Al Pacino, Robert De Niro or Dustin Hoffmann – these are the eccentrics, the non-conformists, in Konrad’s opinion. Men with exceptional style and intellect, which is why people can’t help giving them their whole attention. The young Pole feels especially close to Tony Montana, Al Pacino’s character in “Scarface”. At the start of the film he shaves the typical scar into one of his eyebrows. And if he can’t afford a white suite for the closing night ball, he can at least wear a blue one. He also spoons up food supplements, because Konrad is preparing for a bodybuilding competition. He wants to show the world that he’s special, too, that he can do something that will not be lost in the crowd. Konrad wants to stand out and he has clear visions.

Just like Klaudiusz Chrostowski, who frames him with no fear of poses, makes abrupt cuts and by this blows Konrad up to big screen format. When his look over the shoulder after the competition meets the camera, when the bronze makeup runs from his muscles under the shower or when he stands in front of the coffee machine in his leather jacket we see larger-than-life images that Konrad knows how to fill, despite everything.

Carolin Weidner

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Nominated for Young Eyes Film Award, MDR Film Prize

“Sometimes I feel I wasn’t made for these times.” This laconic statement of the protagonist of Anca Damian’s second animated documentary defines his position early in the narrative: somehow off kilter. Adam Jacek Winkler, Polish photographer, anti-communist dissident, mountain climber and artist, is a restless spirit, always on the lookout for the noble cause worth fighting and dying for. A modern Don Quixote, whose obsession takes him to Afghanistan where he joins the Mujahidin’s fight against the Red Army. It’s a romantic and torn hero the director portrays here, combining material from Winkler’s personal archive (photos, sketches, videos) with the stylistic wealth of artistic animation, including collages, graphically distorted film and photo material, drawings, plasticine animations or simply painted paper folded into mountains. The various techniques address the various situations, managing to translate the protagonist’s emotional world into a highly original filmic reality, sometimes surreal, sometimes absurd and bitter. “The Magic Mountain” is the second part of a planned trilogy about modern heroes whose third and last instalment this cinematic experience gives us every reason to look forward to. Mattias Heeder

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MDR Film Prize 2015