Piotr Domalewski’s directorial debut Cicha noc (Silent Night) is one of the four films and the only feature to receive co-financing from the Marshal of the Warmia and Mazury Province, Gustaw Marek Brzezin, as part of the 1st Film Competition for film production grants, held by the newly (2017) established Warmia and Mazury Film Fund.
The film tells the story of a family Christmas Eve in a Warmian village – however, with the movie’s universal appeal, the plot could just as well be transposed to any Polish region. The main character, the 27-year-old Adam (Dawid Ogrodnik – awarded ‘best male performance’ at the Gdynia Festival) finds out that he is going to be a father. After hearing the news, he decides to change his life. This leads him to leave the Netherlands and return to his family home in order to raise money for starting his own business abroad.
The entire film was shot in Warmia, including studio and location shooting. The crew worked at a breakneck pace, as the entire shoot took less than 30 days (February-April 2017). The film was produced by the Andrzeja Munk Studio , known for producing unique and valuable projects of young filmmakers, which ensures proper artistic and production support. The artistic supervision for CICHA NOC (Silent Night) was provided by Jerzy Kapuściński, the Studio’s art director and one of the co-creators of Pokolenie 2000 (Generation 2000), a television series that showcased film debuts.
“Cicha noc” (Silent Night) was invited to the Berlin Film Festival, though not to compete, as only films that have yet to be shown and awarded can enter the competition.
Photos: Robert Jaworski
