“Woman Of”, directed by Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert, had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, where it screened in the Main Competition. Screen International wrote at the time: “A bold, ambitious chapter in the work of an unpredictable directing duo”. It is the story of a transgender woman, starring Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik, Joanna Kulig, Mateusz Więcławek and Bogumiła Bajor. We present new stills from the film, which opens in Polish cinemas on 5 April.

“Woman Of” is the story of Aniela Wesoły. She led an ordinary life – growing up in a small town, work, love, marriage, family. Yet she could never fully be herself – Aniela was born in a male body. What choices will she make? Will she be ready to sacrifice everything to be able to live a normal life, free of fear?

The story of her journey to gender transition is an inspiring, difficult and at the same time tender tale about fighting for oneself, the hardships of parenthood, complicated relationships with family and community – but also about the beauty of true closeness.

Alongside Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik, Joanna Kulig, Mateusz Więcławek and Bogumiła Bajor, the film also features, among others, Jerzy Bończak, Anna Tomaszewska, Jacek Braciak, Renata Dancewicz, Wojciech Mecwaldowski, Marta Nieradkiewicz and Tomasz Schuchardt.

Many transgender people appeared on the set of “Woman Of”, playing both trans and cisgender characters. On screen we will see, among others, Anna Grodzka (the first transgender member of parliament in Europe), Edyta Baker, activist Zenobia Żaczek, Filipka Rutkowska, as well as Angela Getler and Anu Czerwiński, who also served as assistant directors. The wider production team included many people from the LGBTQ+ community, including consultants, assistants and crew members.

– “Woman Of” is a very important film for us, the result of many years of work and countless meetings with transgender people – people of different ages who have lived in Poland for many years. They trusted us and shared their stories with us, and it is thanks to their help that we created this tale of Aniela and Iza. Aniela, who lived as a man in a provincial town for almost half her life, making her arduous journey towards freedom, struck us as symbolic, becoming a metaphor for the changes taking place in Poland – say Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert.

– We hope that our film will not only help people understand what it means to be transgender, but will also give courage to the hundreds of young people who identify as trans yet are afraid to speak about it publicly. Above all, we hope it will strengthen support for changes in the law that will guarantee them a life free from danger – they add.

“Woman Of” will be released in cinemas across Europe – the film has been sold to Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, the Benelux countries, Israel, Switzerland, Sweden, Greece, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The international sales agent, Memento International, is in talks in the United Kingdom and North America.

The film had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival (Main Competition), and was subsequently presented at festivals including Busan IFF (South Korea), Sao Paolo IFF (Brazil), Thessaloniki FF (Greece), Scanorama (Lithuania), QCinema FF (Philippines), Goa FF (India), Tbilisi IFF (Georgia), Les Arcs (France) and Göteborg.

WOMAN OF

Genre: drama

Country: Poland, Sweden

Language: Polish

Year: 2023

 

CAST:

Aniela – Małgorzata Hajewska

Iza – Joanna Kulig

Young Aniela – Mateusz Więcławek

Young Iza – Bogumiła Bajor

and: Jerzy Bończak, Anna Tomaszewska, Jacek Braciak, Franciszek Englert, Renata Dancewicz, Wojciech Mecwaldowski, Marta Nieradkiewicz, Piotr Bondyra, Pola Gonciarz, Mikołąj Chroboczek, Tomasz Schuchardt, Mikołaj Grabowski, Helena Sujecka, Krystyna Krotoska, Piotr Polak, Mirosław Kropielnicki, Paweł Tomaszewski and Piotr Cyrwus.

 

CREW:

Directed by: Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert

Screenplay: Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert

Cinematography: Michał Englert

Editing: Jarosław Kamiński

Production design: Marek Zawierucha

Costumes: Anna Englert

Make-up: Waldemar Pokromski and Monika Kaleta

Production sound: Marcin Jachyra

Sound design: Kacper Habisiak

Music: Jimek

Production: NOMAD Films, Plio

In co-production with: Film i Väst, Common Ground Pictures

Producers: Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska, Katarzyna Jordan-Kulczyk, Grzegorz Jankilevitsch, Bogna Szewczyk-Skupień, Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert

Co-producers: Jonas Kellagher, Kristina Borjeson

The production was co-financed by the Polish Film Institute

Distribution: NEXT FILM