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2015 was a successful year regarding the quantity and quality of foreign productions shot in Poland. At the beginning of the year, Anne Fontaine (“Coco Before Chanel,” “Perfect Mothers”) filmed a French-Polish co-production “Agnus Dei” in Warmia, which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival. The film features Polish and French actresses among others Lou de Laage, Agata Kulesza, Agata Buzek and Joanna Kulig.

In the spring, the crew of a Polish-German-French-Belgian co-production about the life of Maria Sklodowska-Curie (dir. Marie Noelle) spent 20 days on the set in among others Lodz, Leba and Krakow. The cast is international, and the film is made in French. The Polish Nobelist is portrayed by Karolina Gruszka (“Oxygen”).

The summer brought about increased activity of German producers. A Zdf TV show, “Ein Sommer in…” was filmed in two resort towns in the north-eastern Poland – Mikolajki and Mragowo. Ard and Tvp collaborated on the set of "Polizeiruf 110" ("Police Call 110"), which was filmed in July and August among others in a Polish border-town – Swiecko. Also in July began the shooting of a new part of detective TV series "Der Usedom-Krimi" filmed on both the Polish and German side of the Usedom island.

However, a true influx of foreign productions took place in the autumn. American-Polish thriller “Chronology” was filmed in Poznan. The cast includes William Baldwin (TV series "Gossip Girl," "Adrift in Manhattan") and Danny Trejo (“Machete,” “From Dusk till Dawn”).

The Goetz Palace in Brzesk, in Malopolska hosted filmmakers from India who for six days were shooting “Fitoor,” an Indian adaptation of Dickens's “Great Expectations.” The crew consisted of over 40 Indians and almost 80 Poles. Another crew from India – this time from the so-called Kollywood in the south of the country – spent twenty days on the set in various Polish locations (among others Zakopane, Walbrzych, Krakow, Leba). The film titled “24” features Surya, a Tamil superstar, in the main role.

The autumn months were also very intensive in Lodz with three simultaneous big film sets. Andrzej Wajda (“The Promised Land,” “Walesa. Man of Hope”) worked on his new film “Powidoki”; Opus Film, the producer of “Ida”, organized for an Israeli partner eleven-day shoot to a film set in 1970s – “Past Life,” directed by Avi Nesher; and American director Martha Coolidge (“The Prince and Me,” TV shows “Sex and the City,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Weeds”) filmed her project “Music, War and Love,” whose producer is among others Fred Roos known from such films as “Apocalypse Now,” “The Godfather” or “Lost in Translation.” The picture features Adelaide Clemens (“The Great Gatsby”), Connie Nielsen (“Gladiator”), Toby Sebastian (“Game of Thrones”) and Stellan Skarsgård (“Nymphomaniac”).

The end of the year was also very successful for Malopolska and Krakow. Two movies were filmed in the region – an American-British biography of Martin Luther commissioned by PBS with Padraic Delaney (“The Wind that Shakes the Barley,” “The Tudors”) in the main role; and a feature titled “True Crimes” starring two-time winner of a Golden Globe – Jim Carrey (“The Truman Show,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “The Mask”) as the protagonist. The crew spent 32 days on the set in Krakow. The picture was directed by Greek Alexandros Avranas (“Miss Violence”), written by Jeremy Brock (“Brideshead Revisited,” “The Last King of Scotland”), and produced by Brett Ratner (“X-Men 3: the Last Stand,” TV series “Rush Hour”). Accompanying Jim Carrey were Charlotte Gainsbourg (“Nymphomaniac,” “Antichrist”); Marton Csokas (“The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King,” “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”) and Polish actors Agata Kulesza (“Ida”) and Robert Wieckiewicz (“Walesa. Man of Hope”).

The first information about productions planned for 2016 has already been released. In January, Krakow will host the crew of French black comedy “Grand Froid,” Gérard Pautonnier's debut featuring Jean-Pierre Bacri (“The Taste of Others,” “Let It Rain”), Olivier Gourmet (“Rosetta,” “The Son”) and Arthur Dupond (“Bus Palladium”). The project won the first edition of the Krakow International Film Fund.

