LIFE IS A DREAM IN CINEMA: POLA NEGRI
(ZYCIE JEST SNEM W KINIE)




2006, 89 min.

DIRECTION:
Mariusz K. Kotowski
SCRIPT:
Lynn Moran
CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Elke Stappert and Simone Zimmerman
MUSIC:
Frederic Chopin performed by Mariusz Gorz
EDITING:
John Larsen
SOUND:
Philip Hubner
PRODUCER:
Heidi Hutter
PRODUCED BY:
Bright Shining City Productions

SYNOPSIS:

Before Dietrich and Garbo, there was Pola Negri.

What does it mean to be a star? Why do some actors become stars and legends for all time? This documentary film answers these questions by examining the life and work of the legendary actress Pola Negri. She was the first European star to come to America and paved the way for Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. Yet few people today know this magnificent actress or the dramatic events of her life, including her engagements to Charlie Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino.
The documentary is based on research of Pola Negri's life and numerous interviews with people who knew or worked with Pola Negri or studied her films including the Academy-Award Winning actress Hayley Mills, actor Eli Wallach, film historian Jeanine Basinger, Paramount producer A.C. Lyles and many others. The film includes numerous clips from Pola Negri's movies and shows the incredible range she demonstrated through silent films into talkies and from black and white into color

Mariusz Kotowski (b.1967 in Olsztyn, Poland), a film director and dance choreographer based in Austin, Texas. Studied film directing at New York University. It took him three years of work and a considerable personal fortune to bring this documentary to the screen. He is currently in production for his first feature film.

Monday, November 6, 2006 at 8:45 pm. (Gallery Theatre)