The line up of Polish films at international film festival is exceptionally abundant in October, especially in comparison to the previous months of the pandemic. Polish shorts will have a chance to win awards in Spain, Serbia, France and the United States, among others.

The first week of October shows the multitude of Polish titles that international audiences will have the opportunity to see on screens all over the world. The tenth month of this year will start with the prestigious Animatou festival in Switzerland and the Spanish Weird International Animation Market and Festival. The competition of the former included "Guilt" by Marcjanna Urbańska, "The Land Of Whim" by Betina Bożek and "Portrait of Suzanne" by Izabela Plucińska, while the jury of the second festival will evaluate "Acid Rain" by Tomek Popakul and "Story" by Jola Bańkowska. On the first day of October, the Arizona International Film Festival will also begin, the competition of which includes "Red" by Karina Węgiełek, and the Beijing International Shadow & Puppet Art Festival, during which the screening of “Portrait of Suzanne" by Plucińska will take place.

The beginning of the month also marks the launch of film festivals, where Polish shorts will make the strongest mark. On October 2, the Sedicicorto Forlì International Film Festival in Italy will be inaugurated, the competition of which includes "Red Light Train" by Alicja Kot, "Such a Beautiful Town" by Marta Koch, "Story" by Jola Bańkowska and "Portrait of Suzanne" by Plucińska. A day later, the Polish Animator festival will begin, during which the jury will evaluate Tomek Ducki's "Plantarium", Julia Orlik's "I'm here", "We Hope You Won’t Need To Come Back" by Anastasia Naumenko, "backstage_episodes" by Marcin Wojciechowski, "Guilt" by Marcjanna Urbańska and "Such A Beautiful Town” by Marta Koch. At the same time the Portuguese festival of short films, Curtas Vila, will begin, where in the non-competitive sections will be presented "You Are Overreacting" by Karina Paciorkowska, "Bad Night Story" by Nawojka Wierzbowska, "The Hunt" by Mateusz Jarmulski, "Play" by Piotr Sułkowski and "Story" by Jola Bańkowska.

In the following days, Popakul's "Acid Rain" and Barbara Rupik's "Little Soul" will be shown at the IndieCork festival in Ireland, Bańkowska's "Story" will be shown on the screens of Drunken Film Fest in the United States, and "Red" by Karina Węgiełek will be presented to the Filmzeitkaufbeuren Film Festival in Germany. "Bitter Herb" by Maria Ornaf will be included in the Ca'Foscari Short Film Festival in Italy, "Guilt" by Marchanna Urbańska will appear in the non-competition section of the German Monstronale Short Film Festival, "Story" will be judged by the jury of the Copenhagen Short Film Festival, and "Acid Rain" And "Portrait of Suzanne" were included in the competition at the Czech festival Anifilm. At the same time, the screenings of "Me And My Fat Ass" by Yelyzaveta Pysmak (CinEast film festival in Luxembourg), "We Have One Heart" by Katarzyna Warzecha (Mexican DocsMX festival), "The Flood" by Sofya Nabok (Slovenian StopTrik festival) will take place. and "Acid Rain" (Best of Short Films Festival in France)

On October 9, four festivals will begin, which programs include Polish short films. "Play" by Piotr Sułkowski will be shown at the Highlands Films Fest in the United States, and at the Berlin Festival of Animation, non-competition screenings will be "Pussy" directed by Renata Gąsiorowska and "Journey To The Magic Waterfall" by Bogna Kowalczyk. On the same day, the Warsaw Film Festival will begin, during which screenings of Daria Kopiec's "Your Own Bullshit" will be held, "We Hope You Won’t Need To Come Back Here" by Anastazja Naumenko, "Plantarium" by Tonka Ducki, "I am here" by Julia Orlik and "Me and my fat ass" by Yelyzaveta Pysmak. The latter two films were also included in the Un Festival C'est Trop Court competition in Nice. Natalia Krawczuk's "Metro" will also have a show with them.

The prestigious short film festival in Brno will begin in the following week of October. The competition includes "Dog Days" by Zuzanna Grajcewicz, "Such a Beautiful City" by Koch and "Acid Rain" by Popakul. The last two films were also included in the program of the Swiss festival Lausanne Underground Film & Music. Plucińska has a chance for another award for "Portrait of Suzanne" at the Animario Madrid festival, and "We Have One Heart" by Katarzyna Warzecha will compete for awards at the Chicago International Film Festival. In the following days, "Skinny" by Daniel Stopa (International Football Film Festival in Germany), "Acid Rain" (Kinotrip Film Festival in Slovenia), "I'm here" (international film festival in Riga) will also be screened, and in the competition The world festival of short films "shnit" includes "Story" by Bańkowska and "The Exam" by Bartosz Paduch.

The following week, another two screenings await for Bańkowska's film – one at the Imagine Science Film Festival in the United States, the other at the British Bolton International Film Festival. The program of the same event also included Popakul's "Acid Rain". At the Spanish FILMETS Badalona festival, Wierzbowska's "Bad Night Story" and "Bless You!" by Paulina Ziółkowska will compete for prizes. At the same time, "Red" by Karina Węgiełek will be in the competitions of the Taiwanese Women Make Waves Int'l Film Festival and the short film festival in Thessaloniki. Another nomination was also won by "I'm here". This time the film Orlik was selected for the Uppsala International Short Film Festival in Sweden.

One of the most important events of October for Polish shorts will be the Balkanima festival in Serbia. His competition included "Vitae Azilia" by Joanna Wapniewska, "Mock-Heroic" by Hanna Margolis, "Tunnel" by Julia Benedyktowicz, "The Land Of Whim" by Betina Bożek, "Guilt" by Marcjanna Urbańska, "Such A Beautiful Town" by Marta Koch and "Portrait of Suzanne" Izabela Plucińska. At the same time, the Banjaluka festival will be held in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina. "Re-Cycle" by Mateusz Lenart, "The Flood" by Sofya Nabok and "Vitae Azilia" by Joanna Wapniewska will compete for prizes. On a similar date, Polish short films will be visited by three non-European festivals – Bartosz Reetz's "The Stop" was included in the Indian Pune Short Film Festival, and Julia Orlik's "I'm Here" will compete for awards at the Korean Bucheon International Animation Festival and the American Denver Film Festival. Popakul's “Acid Rain” will be shown in the non-competition section of the Norwegian Fredrikstad Animation Festival.

In the last week of October, Orlik’s film will be shown at two additional festivals – the international documentary and animation festival in Leipzig and the Swedish Rex Animation Film Festival. Katarzyna Warzecha's "We Have One Heart" was also included in the competitions of both these festivals. At the same time, two films will become part of the program of the short film festival in Tehran – "Re-Cycle" by Mateusz Lenart and "Metro" by Natalia Krawczuk. A good end to the month is also waiting for Piotr Sułkowski, whose "Play" has entered the competitions of the American Baltimore Next Media Web Fest and the Diamond Star International Film Festival in Malaysia. The festival closing October will be the Big Cartoon Festival in Russia. His selection included "Colaholic" by Marcin Podolec, "Vanilla//Whip" by Bogna Kowalczyk and "Such a Beautiful Town" by Marta Koch.

SEPTEMBER 2020