War movie Manhunt triumphs at Polish Academy Awards

Manhunt director Marcin Krzysztalowicz: photo - PAP/Jakub Kaminski

“I didn't expect this result,” said director Marcin Krzysztalowicz on collecting his award at Warsaw's National Theatre last night, as quoted by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

Manhunt (Oblawa) follows the story of a corporal in the Polish underground whose task is to execute traitors who have collaborated with the Nazi German occupiers.

Emerging from his lair in the forest, the corporal carries out his duties with no compunction, until a figure from his past emerges as a target.

The director's own father was a member of the underground and spent much of the war in the forests, but Krzysztalowicz insists that his film is essentially a fictional work.

Manhunt also picked up awards for Best Cinematography, Best Costumes and Best Sound.

Meanwhile, Roman Polanski won the Eagle for Best Director for Carnage, a black comedy about bourgeois hypocrisies, adapted from the play God of Carnage.

The award for Best Actor went to Maciej Stuhr for his role in Aftermath (Poklosie), a movie set in the present that grapples with the sensitive issue of Polish complicity in the Holocaust. Stuhr plays a young man in conflict with the inhabitants of his village, and a dark wartime secret is gradually unravelled. The actor had endured criticism from nationalists for taking on the role.

The Eagle for Best Actress went to Agnieszka Grochowska for her part in Shameless (Bez Wstydu), a film that broached the taboo subject of incest, in this instance concerning a brother and sister.

The honorary Eagle for Lifetime Achievement was awarded to celebrated actress Danuta Szaflarska. The actress celebrated her 98th birthday last month. A long established figure in Poland, she won international acclaim in 2005 for her role A Time To Die (Pora Umierac), a touching film about an ageing lady who is battling to cling on to her family's pre-war villa. (nh/pg)