POLISH FILMS AT AMERICAN SXSW
Three Polish films were selected for this year’s programme of the American South by Southwest Music and Film Festival. The festival, that is one of the biggest and most important music festivals in US, apart from the abundant programme of music events every year hosts an impressive film selection. During nine SXSW festival’s days 130 films produced all over the world will be screened in Texas.
This year three Polish documentaries will represent Poland at the festival. “Written in Ink” directed by Martin Rath was selected to compete in the short documentary competition. Rath’s film, produced at Polish National Film School in Łódź, is a poignant story of a man, who after many years apart longs for contacting his sister again. “Written in Ink” shows the consequences of all the irreversible choices one makes in life. Two times awarded documentary (Abu Dhabi FF and Short FF Santiago de Chile) is receiving more and more appreciation abroad. Only in March the film will be screened in the competitive sections of the festivals Northern Wave IFF in Iceland, GO SHORT in Dutch Nijmegen and Spanish Mecal International Short Film Festival.
Another short documentary – “Contest” by Jakub Cuman will be screened in SX Global Shorts section. The screening at SXSW will be the first American appearance of Cuman’s film that so far screened at New Horizons FF in Wrocław, Toronto Polish Film Festival and Zagreb Dox in Croatia. Film produced in frame of “First Documentary” programme ran by Munk Studio in coproduction with Kosma Film is a documentary observation made during the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition Preliminaries in 2010.
The last Polish film in this year’s programme of SXSW is going to be screened as a part of SX Global section. Full-length Polish – Romanian coproduction “The Path to Beyond” by Anca Damian was based on true story of the Romanian Claudiu Crulic, who died in the prison in Krakow after going on a hunger strike to protest against questionable accusations of his arrest. Film brings together various animation techniques, the documentary insight and the fictional, first-person narration. “The Path to Beyond” was screened so far at more than ten festivals and awarded in Locarno, Cottbus and Jihlava to name just a few.
It is not the first time, when Polish films are present in the programme of the Texan SXSW. Last year “The screening at the Tatry cinema” by Igor Chojna made its way to the short documentary competition, “Beats of Freedom” by Leszek Gnoiński and Wojciech Słota was screened in the full-length competition while SX Fantastic featured “George the Hedgehog” by Wojtek Wawszczyk, Jakub Tarkowski and Tomasz Leśniak.
This year’s edition of SXSW will be held between 9th and 17th March 2012.
More information can be found at the official SXSW website