POLISH ANIMATED FILMS AT THE 56TH KRAKOW FILM FESTIVAL
Today, on May 29, starts the 56th edition of Krakow Film Festival! In the screenings, as many as 19 Polish animated films will be shown
This year, thirteen films are included in national competition, four of which will compete for the Golden Dragon statuette in the international competition.
All four films are made by talented and acclaimed women directors. "Xoxo - Hugs and Kisses" by Wiola Sowa is a beautiful tale about intimacy, fascination and bodily expression, as well as about emotions and setting emotional boundaries. "Impossible Figures and Other Stories II" by Marta Pajek, made in Animoon studio, is the image of the world full of paradoxes and illusions, based on the concept of the impossible object. The film "Locus" by Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi, produced by WJ Team, presents an extremely interesting visual form and animation technique. All three films were shown during last year's edition of the pitching Animated in Poland. The last of the films qualified for both competitions at this year's festival is "Sexy Laundry" by Izabela Plucińska. It is an erotic comedy made using the traditional stop motion animation technique.
For the national competition qualified also the latest animated films by film-makers already awarded for their earlier films: Karolina Specht and Tomasz Popakul. "Beside oneself" by Karolina Specht is a minimalist, black-and-white animated film, which shows how deceptive the process of replacing the reality with illusion and imaginations can be. "Black" by Tomasz Popakul tells the story of a pair of astronauts trapped on a space station as a result of a nuclear war which is going on very quickly below them. Michalina Muialik in her animated film "I, the Animal," which will soon compete also for the award at the festival in Annecy, presents the allegory of the birth of hatred in a Nazi costume. "Black Volga" by Marta Wiktorowicz is a humorous illustration of the most famous urban legends. "Kinki" by Izumi Yoshida is an animated film using the conventions of horror and psychological thriller. The animated film "Sylwan" by Tomasz Głodek is constructed from minimalist black-and-white images and scraps of sound, which build the gloomy atmosphere of World War II. The material for the film "Super Film" by Piotr Kabat is a collage of history, icons and personages characteristic of American pop culture and various genre conventions: from comic books to science fiction. Michał Soja in "Beside oneself" juxtaposes mechanical recordings registering the reality with subjective form of drawings, which constitutes a personal record of events. And Piotr Loc Hoang Ngoc in "Gyros Dance" tells a tale about the employees of a kebab restaurant.
The winners of both competitions will be announced on June 4 at the Closing Gala of the 56th. Krakow Film Festival.
Animated films are not missing from this year's panorama of Polish film, either. "The Wizard of U.S.," by Balbina Btuszewska, produced by WJ Team, which is an animated variation on the novel by L. Frank Baum, promises to be interesting. "Jazz," directed by Leszek Gałysz, is a vision of a fantastic world of strange architectural constructions and improvised music, immersed in black humour and jazz and folk sounds. The third Polish film in the panorama is "Cargo" by Sławomir Shuty and Tomasz Bohniak. The film, whose protagonists are a family living in Nowa Huta, Krakow, is a tawdry interpretation of the political coup form the end of 1980s.
In the student film competition, two promising students will show their films. Natalia Krawczuk, in her black-and-white animated film "Schroedinger's Dog" shows how human relationships can be simple and complicated at the same time. And Marta Magnuska in "Foreign Body" presents a story about things, which seem strange and weird, but in reality, they are close to us - about internal and external transformation.
And to the youngest viewers, to celebrate their feast, "Home Rhymes" by Robert Turło and Mikołaj Pilchowski will be shown. These are funny films, made on the basis of the book by Michał Rusinek, illustrated by Joanna Rusinek.
You can read more information about the 56th Krakow Film Festival on its official website.
56th Krakow Film Festival is held this year from May 29 to June 5.