THE SUCCESSES OF THE PRODUCTIONS FROM THE WARSAW FILM SCHOOL
The films by the students of the Warsaw Film School have been present and awarded at many film events in Poland and abroad.
The art-house documentary film "Fuck, it's Biology" by Veronica Andersson, featuring the artist Mariusz Tarkawian, since its premiere at the 59th Krakow Film Festival, has had its screenings at a number of Polish festivals: the 13th Film and Art Festival Two Riversides, the 48th Lubuskie Film Summer and at the On Art Film Festival, including the screenings at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCAK) in Krakow. "Fuck, it's Biology" has won three awards in Poland so far: The Main Audience Award and the 4th Prize in the Short Film Competition at the Baltic Independent Film Festival in Mechelinki (where Filip Hillesland told the audience of the festival about the Warsaw Film School) and the Academic Jury Prize at the festival Kameralne Lato in Radom. It is worth emphasising that the film by Veronica also received many favourable reactions from film critics, and Bartosz Staszczyszyn appreciated the film in his text on the columns of Culture.pl.
The film "Red" by Karina Węgiełek, which was presented within the frames of the KFF Market at the 59th Krakow Film Festival, won the prestigious Audience Award at the festival "Summer with Muses" in Nowogard.
"The belly of a horrible machine, bleeding to death" by Marek Ułan-Szymański has its international premiere in August at the festival HollyShorts in the USA (it is worth mentioning that this is an event which qualifies for the Academy Awards!) , whereas in September, the film will be shown in the Short Film Competition at the 44th Gdynia Film Festival, together with the film "Ticket" by Nikita Tanadzhe. This film has already had its international premiere - at the beginning of summer at one of the largest student film festivals, the 21st TAU International Student Film Festival in Tel Aviv. At the beginning of summer, both films also appeared at the largest film markets for short films at the Palm Springs International ShortFest in the USA.
This summer, the potent graduation film "Daughter" by Mary Tamkovich was awarded, among others, in Portugal, where it won the Cineuropa Audience Award during the 15th FEST Festival. The film continues to conquer the world at prestigious film screenings: this summer, it featured, among others, at the 23rd REGARD Saguenay International Short Film Festival in Canada and in the competition at the 47th Huesca International Film Festival in Spain.
The intimate documentary film "And We'll Be Happy Again" by Krzysztof Wołżański also appeared at the summer film festivals in Poland, and won the extra-statutory prize for the youngest film-maker qualified for the International Short Film Competition at the 13th Film and Art Festival Two Riversides in Kazimierz Dolny. Since its premiere at the 59th Krakow Film Festival, the film has been getting good reviews; it is worth mentioning that Krzysztof Spor and Michał Piepiórka, among others, wrote about the film.
One of the most frequently shown films at the international festivals, "Nuclear Shadows" by Marek Leszczewski, has recently won as many as 3 awards. During the FESTPRO Film Festival in Russia, the film was awarded for the best cinematography and the best sound, whereas at the English Watford Short Film Festival, the film was awarded as the Best Drama.
This year, "Wiki" by Veronica Andersson qualified for, among others, two prestigious international festivals: the 28th dokArt - Films & Future and the 17th Seize The Film Festival in Serbia. The film also qualified for the competition at the European Film Festival Integration You And Me and it will be shown in 16 cities across Poland. "Wiki" has also recently been awarded the Young Jury Award at the 65th OKFA (Prof. Henryk Kluba Polish Independent Film Competition). The film can also boast the Special Mention - the Student Jury Award Viewfinder Cinematography Masterclass for the cameraman Mats Helgesson at the Zsigmond Vilmos International Film Festival in Hungary.
The touching music video "Szarówka" by the graduates of the Warsaw Film School, Dorota Piskor and Tomek Ślesicki (PSYCHOKINO) won the Best Screenplay award at the Polish Music Video Festival YACH FILM, and the music video "Sunshine," directed by Dora Laszlo-Gulyas with the music by Michał Urbaniak was awarded at the Best Student Award in Romania. The short documentary film "7a+" by Julia Ruszczyńska was awarded in the category Portrait as the Best Film at the Festival de Cortometraje Universitario UVAQ in Mexico. The children's horror film "Vacant Rooms" by Bartek Jakubiak won the Best Extra Long Short Award at the Berlin Flash Film Festival in Germany. In the near future, there are screenings at the Polish Solanin Film Festival, for which three films from the Warsaw Film School qualified: the drama "What Remains" by Eliza Godlewska and Alan Ruczyński, the comedy "Cliffs of Infatuation" by Tomasz Kurlej and the documentary film "And We'll Be Happy Again" by Krzysztof Wołżański.
It is also worth mentioning that Julia Ruszczyńska and Sara Kotwicki were chosen to participate in the young jury at the 15th Mountain Film Meetings festival. Sara Kotwicki participated in the film review writing workshops at the Edinburgh International Film Festival; the student of the Warsaw Film School also qualified for the film reviewers workshops at the 26th edition of the European Film Festival Palić in Serbia.