At the 38th Gdynia Film Festival, “Ida” also won prizes for: the cinematography by Łukasz Żal and Ryszard Lenczewski, best supporting actress for Agata Kulesza’s performance and set design by Katarzyna Sobańska and Marcel Sławiński.
A monochrome “Ida”, Pawlikowski sets in sixties Poland. It is a film about two women who can either be trapped by their past or break free from it. It is about identity, loss and survival.
A novitiate nun, about to take her vows in the Catholic Church, is told by her Mother Superior that she will be accepted into the church after she has visited her aunt. The young and prim Anna soon finds herself in the presence of the middle-aged Wanda, her mother’s sister, a raven-haired sensualist. It is here that her past — and her real name, Ida — is revealed to her for the first time. This triggers a remarkable journey into the countryside, to the family house, and to secrets that Pawlikowski ruthlessly exposes.
The Silver Lion of the 38th Gdynia Film Festival went to Malgorzata Szumowska’s gay-themed Berlinale entry “In the Name of…” and Kasia Roslaniec’s youth comedy “Baby Blues”.
“Baby Blues” also won a special jury prize, as did Slawomir Fabicki’s film “Loving”, which had previously been nominated for the Grand Prix at the 2012 Warsaw Film Festival and picked up the best film award at the Vilnius Film Festival.
Photo © Agata Kulesza and Agata Trzebuchowska in „Ida” /press release
Source: 38. Gdynia- Film Festival and Toronto International Fim Festival