“PAPARAZZI” WINS NOMINATION FOR EFA!

At the recently finished 51. Krakow Film Festival the Short Film Nominee for the European Film Awards 2011 has been announced. The nomination went to Polish documentary – “Paparazzi” by Piotr Bernaś. This is the great beginning of international film career.


‘Kasia Cichopek has bought a potty’ – Polish paparazzi wait for hours to take a photo illustrating this sensational news; they wait near shops, in streets or by the celebrities’ homes. The film documents the life of a Polish paparazzo who, just like his Western colleagues, follows the rich and the famous, hunting for sensation. But unlike those in Los Angeles, Polish celebrities lead boring lives. That is why the paparazzo, tempted by big money, dumps Kasia Cichopek’s potty and decides to play for really high stakes.


Paparazzi” by Piotr Bernas - which was produced by Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing and is supported in a field of promotion by Krakow Film Foundation -  took part in the short film competition at 51. Krakow Film Festival. Also in Krakow the has its world premiere.The nomination for the award European Film Academy Short Film 2011 was given by the international jury including the following members: Lech Kowalski (USA), Bartek Konopka (Poland), Ülo Pikkov (Estonia), João Garção Borges (Portugal) and Delphine Lyner (Switzerland).


The jury statement reads: “The Polish film, Paparazzi, follows the work of a professional doing the dirty job of tabloid press photographer and at the same time deals with the soul of a man facing both the cruel and contemporary reality of history and the minor facts of life. After this film there is a good chance that Polanski will allow the photographer to take his picture.”


The short films nominated for EFA, European Film Award, are selected from the films shown in the international competitions of fifteen European film festivals which take place in: Ghent, Cork, Valladolid, Berlin, Bristol, Angers, Tampere, Rotterdam, Krakow, Grimstad, Locarno, Villa de Conde, Sarajevo, Venice and Drama in Greece. The winners will be announced during the annual award ceremony – this year the gala will be held in Berlin (December, 3rd).


So far nine nomination has been announced.“Paparazzi” joins the following nominees: “Berik” by Daniel Joseph Borgman (Denmark), selected at the Flanders IFF - Ghent; “Små Barn, Stora Ord” (“Little Children, Big Words”) by Lisa James-Larsson (Sweden), selected at Valladolid IFF; “Händelse Vid Bank” (“Incident by a Bank”) by Ruben Östlund (Sweden), selected at Corona Cork FF; „Derby” by Paul Negoescu (Romania), selected at Bristol FF; “Jessi” by Mariejosephin Schneider (Germany), selected at Premiers Plans - Festival d’Angers; “I Lupi” (“The Wolves”) by Alberto de Michele (Italy/The Netherlands), selected at Rotterdam IFF; “Återfödelsen” (“The Unliving”) by Hugo Lilja (Sweden), selected at Berlin IFF; and “Silent River” by Anca Miruna Lăzărescu (Germany/Romania), selected at Tampere FF.


It is worth to add that this is the third nomination for EFA for Polish short film, moreover, the predecessors of "Paparazzi" won the Award. Last year EFA went to Katarzyna Klimkiewicz for her short fiction "Hanoi-Warsaw", and in 2009 - it went to Marcel Łoziński for his documentary "Poste Restante".


The next nomination will be presented in co-operation with the Norwegian Short Film Festival Grimstad in June.


More information can be found at: www.europeanfilmacademy.org.