The Polish Competition 2016

Filmy poprzednich edycji

• Fighting Fish, 12'12”

  Production: PL 2015

  An incredibly insightful and intimate study of motherhood, different shades of which have been shown in a mere 12 minutes. The main protagonist, Sylwia, a wife and a mother, is a psychologically strong woman who exhibits tendencies to dominate and control everyone around her. The protagonist bravely endures her fate and tries to raise her two sons the best she can. The fighting fish is a freshwater species often kept in aquaria. In Anna Pawluczuk's film it becomes a motif that triggers the action and perfectly defines Sylwia, who takes up a brave fight against arduous everyday life.

  

  

  

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• Goran the Camel Man, 17'22”

  Production: PL 2016

  Goran, or actually Ronald Charles Verdon, comes from Switzerland and for 27 years has been living a nomadic, vagrant life. Everything he owns is a distinctive wagon, which he travels by accompanied by his favourite animals: dogs, goats, and camels. The protagonist travels the Silk Road with grace and pride. Twice already has he managed to successfully travel the path leading through Mongolia, Iran, Turkey, Italy, and France. Marcin Lesisz presents a snippet of this incredible homo viator’s life in a fascinating way. We follow his adventures, encounters with people, and the difficulties of travel. The film’s undeniable strong point is its beautiful cinematography, which will stay long in the viewer’s memory.

  

  

  

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• The Works, 9'20”

  Production: PL 2015

  Janusz Szymański’s film is very often described as a “study in cinematography.” The director shows the collapse of the “Autotraktori” factory located in the suburbs of Tirana, the capital of Albania, and the stories of three labourers still assiduously working there. The author presents their toil and their everyday life. One can feel the presence of two different times in the picture – the bygone (when the plant was still vibrant) and the present (a fall of the works and the metallurgy industry).

  

  

  

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• Patriotic Lesson, 20'7"

  Production: DE/PL 2016

  The film presents a competition of patriotic song, held in a Polish primary school on Independence Day (11th of November). The director has been consistent with the black-and-white stylistics, which produces a splendid result. As viewers we watch the students of varying age and vocal abilities compete against each other. Their parents and grandparents observe the whole event with wonder, moved. The picture was screened at the Swiss festival VISIONS DU REÉL.

  

  

  

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• My First Time in My Life, 14'59"

  Production: PL 2016

  This 15-minute documentary film shows a typical day of mister Henryk. For the first time, however, something exceptional happens – something our protagonist will never forget. The film is set in contemporary Szczecin. Its director is Krzysztof Kuźnicki, known Szczecin-based director and culture animator. In 2011 it was him who initiated the creation of the Kamera Association, which successfully popularises film art in the West Pomerania region.

  

  

  

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• We Need to Talk, 16'18"

  Production: PL 2016

  “We need to talk” is a very intimate and moving documentary film made in the classic “talking heads” convention. The director has created his work from a series of personal messages by people who have recently lost someone very close and, with the help of the camera, are trying to talk to the dead as if they were still alive. The film medium becomes a form of self-therapy for the participants. Jędrzej Michalak presents portraits of people who had been struck by death and live in its shadow, making them very believable psychologically. This has resulted in a picture that talks about life where death is a natural, unavoidable, and traumatic event. Sooner or later, everyone will need to face it and go through several obligatory emotional stages such as denial, anger, sorrow, and, finally, acceptance.

  

  

  

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• The Breath, 13'50”

  Production: PL 2015

  An ascetic story, one that captivates with beautiful cinematography, of a young man who decides one day to commit suicide in verdant surroundings. The director has created a fascinating, mysterious film, which keeps escaping any poetics- or genre-related classification. Is this a documentary, a feature, or an experimental film? Or maybe it is made up of parts from all these categories? The film was directed by Maciej Jarczyński, a young and talented director from Chojnice, whose earlier, short documentary film “85625” (2014) was presented in Cannes and in Los Angeles.

  

  

  

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• Shoulder the Lion, 73'35”

  Production: PL/FR/USA/UK 2015

  “Shoulder the lion” is a film that crosses the boundaries of the traditional language of film. The result is a visually rich film essay touching upon the problems such as the meaning of images, of the evanescence of our memories, and the need that we all have to understand the modern world. The film’s creators take us into the fascinating world of three artists: a photographer, a musician, and a painter, who have lost the sense enabling them to create their art. The picture poses weighty questions concerning the role of art in modern, uncertain times. The film has successfully been shown at many international festivals, where it was awarded as the best documentary (Hot Springs, Salem Film Fest, Trenton Film Festival). Before the screening, however, the viewer needs to reject the classic style of film perception.

  

  

  

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• The Realm of Forgotten Existence, 27'54"

  Production: PL/UK 2015

  While the film’s cinematography shows a landscape which often seems unchanged, the narration reveals fragments of forgotten stories and traditions, abilities, and professional life, which are no longer valued in modern society. In Piotr Pasta’s film we meet aged people from the Scottish-English border city of Berwick-upon-Tweed, who are at the end of their life’s journey. We do not see them, but we do hear their voices. The film connects accounts of oral history, archive materials, and new film footage.

  

  

  

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• The River, 10'50"

  Production: PL 2016

  Just like the memorable Alice in Wonderland from Lewis Carrol’s classic, seven-year-old Nelly paces the Polish land right by the river Bug. For Nelly, the landscape of this uncanny borderland river becomes an unforgettable place of play and numerous new experiences. One day an incredibly important and “adult” question is born in the girl’s mind: what is freedom, what does it mean, and what are its boundaries? The key to the answer is held by her little two-year-old brother.

  

  

  

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