Basick information
in development
director
Julia and Mai Bui-Ngoc
producer
Marta Szarzyńska / kinhouse studio
movie length
90 min.
status
development financed by the Polish Film Institute
premiere
2022
Timeline
Development
Pre-production
Production
Dystrybution
Synopsis
The love stories and crimes of passion of four women that take place one night in a small village during an eclipse when, according to the old beliefs, nymphs and other fairies interfere in human affairs for good and ill. “Ballades and romances” is a fantasy thriller based on a book written by Adam Mickiewicz in 1822. Our Adaptation takes these four folk stories from Slavic mythology and places them in a contemporary setting.
Crew
Julia Bui Ngoc - director
Film director, sculptor, dancer, and choreographer born in France. Three-time French gold medalist of the Chinese martial arts Wushu. Co-founder (together with Mai Bui-Ngoc) of the Bui Sisters cinematographic duet. Founder of the School of Dancing with Combat Fans. In 2011 she graduated from the Faculty of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. She developed her artistic sensitivity under professor Grzegorz Kowalski in his multimedia atelier. Holder of the scholarships granted by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage and by the Capital City of Warsaw. Since 2003 Julia Bui-Ngoc has created more than twenty video-arts, over a dozen theatre performances and six short movies. Her works were presented and awarded in prestigious art centers in Poland and abroad, inter alia at National Museum in Prague at Prague Quadrennial (Czech Republic), at Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw (Poland), at Zachęta Galery of Art in Lublin (Poland), at Japon Expo Festival in Nice (France), at Readymade Film Fest in Los Angeles (USA), at Sorbonne in Paris (France). From 2003 Julia cooperates (as an actress, choreographer and a tutor at Academy for Theatre Practices) with Centre for Theatre Practices Gardzienice, taking part in such theatre productions as: Metamorphosis, Elektra, Francois Vase, Iphigenia at Aulis. She performed and ran masterclasses inter alia at Columbia University in New York (USA), Yale University (USA), LaMaMa Theatre (USA), the European Commission in Brussels (Belgium), Sikyone (Greece), Hebel Theatre in Berlin (Germany), Meyerhold Center in Moscow (Russia), Barbican Center in London (UK).
Mai Bui Ngoc - director of photography
MA in engineering and architecture, film director, camerawoman. Graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology and Film and Television Academy in Warsaw. Multiple France champion in Chinese martial arts (kung-fu wu-shu). Worked as an architect in France and Ireland. In Poland she worked in one of the best architectural firms Jems Architekci, winning a number of awards and distinctions in various architectural competitions. She is also active in the field of video-art and short films. Her artistic productions have been influenced by numerous travels around the world and many years of work as an architect. Co-founder (together with Julia Bui-Ngoc) of the Bui Sisters duet.