JiFFest to screen Polish crime film

This weekend, the seventh Jakarta International Film Festival (JiFFest) will hold two screenings of Symmetry, a gripping Brechtian drama from Poland that delves into the arbitrary nature of the legal system.

The film, directed by Konrad Niewolski, tells the story of a young man who is accused of assaulting a woman and serves time for a crime that he has not committed.

Offering a new perspective on the idea of personal identity, the film turns life's gray complexities into a black-and-white situation that demands an extreme decision.

The film also has a strong sense of realism as Niewolski served time before making his professional directing career.

Niewolski is an acclaimed Polish filmmaker.

He made his debut in a 2002 movie, D.I.L., for which he was nominated for the Best Independent Movie award at the 27th Polish Feature Film Festival, Kamerleon, in 2003, and was awarded the Grand Prix at the First Festival of Independent Movies.

Symmetry received the Best Narrative Feature award at the 5th Durango Film Festival.

Due to technical problems, information on Symmetry was not included in the official JiFfest printed program but it is part of the European Film Festival, itself part of JiFFest.

Symmetry will be screened at German Cultural Center Goethe House on Dec. 17 and Dutch Cultural Center Erasmus Huis on Dec. 18 at midday on both days.