Movie reviews

COLD WAR

3 Oscar nominations: Foreign Language Film, Directing and Cinematography. Right after the announcement the makers were so bewildered they weren't sure who other nominees were. Enquired who they saw as their main competitor, they pointed at "Roma" - apparently according to rankings they go head-to-head. But, as the producer, Ewa Puszczyńska, noticed, Oscars are full of surprises and e.g. the German candidate was nominated only having joined the race recently. I also asked Łukasz Żal, the Director of Photography to compare the two. He and others must have got americanised since when I said that because of B&W pictures, "Cold War" is often compared to "Roma", they corrected me that "Roma" was compared to "Cold War". Anyhow, "Roma" uses long, widesweeping shots while "Cold War" applies a variety of techniques and a lot of cropped images. They also commented that, just like last year, there's going to be a Polish-Mexican war. For Łukasz Żal it's his second Oscar nomination. I personally hope for him to win since I didn't see better cinematography in a movie in 2018. An Oscar veteran and Academician is Waldemar Pokromski who was responsible for make-up. He's got several years of Oscar movies experience. The lead actress, Joanna Kulig, was not nominated but is already waiting in LA for the rest of the crew to join her at the ceremony. Apparently EFA and BAFTA form part of the Oscar promotional campaign. Academy members are scattered all over the world and all have the right to vote. Currently lots of Q&As are held, functions attended - to recommend face to face, interviews given, articles published. There's been plenty of US media coverage. They're trying to reach as many members as possible and persuade them to see the film. Whoever has seen, loves it.