczyńska is a graduate of the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School in Katowice, Poland and has also participated in master classes at the Wajda Film School. She received a scholarship from The Minister of Cultureand National Heritage for outstanding artistic achievement, the “My Talent for Poland” prize and the Golden Pen,awarded by the President of Poland. In 2015 her first feature film The Lure experimented with the musical and horror genres and was recognized as the best debut at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia. Smoczyńska was hailedas the “Discovery of the year” at the Polish Film Awards. The Lure has received numerous awards at festivals worldwide, including Fantasporto, Sofia, Montreal, Vilniusand the Sundance Film Festival, where she received the Special Jury Prize for “a unique vision and design”, and subsequently released in countries such as the US, Japan and Taiwan (including a Criterion Collection Blu-ray release). In 2017, Smoczyńska was invited by the Sydney FilmFestival, Variety and European Film Promotion to participatein the “European Cinema: Ten Women Filmmakers to Watch“program. She is a recipient of the Global Filmmaking Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.