#80. Francine - Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky And for my final pick, I'm thinking that the husband-and-wife filmmaker team of Melanie Shatzky and Brian M. Cassidy will lock up a U.S Dramatic Comp section slot for their feature (fiction) debut. Francine should be among the buzz titles of the fest for what Melissa Leo (who plays the titular lead) will bring to the role, but my high expectations for the title have plenty more to do with my viewing of the craft in the stunning Tiff preemed The Patron Saints (here's our 4-star review and interview). The pair were previously at Sundance back in 2007 with their docu short, God Provides. Gist: Francine (Melissa Leo), is a woman struggling to find her place in a downtrodden lakeside town after leaving behind a life in prison. Taking a series of jobs working with animals, Francine turns away those who take...

Subject: Heather Graham, 41-year old American actress

Date of Assessment: June 8, 2011

Positive Buzzwords: Nudity, beauty, sleep

Negative Buzzwords: Romcom, limited appeal and talent

The Case: People like to talk about the so-called "downward trajectory" that Heather Graham's career has supposedly taken. Still, she's worked steadily since her first movie role in 1988's License to Drive (the one where both Coreys stuffed her in a car trunk), which she followed up with an acclaimed turn in Drugstore Cowboy and an adorable character, Annie Blackburn, on the second season of "Twin Peaks." Then, she toiled away in relative obscurity for nearly five years until she stunned audiences (or at least myself) as Jon Favreau's dance partner in the last act of Swingers and appeared alongside Robert Downey Jr. in Two Girls and a Guy. Then, Heather became the very naked Rollergirl in Boogie Nights, which was a pretty overrated movie...

HollywoodNews.com: NBC announced that William Baldwin (“Dirty Sexy Money,” “Gossip Girl”) will join the cast of the network’s returning drama “Parenthood” for a multiple-episode arc.

Baldwin will be playing Gordon Flint, Adam’s (Peter Krause) wealthy, charismatic boss. Gordon is content to let Adam do the grunt work of running the company, preferring to spend his time thinking about the “big picture.” A dedicated bachelor, Gordon’s romantic life is the polar opposite to Adam’s relationship with Kristina (Monica Potter). Gordon brings tension to the Braverman clan when he sets his sights on Adam’s sister, Sarah (Lauren Graham).

Baldwin first gained recognition for his breakout performance in the feature film “Backdraft.” His other film credits include “The Squid & The Whale,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Adrift in Manhattan,” Flatliners,” “Internal Affairs,” “Three of Hearts,” “Primary Suspect” and “Born on the Fourth of July.” Baldwin will lend his voice...

• Rodrigo Garcia, Keith Gordon, Catherine Hardwicke, and Alfredo De Villa to Serve as Lab Mentors -

Los Angeles (February 10, 2010) - Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, has announced the filmmakers and film projects for its 9th annual Directors Lab, sponsored by Kodak. Taking place in Los Angeles from now until the end of March, the Directors Lab is an intensive nine-week incubator designed to assist directors with strong, original voices develop new narrative feature films, improve their craft, and advance their filmmaking careers in a nurturing yet challenging creative environment. This year's Lab Mentors include Rodrigo Garcia (Mother and Child), Keith Gordon (The Singing Detective, Waking the Dead), Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight, Thirteen), and Alfredo De Villa (Adrift in Manhattan, Washington Heights).

"It's exciting to have a group of filmmakers in the Directors Lab that not only have such varied artistic backgrounds,...

Actor William Baldwin and his singer wife Chynna Phillips have been hit with demands from U.S. tax officials after allegedly running up debts more than $180,000. The couple, who married in 1995, owe both state and federal taxes, according to public records obtained by The Detroit News.

A tax lien for $39,561 was filed by the state of California against the couple on March 19, 2009 in Los Angeles, while the Internal Revenue Service is seeking $148,401 from the pair.

Profesionally, William Baldwin started his career by becoming a fashion model. He then made his acting debut when he starred opposite Cindy Crawford in 1995 film "Fair Game." Some movies in which he has starred include "American Fork", "Adrift in Manhattan", "A Plumm Summer" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall".

Mischa Barton's nude scene in British moviemaker Richard Attenborough's romance drama Closing The Ring has been named the flesh-flashing clip of the year.

