Poland’s Borys Lankosz  has won the Grand Jury Prize for Best New Director at the 36th Seattle International Film Festival SIFF for his multi-award winning feature The Reverse.

The jury statement says that his film The Reverse “succeeds its substantial ambition to tell the story of love, family, and loyalty in a brutal post war Warsaw. Uniquely, first time director Lankosz manages to deliver a highly stylized vision without sacrificing character, story, or performance. We are happy and honored to give the New Director Award to this touching, thrilling, and deeply human film.”

The film is a darkly comic story about three women, set in both the present and in 1950s Warsaw. The main protagonist is Sabina, a woman in her early thirties, whose mother tries to find a husband for her and whose grandmother rates the prospective candidates. One day Sabina meets a man, whose presence changes the lives of the three women.

The Reverse won Lankoss the Golden Lions at the Polish Film Festival in 2009. It also received six other awards, including those for Best Actress (Agata Buzek), Best Cinematography and Best Soundtrack.  (mk)