POLISH SHORT FILMS AT INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS IN SEPTEMBER
September is still a hot festival month. Polish short films will be shown at numerous international events and compete for jury recognition and the hearts of the audience. Be sure to check out which productions will be screened in Belgium, Denmark, Great Britain, and the United States.
The end of August saw the start of the 24th Brussels Short Film Festival in Belgium. The program includes three Polish short films – live action “Beyond is the Day” by Damian Kocur, “Hi, How are you” by Michał Chmielewski, and Julia Orlik's animated “I'm Here” Julii Orlik. Kocur's film was also screened at the Aye Aye VO, Nancy International Film Festival in France in the same period.
As many as three Polish live-action shorts will be shown at the BUSHO – Budapest Short Film Festival in Hungary. The non-competitive sections feature “Submission” by Michał Ciechomski and “Last Days of Summer” by Klaudia Kęska, while Nata Szado's “A Flower of One Night” is going to compete for its awards.
The festival month has started for good with the Encounters Film Festival in Great Britain whose competitions are filled to the brim with Polish animated films – “We Hope You Won't Need to Come Back” by Anastazja Naumenko, “Plantarium” by Tomek Ducki, “My Fat Arse and I” by Yelyzaveta Pysmak, “Co-ognition” by Przemysław Świda, “Crumbs of Life” by Katarzyna Miechowicz, “Prince in a Pastry Shop” by Katarzyna Agopsowicz – as well as Andrzej Cichocki's documentary “A Little Bit of Paradise”, and the live-action “Four Cups of Coffee or Three” directed by Sebastian Łach.
A rather large representation of Polish animated films will be shown during the Fantoche International Animation Film Festival in Switzerland. “Anemone Temple” by Justyna Pazdan was invited to its competition, while viewers will see “You Are Overreacting” by Karina Paciorkowska, “The Moon” by Tomek Popakul, and “III” by Marta Pajek in the non-competitive sections.
A total of three festivals starring Polish animated films will begin on 9 September. The jury of Lithuania's BLON Animation & Games Festival will get to evaluate Julia Orlik's “I'm Here” while that of the 27th L'Étrange Film Festival in France will decide on Daria Kopiec's “Your Own Bullshit”. In turn, Yelyzaveta Pysmak's “My Fat Arse and I” will be competing for awards during the Zlin Film Festival in the Czech Republic. Two other events are going to feature short documentaries – Marcin Polar's “The Tough” will be presented in competition at the Mosor Film Festival in Croatia, and “The Vibrant Village” by Weronika Jurkiewicz will compete for awards at – again – the Czech Republic's Zlin Film Festival.
The short documentary by Gosia Juszczak is going to enjoy numerous festival screenings. “Stolen Fish” will be shown at Ecofalante in Brazil, Directed by Women in Spain, the Split Film Festival in Croatia, the Helsinki International Film Festival in Finland, Film Festival Bahari in Indonesia, FIKE in Portugal, the Izmit International Short Film Festival in Turkey, the Matsalu Nature Film Festival in Estonia, the Bolton International Film Festival in Britain, and the South African Jozi Film Festival.
Two Polish animated films will be shown during the Loudoun Arts Film Festival in the United States – “Portrait of Suzanne” by Izabela Plucińska and “The Land of Whim” by Betina Bożek. At the same time, the program of the 9th International Film Festival FERFILM in Kosovo features the animated documentary “We Have One Heart”.
Katarzyna Warzecha's film is enjoying yet another good month. After Kosovo, it will travel to Germany. In addition to “We Have One Heart”, the Neisse Film Festival will also see “The Flood” by Sofya Nabok, “The Portrait” by Agnieszka Buczyńska, Marta Mikołajczyk, and Michał Barylski – as well as “Where The Cows Live” by Bartek Cebula and „Problem” by Tomasz Wolski – compete for its awards. Following the German festival, Warzecha's film will also visit the International Film Festival Elbe Dock in the Czech Republic, the Orvieto Cinema Fest in Italy, and Animatou International Animation Film Festival in Switzerland – which has invited a large representation of Polish productions. “Your Own Bullshit” by Daria Kopiec, “I'm Here” by Julia Orlik, and “The Moon” by Tomek Popakul are all competing for the latter's awards.
Drama International Short Film Festival will be held in Greece in the first half of the month. Its program includes “The Visit” by Mateusz Jarmulski. In turn, Joanna Dudek's animated “Ashes” will be screened at the Helsinki International Film Festival Love & Anarchy.
Each of the following festivals includes two Polish films in their programs: the Guanajuato International Film Festival in Mexico, with “Crumbs of Life” by Katarzyna Miechowicz and “My Fat Arse and I” by Yelyzavety Pysmak, the Lille International Short Film Festival in France screening Anastazja Naumenko's “We Hope You Won’t Need to Come Back” and Julia Orlik's “I'm Here”, and the Best of International Short Films Festival, which will also include the film by Julia Orlik alongside Izabela Plucińska's “Portrait of Suzanne”.
Polish productions are also going to be presented at the Ottawa International Animation Festival – including a premiere screening of Marta Pajek's latest animated film “Impossible Figures and Other Stories I”. In Canada, you will also get to see “Crumbs of Life” by Katarzyna Miechowicz and “Not So Scary a Crocodile” by Grzegorz Koncewicz. You can read more about it here.
The 11th edition of StopTrik International Film Festival will take place near the end of the month. Three Polish titles will be competing for awards there – “I'm Here” by Julia Orlik, “Your Own Bullshit” by Daria Kopiec, and “Plantarium” by Tomek Ducki. In turn, Julia Pełka's “Fat Kathy” will be up for awards at the Crested Butte Film Festival in the United States. The Indiecork Festival of Independent Film & Music is scheduled in Ireland in a similar timeframe. Three Polish short films were invited to participate in the festival – “I'm Here” by Julia Orlik, “Beyond is the Day” by Damian Kocur, and “We Have One Heart” by Katarzyna Warzecha.
A complete list of festival screenings is available here.