28/08/2023 - Filming will continue in Los Angeles for the sophomore feature by the director, who wants the movie to seem like it “came out of the head of a 17-year-old”

Director Krzysztof Skonieczny (© Monika Goldszmidt Czarniak)

Wrooklyn Zoo has been partially shot in Wrocław and is the second feature-length film by Krzysztof Skonieczny, who also directed the much-lauded HBO series Blinded by the Light. His filmmaking style blends an immersive visual narrative with a focus on the characters, which gradually reveal their secrets. The upcoming film revolves around a talented teenage skater, whose life is turned upside down when he meets a Roma girl.

“A lot of my efforts while working on Wrooklyn Zoo were based on the concept of writing and shooting this film as if it had come out of the head of a 17-year-old. The shoot was demanding and intense, but at the same time, it was satisfying – I feel that we were able to capture a lot of real emotions and magical scenes from reality, and film Wrocław in an auteur-like way, presenting the full spectrum of the city’s character,” Skonieczny tells Cineuropa exclusively.

The names of the lead actors, who are non-professionals, are being kept under wraps for now, while the producers have confirmed that Jan Frycz, Renata Dancewicz, Konrad Eleryk and professional US skater Tony Trujillo also star.

“I want the older generations – ‘Gen X’ and the Millennials – sitting in the audience to go back in time and collide with what ‘Gen Z’ is currently going through with the vision that they see on screen. These three age groups are our target audience. I want everyone watching the film to remember their first love that they lost their mind over, and the first death that turned their world upside down. By diving into their own youth, I want the audience to set off on an adventure with us – an adventure they don’t want to return from,” concludes Skonieczny.

According to the producers, the Polish part of the shoot has wrapped, and principal photography will now continue in Los Angeles. Wrooklyn Zoo is scheduled to be ready in late 2024. The Polish distributor is Kino Świat, while FilmNation Entertainment handles the world sales. The producers are Olga Bibik and Krzysztof Skonieczny (of głębokiOFF), while Alicja Grawon-Jaksik is serving as an associate producer; Ara Keshishian and Petr Jakl (ZQ Entertainment) also hold a producer credit. The co-producers are the Lower Silesia Film Center, Canal+ Poland and JUICE.