THE JURY OF FRESH FILM FEST AWARDS TWO POLISH FILMS

Two Polish films - the documentary “When I am a Bird" by Monika Pawluczuk and the graduation film by Paweł Maślona “Magma” were awarded at the 11th edition of the Fresh Film Fest in Prague. The festival was held between 17th and 21st September.

This year, among 17 films qualified for the international short documentary and fiction film competition, there are four films from Poland - apart from the award-winners, these are “Arena” by Martin Rath and “Where I can’t be found” by Arjun Talwar. The names of the winners were announced on the last day of the festival.

“Magma” by Paweł Maślona was given the Best Fiction Film award in the competition. The main protagonist of the film, Janusz, is a salesman in a furniture shop. One day, the man accidentally rips a pillow - this is the first "accident" in the company for a very long time. It seems that it made Janusz very upset. Or maybe it is something else which worries him? Maślona is a graduate of the Radio and Television faculty at the University of Silesia in Katowice; “Magma” is his diploma film. The award at Fresh Film Fest is the third statuette which the film won abroad.

Special Mention went to the documentary by Monika Pawluczuk "When I am a Bird".  MuLa – the film's protagonist - is a member of the Kajan tribe, and her neck is decorated by the characteristic golden circlets. Her life was not easy, she had to leave her home country Burma and look for shelter in Thailand while her only daughter remained abroad. MuLa earns a living selling souvenirs to the tourists, however, the family's financial situation is very difficult. The documentary by Monika Pawluczuk is a record of a woman's struggle with depressing fate and her unquenchable thirst for better life. Wajda Studio is the film's producer.

The promotion of “Magma” and “When I am a Bird” abroad is supported by Krakow Film Foundation.

Though the 11th edition of Fresh Film Fest took place this year, the festival is built on the foundations of the International Festival CILECT RIFE, which for over 30 years was held in Karlove Vary. CILECT RIFE annually presented the films by students of the most prestigious film schools in the world, among others, VGIK, FEMIS, FAMU and NFTS. This tradition is continued by Fresh Film Fest, whose formula was enlarged to include the first and second feature-length film competition - Fresh Generation.

You can read the full list of the award-winning films and more about the festival here