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Holland wins Golden Lions at Poland's Gdynia Film Festival

22.09.2019 07:30
Director Agnieszka Holland’s film Mr. Jones won the top award at the 44th Gdynia Film Festival on Saturday night.
Polands Agnieszka Holland with the prize.
Poland's Agnieszka Holland with the prize.PAP/Adam Warżawa

Mr. Jones tells the life story of a Welsh journalist Gareth Jones, who reported on the Great Famine in Soviet Ukraine which killed millions in 1932 and 1933.

Gareth Jones was murdered in 1935 in mysterious circumstances amid suspicions that his death had been engineered by the Soviet NKVD secret police.

In the film, Jones is portrayed by English actor James Norton, while Vanessa Kirby plays Ada Brooks, a New York Times reporter who helps the hero uncover the Soviet government’s genocidal policies.

Jan Komasa’s drama Corpus Christi, which was last week picked as Poland’s entry for Best International Feature Film at next year’s Oscars, won the festival’s Audience Award.

The annual Polish Film Festival, first held in 1974, is one of the oldest film festivals in Europe.

The festival provides Poland's most prestigious showcase of new home-grown movies, and 19 films competed in the main competition this year.

(jh)

Source: PAP/IAR