Year 2018 proved to be very successful for Polish short films. Over 120 of them were presented during over 360 festival screenings all over the world and awarded with over 60 prizes. Polish short films were also a special guest at festivals in Tampere and Leuven.

Last year Polish short fiction films took part in over 360 screenings at over 190 festivals all over the world, almost 260 of which were competition screenings.

A short Polish film which was presented most often at international festivals in 2018 was "Tremors" by Dawid Bodzak, which last year was shown around the world 26 times. The runner-up was "Nuclear Shadows" by Marek Leszczewski, and the third place belongs to Milena Dutkowska's short film "Bogdan and Rose" with 13 screenings. Two films were shown on 12 festival – "Leszy" and "Raspberries" by Mateusz Motyka and there were two films: "Off the Hook" by Pat Howl Kostyszyn and "The Best Fireworks Ever" by Aleksandra Terpińska with 11 screenings each.

Five shorts were shown in 2018 ten times: "Casting" by Katarzyna Iskra, "Morning Has Broken" by Olga Chajdas, "Nothing New Under the Sun" by Damian Kocur, "Place cards" by Andrzej Święch and "Heimat" by Emi Buchwald.

"The Lake" by Catherine Kasima Kanda was screened at 21 international film festivals.

Polish short fiction films finished 2018 with over 60 awards. A film which was most successful abroad was "Tremors" which won eight awards. Five awards went to "Adaptation" by Bartosz Kruhlik, "Daughter" by Mary Tamkovicz and "It's Really Awesome" by Katarzyna Warzecha. Other films on the podium are "The Best Fireworks Ever" and "Deer Boy" by Katarzyna Gondek with four awards.

In 2018 Polish short films were present at important festivals. Already in January three shorts, including one fiction film "Deer Boy", were presented at Sundance Festival in the USA. Four Polish short films were presented at Trieste Film Festival, while "60 Kilos of Nothing" came back from the festival with an award. February brought the success of "Tremors" by Dawid Bodzak, the Grand Prix winner at the festival in Clermont-Ferrand.

Five Polish short films were invited last October to the competition at Kaohsiung Film Festival in Taiwan and Valladolid Film Festival in Spain. Four Polish shorts were included in the programme of Premiers Plan Festival in France, while six shorts made it to Bogotá Short Film Festival. Polish short films were also present in Canada at Quebec City Film Festival.

In March 2018 Krakow Film Foundation co-organised the Polish short film programme at Tampere Film Festival in Finland. In the Poland in Focus section the audience saw eighteen Polish short film productions – fiction, documentary and animation.

At the beginning of December Polish cinema was a special guest at Leuven International Short Film Festival. During three screenings the festival audience saw Polish short productions which were previously awarded around the world, as well as short films by Roman Polanski. KFF was a partner of the event.

In 2018 Łódź Film School celebrated its 70th birthday. For that reason the selection of films made in the school was presented at the biggest international festivals including Clermont-Ferrand in France and Kaohsiung Film Festival in Taiwan. The audiences saw both school films from recognised directors who graduated from Łódź Film School, such as Roman Polanski, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Andrzej Wajda and Małgorzata Szumowska, as well as more recent festival winning films.

In February the Krakow Film Foundation organised for the twelfth time the Polish Shorts national stand at International Short Film Market in Clermont-Ferrand – Europe's biggest market dedicated solely to short film. The stand, which during five days was visited by hundreds of people, promoted the latest Polish short productions. The accredited producers and distributors had a chance to renew old and create new international connections. It is worth mentioning that three Polish films took part in the competition at Clermont-Ferrand: "Jerry" by Roman Przylipiak, "Tremors" by Dawid Bodzak and "Dust" by Jakub Radej.

The events organised and co-organised by KFF received funding from the Polish Film Institute. The partners were Krakow Festival Office and Krakow Film Commission.

The international partners were Clermont-Ferrand ISFF, Leuven ISFF and Tampere FF.

THE LIST OF POLISH SHORT FILMS AWARDED IN 2018*

Adaptation, dir. Bartosz Kruhlik

Vintage International Film Festival, India – Best Short Film

3rd Piggy Bank International Short Film Festival, India – Best Story

Cine Campus International Student's Film Festival, Puerto Rico – 2nd place

Rome Independent Prisma Awards, Italy – Best Short Film, Best Student Director

Ticket to the cinema, dir. Agnieszka Wanicka

KinoFilm Manchester International Short Film Festival, Wielka Brytania – Best Newcomer

Bogdan and Rose, dir. Milena Dutkowska

Unica Film Festival, Slovakia – Gold Medal

38th Cambridge Film Festival, United Kingdom – Crystal Punt Audience Award for Best Short Film

Casting, dir. Katarzyna Iskra

12th River Film Festival, Italy – Jury Special Mention

14th Monterrey International Film Festival, Mexico – Mejor Cortometraje Internacional de Ficción

7th Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival, Indie – Best Student Film

Daughter, dir. Mara Tamkovich

5th Taratsa International Film Festival, Greece – Best International Film, Best Cinematography

Jahorina Film Festival 2018, Bosnia and Herzegovina – Best film directing in short feature

Linz International Short Film Festival 2018, Austria – Best Script

Listapad Minsk IFF, Belarus – Best Fiction Film

International Uşak Winged Seahorse Short Film Festival, Turkey – Second Best Film in International Competition)

