Hartley-merrill Bestow Prize
By Nick Holdsworth
Tuesday, July 11 2000
Tuesday, July 11 2000
Published on AllBusiness.com
KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic -- Polish screenwriter Agnieszka Krakowiak was presented $6,000 and other prizes Monday for winning an international screenwriting competition.
Krakowiak, who took third prize in the Hartley-Merrill international screenwriting competition for her script "The Gypsy," won $5,000 from HBO-Poland, $1,000 from the MPAA, Final Draft Screenwriting Software and a trip to the United States.
The prize was bestowed during the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
The 29-year-old scriptwriter from Warsaw -- a Krakow University and Lodz Film School graduate -- is currently developing her screenplay, a fictional drama about a young woman who finds her true identity through the trauma of being kidnapped by gypsies.
"I'm really hoping that this, my first film, will be made, and Polish and American producers have already shown interest," Krakowiak said.
Krakowiak's recognition at Karlovy Vary comes a month after the formal announcement of winners in the competition at Cannes in June.
First and second prize winners, announced by Jack Valenti, MPAA president, on the last day of the Cannes International Film Festival, were: Serena Belsby and Michelle Michel for "A Second Chance" (Mexico), the story of a plane crash in the Amazon jungle, and Andor Szilagyi's "Russian Tarot" (Hungary), about the assassination attempts on the 19th century Russian Czar Alexander II.
The award of prizes to Eastern European screenwriters continues an established tradition in the Hartley-Merrill for recognizing emerging talent in this part of Europe.
Previous winners of the prize include Georgian Irakli Kvirikadze for "Chef in Love," which was an Academy Award nominee for best foreign language film, and 1999 Czech Republic National winner Andrea Sedlackova's script "Victims and Murderers" is currently in production here.
Krakowiak, who took third prize in the Hartley-Merrill international screenwriting competition for her script "The Gypsy," won $5,000 from HBO-Poland, $1,000 from the MPAA, Final Draft Screenwriting Software and a trip to the United States.
The prize was bestowed during the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
The 29-year-old scriptwriter from Warsaw -- a Krakow University and Lodz Film School graduate -- is currently developing her screenplay, a fictional drama about a young woman who finds her true identity through the trauma of being kidnapped by gypsies.
"I'm really hoping that this, my first film, will be made, and Polish and American producers have already shown interest," Krakowiak said.
Krakowiak's recognition at Karlovy Vary comes a month after the formal announcement of winners in the competition at Cannes in June.
First and second prize winners, announced by Jack Valenti, MPAA president, on the last day of the Cannes International Film Festival, were: Serena Belsby and Michelle Michel for "A Second Chance" (Mexico), the story of a plane crash in the Amazon jungle, and Andor Szilagyi's "Russian Tarot" (Hungary), about the assassination attempts on the 19th century Russian Czar Alexander II.
The award of prizes to Eastern European screenwriters continues an established tradition in the Hartley-Merrill for recognizing emerging talent in this part of Europe.
Previous winners of the prize include Georgian Irakli Kvirikadze for "Chef in Love," which was an Academy Award nominee for best foreign language film, and 1999 Czech Republic National winner Andrea Sedlackova's script "Victims and Murderers" is currently in production here.
