Ida is the new film from Polish-born auteur Pawel Pawlikowski, named by the BBC as one of the most important filmmakers in Britain. Like many emigrants from post-war Europe, Pawlikowski carries with him stories of a former life; one full of heartbreak and instability but also necessarily identity-building. Ida centres on 18-year-old Anna, an orphaned girl preparing to become a nun when she meets a living relative, her Aunt Wanda. Anna learns her real name is Ida, and through her time spent with Wanda is reintroduced to her former life.
Remarkably, Pawlikowski’s lead actor is the untrained Agata Trzebuchowska playing Anna, and the film draws deeply on the director’s own experiences in Poland. Ida opens in cinemas Thursday May 22, and we’ve got ten in-season double passes to give away. For your chance to win, head to the comments below and tell us what your birth name would be in a different life.
