12-09-2011

PRODUCTION: Irish-Polish Sanctuary Wraps Shoot

By Katarzyna Grynienko

    WARSAW: Irish director Norah McGettingan completed filming her debut drama Sanctuary on 10 September 2011. The Irish/Polish coproduction was shot both in Poland and Ireland.

    Sanctuary is a drama about the changing relationship between a father and daughter mourning the loss of their wife and mother. When Jan finds his wife dead in their apartment after 30 years of a happy marriage, he decides to leave Poland to seek change and sanctuary in Ireland. His daughter Nadia follows him there, but her father might not be ready to come back. The lead roles are played by Jan Frycz, an accomplished Polish theater and film actor, Agnieszka Żulewska and Anne-Marie Duff.

    The film is an international co-production between the Poland's Wajda Studio and an Irish production company Venom. The film received financial support from the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl) and the Irish Film Board (www.irishfilmboard.ie).

    Sanctuary is the first production of the newly established Wajda Studio (wajdaschool.pl), a company created by Andrzej Wajda and his Master School Of Film Directing with the goal to seek out and support interesting new filmmakers with their feature debuts. The film is a debut for the Irish director Nora Mc Gettigan, who is already internationally recognized for her short features A Song For Rebbeca (2005), which qualified for Cannes selection in 2005, and What It's Like Be My Mother (2008), a co-production between Wajda's School and TVP (www.tvp.pl) with a cast of Polish actors including Jan Frycz.

    The producer informed FNE that the distributor of Sanctuary is Best Film (www.bestfilm.pl) and the premiere is planned for autumn of 2012.



    Cast:

    Jan Frycz
    Agnieszka Żulewska
    Anna-Marie Duff
    and others

    Crew:

    Director - Norah McGettingan
    Screenwriter - Norah McGettingan
    Script co-operation - Gabriel Vargas Vasquez
    Cinematographer - Marius Matzow Gulbransden
    Producer - Adrew Freeman, Katarzyna Ślesicka
    Production - Wajda Studio, Venom
    Co-financing - Polish Film Institute, Irish Film Board
    Distributor - Best Film


    Production contact:

    Wajda Studio & Film School
    Chełmska 21; 00-724 Warsaw
    tel./fax + (48 22) 851 10 56, 851 10 57, 851 10 67
    e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    www.wajdaschool.pl