"An act of insubordination that was recognized as a work of art. I didn't want to go to the other side of the camera but I found myself wanting to do something at all costs": this is how Mur, the documentary film tells the story of the border situation between Poland and Belarus with the impact of refugees, Kasia Smutniak has made a truly remarkable directorial debut.
The film, premiered at the Rome Film Festival 2023, was awarded the Nastro d'argento for cinema del real.
"What happened at the border changed my life, my priorities as an actress: I have been telling stories for 20 years, they are my sweat and my blood, but the story that surrounded me was so much more interesting" continued the born actress in Poland right in a border area.
"I'm not a political activist but I had to do something. And I made up my mind: I called my agent and said that I was retiring and started a trip to those areas, telling the co-author Marella Bombini, the co-producer - with Smutniak's husband Domenico Procacci from Fandango, ed. - Laura Paolucci that we would have gone to a dangerous, militarized area and perhaps we would have been arrested. And they came with me".
Mur, a Fandango production in association with Luce Cinecittà, is still all-encompassing for Smutniak's life, which is accompanying him to various festivals and also to Poland.
With this experience she moves forward, and she prepares another film, not yet announced.
The Ribbons ceremony in Rome was a moment, a bit like what always happens at awards ceremonies, to thank people.
In front of her son Leone (the second child after Sophie with Pietro Taricone) she turned to "Dom" Procacci: "Not only did you not stop me when I decided to do this, but you understood that I had to follow this voice and you were close to me and I would like to thank you here in front of all the people for once."
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