11 Minutes

A novice actress prepares for an audition. A hotdog seller has a chat with his customers: “How long was the longest hot dog in the world?” Ambulance staff try to come to the aid of a woman giving birth, but the staircase to her home is blocked.

For those familiar with the work of Jerzy Skolimowski – which certainly applies to many visitors to IFFR, as the festival shows virtually all his films – 11 Minutes takes some getting used to. The hectic opening montage, made up of shots from telephones, laptops or security cameras, sets the tone for a mosaic narrative that does not slow down for a second.

Despite doing their best to wrestle themselves free of difficult situations, the characters are pursued by a sense of doom. What is that black spot doing in the sky, like a dead pixel? Who is the man who says it’s too late to make amends for something? In a refined sample of stirring filmmaking, the master cinematographer Skolimowski lets the stress build. Mercilessly.