POLISH ANIMATED FILMS AT THE 55TH KRAKOW FILM FESTIVAL
Today starts the 55th edition of the Krakow Film Festival. In the festival programme, there are fifteen Polish animated films. Twelve of them will take part in the competitive section.
This year, two Polish animated films were selected to take part in the international short film competition. In "Signum", Witold Giersz, the doyen of Polish animated film, returns to the very source of human fascination with artistic expression - to cave painting. In his film, Giersz with extraordinary expression brings to life the paintings made on the raw walls of the caves and makes a meta-film about the beginning of art in general. The second film, which will be shown in the short film competition, is "Domestication" by Sylwia Gaweł. The diploma film by the graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow is a story about the peculiar relationship between a human being and an animal, made using an interesting form of 2D animation.
In Polish competition, one can see some interesting films by novices. The first one is "A Blue Room" by Tomasz Siwiński. The film, which last year had its premiere in the section Critic's Week at the film festival in Cannes, is an oneiric portrait of a man who finds himself in a critical situation and has to face memories and confront old traumas. Siwiński, who is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, is well-known to the festival audience, and his film has so far won five awards abroad.
"Home" by Agnieszka Borowa is a story about a difficult return to family home. The film tells about the coldness and lack of understanding among the family members and metaphorically depicts what divides them. The film's producer is Fumi Studio from Warsaw. "Creatures" by Tessa Moult-Milewska, made in cut-out technique, is a story of love between protagonists who are excluded and stigmatised by the society they live in.
The only film made in puppet animation technique in the competition is "Woolen Cogwheels" by Bartosz Kędzierski. It is a story about the everyday life together of an elderly couple, who suddenly, thanks to an unexpected event, discover new possibilities for themselves. At this point, it is worth mentioning about the latest film by Małgorzata Bosek, "Two Elements", which, just like the film by Kędzierski, portrays two people living together. Bosek bases her film on humour and very accurate observations.
Another film by the artistic collective Sławomir Shuty and Tomasz Bochniak is "Matrix" The film was made within the frames of the programme Young Animation of the Munk Studio. In their film, made in a particular technique, the directors interpret the Slavic creation myth.
"A Documentary Film" by Marcin Podolec has a high standing among school films. Personal story about the protagonist's father draws attention thanks to its interesting form and well-balanced, profound content. The films by the students of the University of Arts in Poznań are represented in Polish competition by "But she's nice..." by Tomasz Pilarski. The protagonist of his film is a shy boy who tries to get in touch with an accidentally met girl. Łukasz Biernat - a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow - will show his diploma film "Where'd the ghosts go?" in the competition. The film was presented last year during the pitching "Animated in Poland".
Animated films are not missing from the panorama of Polish film, either. In the programme, there is "Drought" by Sara Divjak. The animated film, presented during last year's edition of the pitching Animated in Poland, depicts the attempt at coping with one's own limitations. "Body" by Paulina Majda is a very interesting example of adapting poetry to animated film. The author creates a meta-image, which interprets the role of the body as a means of artistic expression. "Bloody Sunday" by Przemysław Kotyński - a story of a mysterious crime, set in Lublin in the 1930s. - is an attempt to use the form of genre cinema. The fourth 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 from the end of 1980s.
You can read more information about the forthcoming edition of Krakow Film Festival on its official website