The first trailer has been unveiled for “Walls” (“Mur”), actor-turned-filmmaker Kasia Smutniak‘s directorial debut that will world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
In 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, leading to a mass exodus of refugees seeking asylum across Europe. Among the European countries offering aid and refuge, Poland was particularly generous but the country had also simultaneously commenced the construction of Europe’s most expensive wall along its entire border with Belarus to deter further refugees from entering.
A strip of land known as the red zone running parallel to the Belarusian border prevents anyone from approaching and seeing the construction of the wall. Smutniak undertakes an uncertain and risky journey into the red zone, where access is not allowed to the media, with the help of local activists and minimal technical equipment. The director’s journey begins and ends with two walls.
The first wall rejects migrants arriving from distant lands through Puszcza Białowieża, the oldest forest in Europe, an impenetrable border in a sea of trees. The second, the one in front of the window of her grandparents’ house in Łódź, where the director used to play as a child, is the wall of the Jewish cemetery in the Litzmannstadt ghetto.
Smutniak has acted in more than 40 films and TV shows. In 2008 she won the Italian Golden Globe for best breakthrough actress and nominated as for the film “In Your Hands” (2007) by Peter Del Monte. Her credits also include “Quiet Chaos” (2008) by Antonello Grimaldi, “The Passion” (2010) by Carlo Mazzacurati, “From Paris with Love” (2010) by Pierre Morel and “Wondrous Boccaccio” (2015) by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani. Her TV work includes Sky series “Devils” (2020) and the lead role of Livia Drusilla in the Sky series “Domina.”
In 2014 Smutniak won Italy’s Silver Ribbon for best leading actress for Ferzan Özpetek’s “Fasten Your Seatbelts” and in 2018 won it again in the supporting actress category for “Loro 1” and “Loro 2” by Paolo Sorrentino.
“Walls” is written by Smutniak and Marella Bombini and produced by Domenico Procacci, Laura Paolucci and Smutniak. The film is a Fandango production in association with Luce Cinecittà, who will also distribute, with the contribution of Italy’s Ministero Della Cultura – Direzione Generale Cinema e Audiovisivo. Fandango Sales is handling international sales.
Watch the trailer here:
