FIVE UNICA AWARDS FOR POLISH SHORT FILMS!
"You Keep An Eye On Us" by Arek Biedrzycki and "Knife in the Wife" by Vita Maria Drygas won five UNICA awards. The film by Biedrzycki was given Gold Prize in the student competition as well as special awards - for the Best Film and the Jury Prize. "Knife in the Wife" won Bronze Prize in the student competition and the Best Photography award.
UNICA (Union Internationale du Cinéma )is an international non-profit organisation with a seat in Switzerland, which unites non-commercial filmmaking institutions. The main aim of UNICA is to promote international co-operation in the field of culture, art, science and education. Once a year, UNICA organises World Film Competition for student and amateur films.
This year's edition of the competition was held in Saint Petersburg from 5 to 12 September, and it turned out to be very successful for Polish productions, which won five awards. The short fiction "You Keep An Eye On Us" by Arek Biedrzycki won the Unica Gold Prize in the student competition and two special awards - for the Best Film and the Jury Prize. The documentary "Knife in the Wife" by Vita Maria Drygas won the Unica Bronze Prize in the student competition and the special award for the Best Photography. The films were awarded by the international jury consisting of: Bernhard Lindner, Sándor Buglya, Tarmo Hotanen, Paweł Łęski, Wolfgang Allin, Danielle Vioux and Peter Pleshanov. It is worth mentioning that both awarded films are student films from the Faculty of Radio and Television of the University of Silesia.
The protagonists of "You Keep An Eye On Us," He and She, are trapped in the apartment. He is hiding from the consequences of the crime he has committed. She is innocent. The signals of inevitable tragedy come from the outside. The plot of this intimate drama unfolding in one day is inspired by the events that took place for real.
"Knife in the wife" is an impressionistic documentary showing the life of a provincial circus called ‘Arizona’, which is grotesque on some occasions and sad on others. The showpiece of this troupe of six people is throwing knives. Their glory days are over now, their programme is not of the highest order, yet the magic of circus is still there and their young audiences watch the show with flushed cheeks.
You can find the full list of the awarded films at UNICA’s website.