FEBRUARY AT SHORT FILM FESTIVALS

This month, Polish short films will be screened at festivals, among others, in Germany, Belgium, India or Croatia. There are twelve festival screenings in store for us.

A good start of the month was marked by the participation of the animation “To Thy Heart” by Ewa Borysewicz (produced by Animaso, Studio Serafiński) in the short film competition at the Berlinale. The film by Borysewicz was the only Polish short film shown at the festival, the 64th edition of which ended on 16th February.

Berlin International Directors Lounge [DL X] is an event which takes place parallel to the festival in Berlin. Within the frames of the screenings, two Polish films were shown: “Mother” by Łukasz Ostalski (produced by Gdynia Film School) as well as “A Game” - Maciej Marczewski’s debut as a director (produced by Wajda School and Polish Filmmakers Association - Munk Studio). Directors Lounge, organised for the tenth time, is a meeting place of filmmakers with producers and audience and every year it brings together many film professionals.

Diploma film by the graduate of Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts, Małgorzata Rżanek, entitled “Danse macabre”, qualified for the competition of the Jaipur Film Festival in India. The festival, which has been organised since 2009, is one of the fastest growing festivals in India, presenting full-length films as well as short ones. Jaipur is the tenth international festival in which “Danse macabre” took part. In 2013, the film had its premiere in the Cinefondation section at the festival in Cannes.

In the middle of the month, animation festival called Animex was held in England. A short animation “The Railway Watchman” by Piotr Szczepanowicz (produced by Polish Filmmakers Association - Munk Studio, NoLabel) was screened  in the non-competitive short film programme. Animex is one of the leading film festivals in Britain, dedicated to animated films, which combines festival formula with rich programme addressed to animators, film producers and other film professionals. The festival ended on 14 February.

“Eighteenth Birthday”  - the latest documentary short by Marta Prus - qualified for the Zagreb Dox festival in Croatia. It is yet another screening of the film by the student of Łódź Film School. She won renown at the festivals for her previous documentary “Vakha and Magomed”. This year, the festival will be held for the tenth time. In the full-length competition also Polish feature-length documentaries will be screened: “Father and Son” by Paweł Łoziński,“Father and Son on a Journey” by Marcel Łoziński and “Everything is possible” by Lidia Duda. The laureates will be announced on 3rd February.

Six Polish animations qualified for the competition of the Anima festival in Belgium, which will take place for the 33rd time. In the international competition, “Darling” by Izabela Plucińska, “Lost Senses” by Marcin Wasilewski, “Ziegenort” by Tomasz Popakul and “Baths” by Tomek Ducki will compete for the Grand Prix. “Ab ovo” by Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi and “Steven and the Beetle” by Piotr Ngoc will compete for the laurels of the student film competition.  The festival begins on 28 February and lasts until 9 March. 

You can read more about the festival plans in the coming months under the “At festivals” tab.