Barton's big reveal beat Aussie model/actress' Sophie Monk's nude scene in Sex + Death 101.

Heather Graham's bare-all moment in Adrift in Manhattan rounds out the top three on blogger MrSkin.com's sexy list.

But none of the films land on the blogger's all-time top 20 list, which is topped by Phoebe Cates' swimming pool scene in Fast Times At Ridgemont High.

Also making the 2008 list are newlywed Asia Argento (The Last Mistress), Neve Campbell (I Really Hate My Job) and Anna Faris (The House Bunny).

• It usually serves as a ski hill during the crisper months and gives a green-friendly view of the stars above, but for the second year in a row, Mont Tremblant will best serve those who like the intimacy of screen, projector and film. A two hour-ish ride north of Montreal, the Tremblant Film Festival may just be another blimp on the film festival circuit map (we must be closing in on the 1,000 festival mark soon), but Park City’s French-Canadian cousin has the charm, the foreign culture thing, the lieu going for it and also brought along the sort of stars who don’t need a telescope to get a good eyeful. Ioncinema.com will be present to cover the fest. Opening this past Wednesday with the French comedy Michou d'Auber with Gérard Depardieu and Nathalie Baye and closing with Julie Delpy’s rom com 2 Days in Paris on Sunday night,

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Dan Wolman's Tied Hands, the account of a mother and her son who is dying of AIDS, was named best feature film at the 12th annual Palm Beach International Film Festival, which wrapped Thursday.

Nicole van Kilsdonk was hailed as best feature film director for the comedy Johan, while the award for best screenplay went to Scott Dacko for The Insurgents, starring Henry Simmons, John Shea and Mary Stuart Masterson.

Two performers were recognized with an award for best performance in a feature film: Christopher Plummer for Man in the Chair and Gila Almagor for Tied Hands.

A special jury prize for best feature went to Maurice Richard/The Rocket. In addition the jury chose to recognize the cast of Adrift in Manhattan, which includes Heather Graham, William Baldwin, Dominic Chianese, Victor Rasuk and Graham Gremm with a special ensemble award for their "mesmerizing and haunting performances."

Ray McCormack's A Crude Awakening - The Oil Crash was named best documentary feature. Lawrence Walsh's Cold Kenya took the prize for best short film.

Audience choice awards were presented to Evan Lieberman's Kathie T., best feature film; Logan Smalley's Darius Goes West - The Roll of His Life, best documentary feature; and Ziv Alexandrony's And Behold, There Came a Great Wind, best short film.

Washington Square Films

PARK CITY -- Three lonely people with a world of hurt inside are "Adrift in Manhattan, ' Alfredo de Villa's slice of Midtown life. De Villa has a sharp eye for details that articulate unspoken grief and isolation in people. His film is like a good short story, where there are no wasted moments and an economy of expression allows the story to achieve maximum impact.

Like some short stories though, the need to bring things to a head and forge a quick resolution causes the director, working from a script by Nat Moss, to simplify the issues raised. The main characters are able to move on with their lives a bit too easily thanks to a few change encounters. "Adrift" should perform well in subsequent festivals, but despite the presence of a star in Heather Graham the film has limited theatrical possibilities.

Three lives intersect randomly. Simon (Victor Rasuk), a quiet, late blooming teen with a demanding mother who is overly intimate with her son, has a passion for photography. When his telephoto lens catches sight of Rose (Graham), he is struck by the sadness he recognizes in her body language.

With his camera snapping away, he becomes a benign stalker and the movie enters her life. Since the tragic death of her two-year-old, Rose, an ophthalmologist, has become engulfed in sorrow and estranged from her husband (William Baldwin).

The third lonely person is Rose's patient Tommaso (Dominic Chianese), an aging painter whose work and his mailroom job are threatened by impending blindness. Rose urges him to seek out friends, which in his case means a budding romance with a co-worker (Elizabeth Pena).

The film's most effective moments are its quietest such as the painter searching for a way to paint with diminished eyesight or the photographer examining photos of his eroticized obsession. The performances capture the ways people build walls around themselves to prevent the intimacy that may actually heal their pain.

De Villa clearly likes all his characters enormously. So perhaps he is too anxious to see everyone happy at the end. In life, some wounds refuse to heal.