|0| (English version)
A businessman hurrying to work bumps into someone and pauses for a instant. This is a film about a modern-day Prometheus who offers a man caught up in the rat-race a moment to reflect on things we often forget in our daily hustle and bustle. |0| (the absolute value of zero) is a film which touches on themes of karma, family and solitude. Walking the line between fiction and documentary, it questions the roles of family and the individual in the contemporary world.
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Lukasz WozniakowskiDirector
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Lukasz WozniakowskiWriter
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Paulina BlachowiczWriter
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Lukasz WozniakowskiProducer
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Maciej KwiatkowskiKey CastWitcher series, Crysis 3, Quantum Break (motion capture)
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Michal WojciulaKey CastBrilliance, Thanatos, Saved by the Bell
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Marianne DawidKey Cast
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Jarosław GrabowskiKey Cast
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Mateusz TomaszewskiKey CastMOJE MIEJSCE WE ŚNIE, BODO, POLICJANTKI I POLICJANCI, PREZYDENT
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Maciej WoźniakowskiKey Cast
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EGOR EFIMOVPhotographyPRZYPAŁ, RÓWNANIE, WSTRIECZA
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ARTUR WOŹNIAKOWSKIPhotography
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SIARHEI MARCHYKPhotographyKUREWSKA HISTORIA
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last chance bandMusicIKONA NA DROGĘ
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KRZYSZTOF LOTTIGMusic
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MATEUSZ TOMASZEWSKIProduction managementMOJE MIEJSCE WE ŚNIE, BODO, POLICJANTKI I POLICJANCI, PREZYDENT
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KAROL GODLEWSKIProduction management
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ŁUKASZ WOŹNIAKOWSKIEditing
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MIKOŁAJ BIBAŃSKIEditing
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DOROTA CHAJDACKACostumes and makeupPLAY, SMUTNE POTWORY, SIEDEM GRZECHÓW POPCOOLTURY, FRAGMENTY
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RAFAŁ KŁOSIEWICZSound recordingMORGENROT, GŁODNY KOŃ, CHORY PIES, BITE DZIECKO, SŁOWIK
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KRZYSZTOF FISZERSound recordingGŁÓD
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JAKUB WOŹNIAKOWSKISound recordingWeiser
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ŁUKASZ WOŹNIAKOWSKISound recording
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ŁUKASZ WOŹŃIAKOWSKISound
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PIOTR KOZŁOWSKISoundIKONA NA DROGĘ
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JAKUB WOŹNIAKOWSKISoundWeiser
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RAFAŁ KŁOSIEWICZSound editingMORGENROT, GŁODNY KOŃ, CHORY PIES, BITE DZIECKO, SŁOWIK
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EGOR EFIMOVColour correctionPRZYPAŁ, RÓWNANIE, WSTRIECZA
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MATEUSZ TOMASZEWSKIGraphicsMOJE MIEJSCE WE ŚNIE, BODO, POLICJANTKI I POLICJANCI, PREZYDENT
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LUKASZ WOZNIAKOWSKIGraphics
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PIOTR JABŁONSKIStills
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PAWEŁ BALAData transfer
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MARK BENCEEnglish subtitles
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Project Type:Experimental
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Genres:Thriller, Crime, Drama, Fantasy
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Runtime:9 minutes 7 seconds
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Completion Date:May 29, 2017
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Production Budget:400 USD
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Country of Origin:Poland
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Country of Filming:Poland
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Language:Polish
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:2.11:1
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
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Caribbean Film Festival and MarketFreeport
Bahamas
Semi-finalist -
FERFILM FESTIVALFerizaj
Kosovo
September 4, 2017
European premiere -
AFC Global FestKolkata
India
November 10, 2017
Asian premiere -
International Short Film Festival Kalmthout BelgiumKalmthout
Belgium
September 18, 2017 -
BEST SHORT FESTOntario
Canada
September 16, 2017 -
CON-TEMPORARY Art ObservatoriumVenice
Italy
July 16, 2017 -
Fake Flesh Film FestKamloops
Canada
October 27, 2017
North American Premiere
Łukasz Woźniakowski was born in Warsaw in 1985. Graduated from Leopold Lis-Kula Secondary School No.13 in Warsaw. Studied editing at the Miroslav Ondříček Film Academy in Písek. Has worked for BelSat TV for seven years. Loves the guitar, leads the band Jeźdźcy Ekstazy, and is a member of Last Chance Band. |0| is his debut film.
Being constantly at a disadvantage as compared to Buñuel and Has, I have tried to come slightly closer to the style of the Polish film school.
My film |0| tells of a broken home, represented by a man subconsciously driven to photosynthesise, like a protozoan. Is my protagonist chasing the white rabbit purely in the pursuit of money and sex?
After watching Umberto D and Pusher, I realised that what I see every day is the best atmosphere for a film. I also understood the brilliance of Wajda’s Kanal, and that having access to light is the most important thing in life.
The screenplay for |0| was influenced by Kurosawa’s Yojimbo and Leone’s A Fistful Of Dollars. I wanted to show a man struggling with loneliness in a noir Western style; a clash between ambiguous good and evil in a sad, decaying world.
My choice to shoot the majority of the film in an extremely crowded place was rather risky. On the one hand, filming a man in a crowd certainly makes for more appealing shots and exposes the audience’s atavisms. On the other hand, there is also the danger that people will constantly stare at the camera. But things worked out just as I thought they would: in the 21st century, people have grown so accustomed to being spied on that they no longer notice cameras, or even subconsciously avoid them.
The title – |0| – is round, resembling both the place where the action is set and the head of the businessman in the film.
Thanks to framing, we managed to squeeze surrealism and romantic symbolism out of totally genuine locations, but it was mostly thanks to editing two seemingly incompatible stories together with outstanding music.
Commenting on the literary work quoted in the film is pointless. You must simply feel for yourself the magic that flows from the text read out by the narrator.
Turn out the lights and switch on the sun!