CIFEJ Special Award for A. Odorowicz

The special awards ceremony of CIFEJ (Centre International du Film pour l’Enfance et la Jeunesse) took place on January 20 in Warsaw’s Kultura cinema. CIFEJ is an international organization focused on filmmaking and audiovisual production for children and young adults. The General Director of the Polish Film Institute Agnieszka Odorowicz was one of the award winners, recognized for her accomplishments in the field of children’s films.

Head of Polish Film Institute Awarded by CIFEJ

Agnieszka Odorowicz, General Director of the Polish Film Institute, and Jacek Bromski, chairman of the Polish Filmmakers Association, received the CIFEJ special awards for supporting and promoting children’s films. The award was presented by CIFEJ President Firdoze Bulbulia and CIFEJ Secretary General Mohsen Chiniforoushan, and accepted on behalf of Agnieszka Odorowicz by Izabela Kiszka, head of the Department of International Cooperation at the Polish Film Institute.

Witold Giersz Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Witold Giersz, director of animated films for young audiences, received a CIFEJ special award for lifetime achievement. Giersz has directed over 40 animated films made using a variety of techniques. His most acclaimed films include the paint-on-glass films Mały western, Czerwone i czarne, Koń, and Pożar, as well as the puppet animation Oczekiwanie.

CIFEJ

CIFEJ was established in 1955 under the auspices of UNESCO to promote UNESCO’s goals of international cooperation in the field of education, children’s rights to cultural goods, religious tolerance, promoting national languages and cultural diversity through audiovisual media. Currently one of the key goals of CIFEJ is to support and promote the production and distribution of films (including television programmes) for children, and artistic education through the “Kids for Kids” framework.

CIFEJ General Assembly: First Time in Poland

The CIFEJ General Assembly will meet in Poland for the first time from January 20 through January 23. Participants in the General Assembly include filmmakers, producers, distributors, festival directors, and and representatives of CIFEJ member organizations from Europe, Africa, China, India, Canada, and Iran.

Films Across Borders

The General Assembly meetings are a forum for discussing opportunities for enhanced cooperation in producing art house cinema, and educational activity for young audiences, especially in the field of animated student films. One of the key issues will be ‘crossing borders in film’, aimed at encouraging young people to become familiar with the life of their peers in other countries through filmmaking.

CIFEJ currently has 156 members from 54 countries. The organization’s headquarters is based in Tehran.The CIFEJ General Assembly in Warsaw is hosted by the Polish Filmmakers Association, the Polish Film Institute, and the Polish-British Foundation of Films for Young Audiences.

Further details available at: www.cifej.com.

Paulina Bez

Translated by Karolina Kołtun