Deer Boy, dir. Katarzyna Gondek

4th Valletta Film Festival, Malta – Best Short Film

14th Hollyshorts Film Festival, USA – Best Produced

SITGES Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, Spain – Best shortfilm Noves Visions

SediciCorto Film Festival, Italy – Gran Prix Luminor

Tremors, dir. Dawid Bodzak

Clermont-Ferrand ISFF, France – Grand Prix International

7th Kyiv International Short Film Festival, Ukraine – Special Mention

15th IndieLisboa Film Festival, Portugal – Schools Award

21st Guanajuato International Film Festival, Mexico – Best International Short Fiction Film

17th International Best of Short Films Festival, France – Honourable Mention of the Young Jury

Seminci – Valladolid IFF, Spain – Silver Spike

Kaohsiung Film Festival 2018, Taiwan – International Grand Prize

Cinemaiubit International Student Film Festival, Romania – Best Actor Award

Dregs, dir. Kordian Kądziela

Short Waves 2018, Poland – Audience Award

41st Poitiers Film Festival, France – French Critics’ Discovery Prize

Heimat, dir. Emi Buchwald

Short Waves 2018, Poland – 2nd Prize

Jadłowstręt, reż. Katarzyna Babicz

Atlanta Horror Film Festival, USA – Best Student Film

Jerry, dir. Roman Przylipiak

Open Place Film Festival, Latvia – Best Directing

The Lake, dir. Catherine Kasima Kanda

5th Pink City International Short Film Festival, Indie – Honorable mention

Berlin Flash Film Festival – Special Mention

It's Really Awesome, dir. Katarzyna Warzecha

30th Premiers Plans Film Festival, France – Mention Spéciale Films D’écoles Européens

11th International Film and Music Festival Küstendorf, Serbia – Best Cinematography

5th Taratsa International Film Festival, Greece – Best Directing

Autumn in Voronet International Film Festival, Romania – Best Directing Award in the Student Competition

Short Distance, dir. G. Pierangeli

Woodengate Film Festival, Romania – Best Actress

Place Cards, dir. Andrzej Święch

Flash Film Festival w Berlinie – Best Short Drama

The Seoul Guro International Kids Film Festival – Best European Short Film

A Short Film about Sadness, dir. Chiang Ming-Wei

Contact International Student Film Festival, Turkey – Grand Prix for the Best Short Film

The Best Fireworks Ever, dir. Aleksandra Terpińska

Open Place Film Festival, Latvia – Grand Prix, Best Actress

2018 PRINDIE: Princeton Independent Film Festival, USA – Golden Cup, Grand Performance

Nothing New Under the Sun, dir. Damian Kocur

Short Waves 2018, Poland – 1st Prize

Autumn in Voronet International Film Festival, Romania – Grand Prix in the Student Competition

Student International Film Festival STIFF, Croatia – Special Award

Leszy, dir. Mateusz Motyka

Redline International Film Festival, Kanada – Nagroda the Best Supporting Actor dla Łukasz Gawroński

SHORT to the Point, Rumunia – Nagroda the Best Student Short Film Award

Raspberries, dir. Mateusz Motyka

Redline International Film Festival, Kanada – nagroda w kategorii the Best Art Direction

My Name Is Julita, dir. Filip Dzierżawski

Open Place Film Festival, Latvia – Best Cinematography

Wasteland, dir. J. Michnikowski

USA Film Festival Dallas, USA – Cinematography Award

Romantik, dir. Mateusz Rakowicz

17th Reggio Film Festival, Italy, 2018 (Special Mention)

Weightlifter, dir. Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk

Molodist IFF, Ukraine – Best Film in the National Competition

11th Lviv International Short Film Festival Wiz-Art, Ukraine – Special Mention UA Competition

34th Warsaw Film Festival, Poland – Short Grand Prix

Off the Hook, dir. Pat Howl Kostyszyn

OpenEyes Filmfestival, Germany – Audience Award for the Best Fiction Film

Un festival c’est trop court, France – Student Jury Award

48th ALCINE – Festival de Cine de Alcalá de Henares, Spain – Audience Award

Techno, dir. Tadeusz Łysak

Sao Paulo Film Festival, Brazil – Grand Prix for Best Student Film

Sulmona International Film Festival, Włochy – Best Actor – Leszek Abrahamowicz

Theatrum Magicum, dir. Marcin Giżycki

2nd Best Fiction Film Festival, USA – Audience Award, Special Mention

Cradle Me, dir. David Tejer

16th Asiana International Short Film Festival, Korea – Special Jury Award

Nuclear Shadows, dir. Marek Leszczewski

Amarcort Film Festival – WINNER ALDINA SECTION

International East Sarajevo Film Fest – GRAND PRIX

6 on Nebraska – Best Student Director, Best Student Short, Best Story, Best Young Actor

I Know, dir. Piotr Nalazek

Watersprite Film Festival, United Kingdom – Cinematography Award

Evil Deeds, dir. Piotr Domalewski

17th Reggio Film Festival, Italy – Laity Award

The Frog King, dir. Arek Biedrzycki

Autumn in Voronet International Film Festival, Romania – Best Cinematography Award in the Student Competition

*data collected based on the information sent to Polish Shorts by producers, filmmakers and festival organisers. If you know about awards given to Polish short films abroad which were not mentioned above, please send the appropriate information to our address: redakcja@polishshorts.pl

FEBRUARY 2019