(JNi.media) Polish director Marcin Wrona, 42, whose most recent horror film “Demon” had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival last week, was found dead in a hotel room in Gdynia, Poland, Friday night. Police are investigating the death, according to publicist Jim Dobson, who spoke to Variety.
Wrona premiered his crime thriller “The Christening” at the Toronto Festival in 2010. “Demon” is a clever take on the famous figure of Jewish folklore—the dybbuk, a spirit of a person not properly laid to rest that seeks to inhabit the body of a living person. Peter, played by Israeli actor Itay Tiran, has just arrived from England to marry his beautiful fiancée, Zaneta (Agnieszka Zulewska), at her family’s country house in rural Poland. While inspecting the grounds on the eve of his nuptials, Peter finds skeletal human remains buried on the property. Haunted by his discovery, Peter slowly starts to unravel while the joyous and drunken traditional Polish wedding goes on around him; and soon, he is overcome by what seem to be epileptic fits, panicking his bride and scandalizing his father-in-law. As the night wears on, it becomes apparent that there is an uninvited guest at the wedding, that she is lonely, and dead. As the wedding celebration continues, possessed hero and all, “Demon” becomes a thrillingly kinetic cinematic experience. (Some copy borrowed from the Toronto Festival website)
The Polish premiere of “Demon” was scheduled for this week at the Gdynia Film Festival, followed by an October theatrical release in Poland.
The Toronto Film Festival said in a statement: “We are all deeply shocked and saddened at the news of the sudden death of Marcin Wrona. His film ‘Demon’ truly marked the emergence of a strong new voice on the world cinema stage. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family, especially his wife and producing partner, Olga Szymanska, who was with him at the premiere in Toronto.”
The organizers of the 40th Gdynia Film Festival said in a statement “As the organizers of the festival and at the same time friends of Marcin, we are deeply shocked and saddened by this information. We would like to express our sincere condolences to the wife of the director and all the people who were close to him.”
Wrona is survived by his newlywed wife, Olga Szymanska, who was a producer on the film “Demon.”