POLES AWARDED AT TOUS COURTS FESTIVAL
It was on Saturday evening when Poles celebrated a great success during the closing of the 32nd edition of the Tous Courts Short Film Festival which was held in Aix-en-Provence. Three awards, including the Grand Prix, went to Polish films.
The first laureate of the evening was Jędrzej Bączyk and his graduation film “Coyote”. The film tells a story of a Adaś, a shy teenager with a romantic soul, who dreams of a woman in times filled with endless parties, music and wine. To help his luck, he takes the nickname of “Coyote” and sets up a punk band together with his mates. A fiction film by Bączyk was invited as one of the 52 films to screen as a part of this year’s international competition.
On Sunday evening the jury announced the names of the winners. Grand Prix of the festival went to “Coyote” by Bączyk. It is the first award that the film receives abroad. Bączyk is a second graduate of Polish National Film School in Łódź that in the last few years received the Grand Prix of the French festival. In 2012 the very same trophy went to Grzegorz Jaroszuk’s “Frozen stories”, which also received the Audience Award.
The jury decided to give two Special Mentions to other Polish films. The first one went to “The 128th Rat” by Jakub Pączek. Film that was made in frames of the “30 minutes” programme of the Munk Studio is a black-humour comedy about staying away from the rat race, and about a wry constatation that only idiots are capable of true happiness. The Special Jury of the Tous Courts festival is a first award the film receives abroad.
The third Special Mention went to the actor – and was received by Marek Kossakowski – the leading actor of the “Killing auntie” by Mateusz Głowacki. It was the first time in the festival history that such and award was presented. Kossakowski has appeared many times in the numerously screened and awarded student films including: “Echo” by Magnus von Horn or “Barbican” by Bartłomiej Żmuda. The film, based on the unfinished novel “Killing Auntie” by Andrzej Bursa, is a story about the need of deliverance, full of unobtrusive absurd and black humour.
Tous Courts festival is one of the oldest French festivals devoted to presentation of short films. Every year, two parallel competition sections – national and international - are held in frames of the festival. The event gathers a big local audience and also attracts a group of national and international representatives of film festivals and companies related to short film that participate in the short film market. The 32nd edition of Tous Courts festival was held between 1st and 6th December.
The complete list of laureates as well as some information on festival can be found on its official website.