FOUR DAYS AND THREE AWARDS FOR POLISH SHORT FILMS

The last four days brought three international awards to the young, Polish filmmakers. Our films were listed among the laureates of the festivals held in Brazil, Slovakia and England.

A string of good luck for the Polish films begun on Thursday when Piotr Złotorowicz and his “Normal people” received the award for the best short film at the second edition of Brazilian Lume de Cinema Film Festival. The fiction produced at Polish National Film School in Łodź shows the story of Daniel, who after being released from the prison is trying to put his broken life together again.

Not that long after Złotorowicz’s success in Brazil, on Saturday evening Paweł Ziemilski received the Blue Angel Award of the 20th edition of the Slovak Art Film Fest. On awarding Ziemilski’s “Swedish job” the jury stated:  “The picture fulfilled all the criteria of a professional film, impeccable in its precise script, unforgettable performances and restrained mise en scène. It brilliantly treated a difficult and sensitive topic by means of a lightly comic temperament. And most importantly, it was great fun and we laughed ourselves silly!”. “Swedish job” produced at Polish National Film School in Łódź shows the untold story of theunprecedented theft of the “Arbeit macht frei” sign from the former nazi death camp Auschwitz. Apart from the winning “Swedish job” there were another two Polish shorts screened in the very same competition – an animated “Once there was a king” by Tytus Majerski and fiction “Frozen stories” by Grzegorz Jaroszuk.

 One day after the Slovak festival, this year’s edition of the documentary Open City Docs Fest came to an end in London. Three Polish films that made their way straight to the competition were “Hermits” by Kacper Czubak, “We will be happy” by Paweł Wysoczański and “Reception” by Maciej Bochiniak. Another Polish documentary treat was a special screening of the films produced by Wajda Studio – “Decrescendo” by Marta Minorowicz, “3 days of Freedom” by Łukasz Borowski and “Paparazzi” by Piotr Bernaś. During the Sunday’s closing gala it was 10 minutes long “Reception” by Maciej Bochniak, that received the jury’s special mention. This is a first international recognition for Bochniak’s documentary produced by Munk Studio in frame of “First Documentary” programme.

More on each festival to be found at the official websites – Art Film Fest, Lume de Cinema and Open City Docs Fest