In The Name Of
A sensitive, devout priest, Father Adam (Andrzej Chyra) takes over a small parish in the middle of nowhere. He organizes a community centre for boys with troubled pasts.
His energy is appreciated, the locals accept him as one of their own and he has great success with the delinquent boys.
Everybody wants to be close to him, feeding off of his vitality and power, but no one knows he harbours his own secret. After meeting an eccentric and silent young man, a local pariah (Mateusz Kosciukiewicz), Father Adam struggles with the internal conflict between his desires as a man and his spiritual calling, forcing the priest to confront a long forgotten burden and passion.
As the villagers' worst suspicions are validated, Father Adam becomes an obvious enemy.
A film about love and longing, award-winning Polish director Malgoska Szumowska (Elles, 33 Scenes From Life) won the Best Feature Teddy Award at this year’s Berlin Film Festival for her gripping and non-judgemental look at homosexuality in the church.
Steeped in religious symbolism, In The Name Of resonates with current issues in today's society around religious devotion and personal freedoms.
Michal Englert’s stunning cinematography of the naturalistic rural setting captures the heat and the haze of the languid summer days where sizzling tensions between the boys bristle with energy.
First class acting from the young male cast is centred by a strong performance from acclaimed Polish actor Andrzej Chyra who conveys a sense of emotional and spiritual depth as the conflicted man of the cloth.
A prolific and well respected actor, Chyra, has worked with some of the most important Polish filmmakers including Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Zanussi, Jacek Boruch and Feliks Falk and previously worked with Szumowska on Elles.
Starring opposite Chyra, as the mute outsider and object of Father Adam’s desire, Mateusz Kosciukiewicz is one of Poland’s most exciting young actors. He won international recognition with his award-winning performances in All That I Love and Mother Teresa Of Cats.
Recently seen in Kasia Roslaniec’s Baby Blues (which also premiered at the Berlin Film Festival) Kosciukiewicz will next appear in Andrzej Wajda’s highly anticipated Lech Walesa biopic Walesa.