"Ab-ovo" Awarded in Annecy

Ab-ovo, directed by Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, received the award for Best Graduation Film at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, which closed on June 15.

Best Graduation Film

The student film Ab-ovo by Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi received the award for Best Graduation Film at the 37th Annecy International Animated Film Festival. This year’s lineup of 51 animated student films from around the world featured three films from Poland. In addition to Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi’s Ab ovo, audiences had the opportunity to see Ars Moriendi by Miłosz Margański (University of Arts in Poznań) and Plaża by Piotr Prewencki (University of Arts in Poznań).

Ab-ovo

Co-financed by the Polish Film Institute and produced at the National Film School in Łódź, Ab-ovo portrays the birth of a new being and the angst that accompanies the changes to the female body when it loses its former shape and undergoes transformation, powered by a force from within. The physical feeling of another human being inside gradually increases, until the moment when it crosses the threshold of the female body, asserting its independence.

Special Focus on Poland

Poland featured as the guest of honour of this year’s Annecy Film Festival; the festival lineup featured a number of events related to Polish animation. Audiences had an opportunity to see films in several special sections dedicated to Polish filmmakers, including works by Damian Nenow, Tomasz Bagiński, Daniel Szczechura, Piotr Dumała, Witold Giersz, Marek Skrobecki, and Piotr Kamler.

Honorary Crystal Award for Jerzy Kucia

On June 10, Jerzy Kucia, creator of such films as Powrót, Winda, and Strojenie instrumentów, received the Honorary Crystal Award of the Annecy Film Festival. The festival lineup also featured a retrospective of films by this director and an exhibition dedicated to his works.

Polish Animation in Focus

On June 12, 2013, the MIFA Annecy International Animation Market featured a special conference entitled ‘Polish Animation in Focus’. The speakers included Izabela Kiszka-Hoflik, Head of International Relations at the Polish Film Institute, director Wojciech Wawszczyk, and Jarosław Sawko and Ole Wendorff-Østergaard of Platige Image.

Polish Films Awarded in Annecy

The Annecy Film Festival is one of the most prestigious events in the world of animated filmmaking. Recent years have brought awards for several Polish animated films co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. In 2007, Piotruś i wilk (Peter & the Wolf) by Suzie Templeton won the festival’s Grand Prize. In 2012, the Grand Prix in the animated feature competition went to the Polish-Romanian co-production Droga na drugą stronę (Crulic – the Path to Beyond) by Anca Damian. The 2011 Annecy festival brought awards for a total of three Polish animations: Świteź (The Lost Town of Świteź) by Kamil Polak (Best First Film), Paths of Hate by Damian Nenow (special recognition), and Maska (Mask) by the Quay Brothers (Sacem award for original music composed by Krzysztof Penderecki).

Further details available at www.annecy.org.

Paulina Bez

Translated by Karolina Kołtun