Zimna Wojna (Cold War), a bleak and beautiful love story about the intertwining of personal and political histories, won Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski the Best Director award at the Cannes film festival.
Mr. Pawlikowski’s film, shot in black-and-white, is based on the story of his own parents, and set against the background of the Cold War and moves across Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris.
Mr. Pawlikowski made his reputation as a documentary filmmaker in the 1980s and 1990s and made his first feature in 2000. His last feature, Ida, won the 2015 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Cold War may come to theatres in India soon. Cinestaan Film Company, a Mumbai-based “boutique film studio” as it describes itself, happens to be one of its financiers.
“We are delighted with the film and its reception at Cannes, and look forward to both the Indian and international audience getting to see it,” said Deborah Sathe, the company’s U.K.-based director, International Operations. The dates of the release, however, are yet to be finalised. Collaborating on the project was “a no-brainer for us,” Ms. Sathe said. “The story was extraordinary. Coupled with Pawel’s previous film Ida, and our relationship with the film’s producers, it was a very easy decision for us to make.” She added, “Boarding Cold War marks our next step into selling films with no Indian connect.” Through its sales arm, C International Sales, Cinestaan has previously released Mukti Bhawan (Hotel Salvation) in theatres across the world, as well as on Amazon Prime. It has also released A Death in the Gunj, Dev Bhoomi, and its own production, The Hungry, on Amazon Prime. All have premièred at major international festivals.
Cinestaan is now producing India’s first-ever live action all-animal feature, Aasha The Street Dog, with the U.K.-based Newscope Films, and Gitanjali Rao’s much coveted Indo-French hand-painted animation début feature Bombay Rose. In the pipeline is Tip Top Taj Mahal, set in New Zealand, by veteran director Lee Tamahori (Along Came a Spider, Die Another Day) and starring Manoj Bajpai. Cinestaan is also adding a Los Angeles office to the ones it has in London and Mumbai.