COPYING BEETHOVEN

NARRATIVE, USA/Germany, 2006, 104 minutes

Director: Agnieszka Holland
Producers: Sidney Kimmel, Stephen J. Rivele
Starring: Ed Harris, Diane Kruger, Phyllida Law
Agnieszka Holland in attendance

Ludwig van Beethoven -- sexy? When Ed Harris plays him, you bet he is, and not just sexy, also bawdy, irascible, passionate, violent -- a turmoil of contradictions, and a genius too, of course. Diane Kruger is the ambitious young composition student/copyist sent by his publisher to help him set down his Ninth Symphony. It’s 1824, and a woman in this role is almost unthinkable, but Anna’s self-confidence and dire necessity combine to get her the job. So begins a fascinating, complicated (fictional) relationship. COPYING BEETHOVEN is a richly imagined story by writer Christopher Wilkinson, and it is beautifully executed by renowned filmmaker Agnieszka Holland (THE SECRET GARDEN) at her most romantic. The masterful sequence built around the first public performance of Beethoven’s Ninth, with the beautiful young copyist aiding the maestro while she’s transported by his creation, will sing in your memory...whatever your taste in music. (Catherine Wyler)

· 2006 San Sebastian Film Festival: Official Selection
· 2006 Toronto International Film Festival: Official Selection

Agnieszka Holland was born in Warsaw and studied film in Prague. Her mentor was famed director Andrzej Wajda, with whom she wrote several scripts before moving on to direct her own films. Holland gained notoriety as part of the Polish New Wave, and has won numerous international awards over her distinguished career. She is best known in the U.S. for such films as THE SECRET GARDEN, the Oscar-nominated EUROPA, EUROPA, and WASHINGTON SQUARE.