SHORT FILM FESTIVALS IN NOVEMBER
In autumn, as usual, we observe the increase in festival activities. This month, Polish short films - documentary, fiction and animation - will be shown 135 times at 50 festivals abroad.
The festival season in November was initiated by the screening of three short fiction films at the festival in Cottbus, Germany. “Shiteaters” (A. Wojcierowska) and “Arena” (M. Rath) will compete for awards in the main competition, while “Rules of the Game” by Wojciech Jagiełło, debuting abroad - in the U18 competition, addressed to the youth. 24th edition of the festival ends next Sunday, 9 November. This week starts the 7th edition of the La Cabina medium-length film festival in Valencia, Spain, which lasts until 16 November. In the competition, five Polish films will compete for the laurels, among others, “Flora and Fauna” by Piotr Litwin and “Games” by Maciej Marczewski.
This month, Polish films will also compete for the awards of the important short film festivals, among others, Leeds IFF (“Shiteaters” by A. Wojcierowska), Asiana ISFF (“Errata” by A. Biedrzycki), Alcine (“Flora and Fauna” by P. Litwin and “The Mother” by Ł. Ostalski) and Istanbul ISFF (“Real Honey” by S. Witek, “Rollercoaster” by M. Marlikowski and “Volcano” by M. Wawrzecki). It is worth mentioning that this month Polish films will travel as far as Egypt. In the programme of the 36th edition of Cairo Film Festival, the viewers will watch “The Boys” by Paweł Orwat.
The most popular short film in November is “Arena” by Martin Rath, produced by Lodz Film School. This month, the film will screen at eight festivals abroad, among others, in Denver, Cottbus, Leuven and Kolkata. The film by Rath, which began its festival tour last November at the festival in Cork (where the film also won the Grand Prix award), has already been shown 25 times at the festivals abroad.
In November, there are also three important student film festivals, the programmes of which do not lack Polish films. The first of them – Film School Fest Munich - starts next weekend, on 16 November. In the programme of the international competition, “Killing Auntie” by Mateusz Głowacki will be shown (produced by the Radio and Television faculty at the University of Silesia). A day later, on 17 November, starts the 34th edition of the student film festival in Moscow, organised by VGIK. There, in the competition, the aforementioned “Arena” by Martin Rath will participate (produced by Lodz Film School). The third festival is held at the turn of November and December in Poitiers, France. In the international competition, the jury will assess “Killing Auntie” by Mateusz Głowacki and “Magma” by Paweł Maślona (produced by the Radio and Television Faculty of the University of Silesia).
This month, three special screenings of Polish short films are planned. The first of them is held in the half of the month within the frames of the short film festival in Brest, France. The viewers and the guests of the French festival will watch the most interesting films shown within the frames of the last year’s edition of the short film festival Żubroofka in Białystok, among others, “Our Bad Winter” by Grzegorz Zariczny and “The Mother” by Łukasz Ostalski. In the festival’s competition, “Arena” by Martin Rath will compete. Two programmes of Polish films are included in the programme of the prestigious festival in Cork, Ireland. In the programmes “New Polish Shorts” and “Shorts by New Horizons Studio 2014 Alumni,” there are eight films - among others, “Such A Landscape” by Jagoda Szelc, “128th Rat” by Jakub Pączek and “Lena and me” by Kalina Alabrudzińska. At the end of the month, within the frames of the French festival Court c’est court, the programme of Polish films prepared by Krakow Film Foundation will be shown. In the collection, there are six films, among others, “All Souls’ Day” by Aleksandra Terpińska and “Drawn from Memory” by Marcin Bortkiewicz. “Father's Day” by Kacper Lisowski will compete for the audience award.
The full list of November screenings can be found under the bookmark "At festivals"
You can read about the participation of Polish documentary films at festivals held in November here
More on November festivals screening Polish animated films can be found here