IDA, Thursday, April 24 at 7:30pm; Part of the GCIFF Furman Film Series at Bow Tie Squire Cinemas, Middle Neck Rd in Great Neck
(GREAT NECK, NY) From acclaimed director Pawel Pawlikowski (Last Resort, My Summer of Love) comes “Ida,” a moving and intimate drama about a young novitiate nun in 1960s Poland who, on the verge of taking her vows, discovers a dark family secret dating from the terrible years of the Nazi occupation.
18-year old Anna (stunning newcomer Agata Trzebuchowska), a sheltered orphan raised in a convent, is preparing to become a nun when the Mother Superior insists she first visit her sole living relative. Naïve, innocent Anna soon finds herself in the presence of her aunt Wanda (Agata Kulesza), a worldly and cynical Communist Party insider, who shocks her with the declaration that her real name is Ida and her Jewish parents were murdered during the Nazi occupation. This revelation triggers a heart-wrenching journey into the countryside, to the family house and into the secrets of the repressed past, evoking the haunting legacy of the Holocaust and the realities of postwar Communism.
In this beautifully directed film, Pawlikowski returns to his native Poland for the first time in his career to confront some of the more contentious issues in the history of his birthplace. Powerfully written and eloquently shot, IDA is a masterly evocation of a time, a dilemma, and a defining historical moment; IDA is also personal, intimate, and human.
(in Polish with English subtitles)
Winner, International Critics Award – Toronto International Film Festival 2013
Winner, Best Film – London Film Festival 2013
“It haunted me. I can’t wait to see it again.” – A.O. Scott, The New York Times
“Absolutely stunning, one of the year’s best films” – Oliver Lyttleton, The Playlist
Tickets $15 in advance ($10 for students); $20 at the door
Visit www.goldcoastfilmfestival.org or call 516-829-2570
