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CORPUS CHRISTI
Boże Ciało
CORPUS CHRISTI
drama I 2019 I Poland
THURSDAY 8/10/2020 7:15pm
TUESDAY 13/10/2020 7:15pm
Original Title: Boże Ciało
Duration: 116 min
Language: Polish with English subtitles
Director: Jan Komasa
Writer: Mateusz Pacewicz
Cast: Bartosz Bielenia, Eliza Rycembel, Aleksandra
Konieczna, Tomasz Ziętek, Leszek Lichota,
Flawless. Suspenseful. One-of-a-kind. Provocative. Absorbing. Powerful. See for yourself what the buzz is all about. Join us for a glass of wine and the Sydney special festival pre-opening screenings of Poland’s highly anticipated Oscar nomination to whet your appetite before the 2020 Polish Film Festival Sydney arrives at Palace Norton Street late October.
Multi award winning Oscar nominee for 2020 Best International Film CORPUS CHRISTI is a remarkable tale of a charismatic young ex-convict falsely posing as a priest.
After serving time at a youth detention centre, 20 year old Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia) is sent to a small town to take up a position in a woodworking factory. Over the course of his incarceration Daniel has contemplated becoming a priest, but due to his criminal record no seminary will accept him. When he arrives in the town he is mistaken for the parish’s new clergyman and seizes the opportunity for spiritual transformation. Though he has no previous training, Daniel embraces the role and helps to heal the close-knit community shattered by a recent tragedy. His unconventional sermons and charisma attract many supporters but not everyone is open to his approach. Daniel learns the hard way that following the road to salvation can also lead one astray…
Inspired by true events, the powerful CORPUS CHRISTI is the third feature by director Jan Komasa and Poland’s second consecutive Academy Award Best International Feature nominee after last year’s COLD WAR by Paweł Pawlikowski.
Widely hailed by critics and audiences as the standout discovery of 2019 Venice and Toronto Film Festivals, CORPUS CHRISTI became a box office sensation in Poland, overtaking COLD WAR by achieving over 1.35 million admissions and receiving 36 awards on the festival circuit.
Astutely navigating themes of faith, virtue and forgiveness, Komasa’s disciplined and unflinching direction is exponentially enhanced by the simply jawdropping lead performance from young Bielenia.
"A knockout. Expertly written, tautly directed and filled with twists and surprises, “Corpus Christi” is riveting right up to its closing frame. The thrilling narrative power of complex moral decisions is simply not to be denied.” — Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times
"A Powerful… flawless storytelling, effortlessly played.”— Kevin Maher, The Times
The film is an important one, but above all, it is an exceptionally pleasing and easy one to watch despite its density. This is partly due to Bartosz’s fantastic performance showing great acting range by going through a whole spectrum of emotions very convincingly and subtly. — Hanna B., Film Treat
JAN KOMASA
Born in 1981 well-known and respected Polish director of the young generation, winner of numerous film awards, including awards at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Komasa graduated from the Film and TV Directing Department of the National Film School in Lódź and the Faculty of Philosophy at Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw; In 2005 directed one of the three parts of ODE DE TO JOY. In 2008 made, WROCŁAW GOLGOTHA, a 90-minute play for the Television Theatre of Fact. His feature film debut, entitled, SUICIDE ROOM was showered with awards from all over the world and constituted a breakthrough in his career.
AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
WINNER (x11) – Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography & Audience Prize Polish Academy Awards 2020
WINNER – Best Actor, Palm Springs Film Festival I 2020
WINNER – Europa Cinemas Award, Venice International Film Festival 2019
WINNER – Best Actor, Chicago Film Festival I 2019
NOMINATED: Best Intl. Feature, Academy Award l I 2020