News
Warsaw Film Festival Has A-list Status
Almost 150 full-length films and over 100 short films from 57 countries will be shown at the upcoming 25th Warsaw Film Festival, starting October 9th in Multikino Złote Tarasy, Kinoteka and Kultura cinemas.
This year the Warsaw Film Festival was recognized by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) as a category one festival (competitive film festivals), joining the world's twelve most prestigious events, including Cannes, Berlin, Venice and San Sebastian.
"This is the most beautiful present for our 25th anniversary" festival director Stefan Laudyn happily told journalists as he presented the festival programme at a press conference last Thursday.
Firsts awards at Festival in Gdynia
The film Reverse (Rewers) captured five awards outside of the main competition at the 34th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, including the prestigious Press Award. Jacek Borcuch and his film All That I Love (Wszystko co kocham) collected two awards.
Reverse wins in Gdynia
The debut film Reverse (Rewers) by Borys Lankosz received the main Golden Lions Award at the 34th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia.
The film received six out of the 17 awards handed out: Best Leading Actress (Agata Buzek), Best Supporting Actor (Marcin Dorociński), Award for Cinematography (Marcin Koszałka), Award for Music (Włodzimierz Pawlik), and Award for Make-up (Mirosława Wojtczak, Ludmiła Krawczyk, Waldemar Pokromski)
"We have just chosen the best film," said Krzysztof Krauze, chairman of the jury. "We are charmed with the films we saw during the festival. Something wonderful is happening in Polish cinema."
Kinoteka Stockholm: New Film Festival
Late October and early November will bring the first edition of the Kinoteka interdisciplinary Polish film festival to Stockholm (www.kinoteka.se). The event is organized by the Polish Institute in Stockholm in cooperation with the Polish Film Institute and a number of local partners.
Regional Film Funds Catching Up to Europe
The presentation of regional film funds that took place before the annual filmmakers' forum at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia was no coincidence. The increasing significance of regional involvement in film production is a fact. Regional film funds have quickly become an important source of financing film production in Poland.
Jabłoński's War Games to open IDFA
The documentary War Games (Gry wojenne) by Dariusz Jabłoński, about Col. Ryszard Kuklinski who spied for nine years for the CIA, will open the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and compete for its Feature-Length Documentary prize
Immigrants pitched at prestigious Halifax Coproduction Market
Immigrants is a feature film project by Dariusz Jabłoński and Krzysztof Łukaszewicz, inspired by the events of October 2007, when a Polish immigrant, after waiting 10 hours at airport border control, was stunned with a Taser gun by the police and subsequently died. The project took part in the prestigious Strategic Partners international coproduction market that was held on September 17-21 in Halifax, Canada.
Polish Films in Pusan
Six Polish films will be screened at the Pusan Film Festival in South Korea. The festival starts on October 8.
Robert Glinśki's Piggies tours world festivals
After the success of Piggies (Świnki) by Robert Gliński at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the film is booked at international festivals in Israel, the United States, Germany and India, as well as in Warsaw.
Polish cinema in Asia
Several Polish films will be shown this fall at major festivals in Japan, India and South Korea.
World success for Operation Danube
The film Operacja Dunaj (Operation Danube) by Jacek Głomb has been entered in the First Works competition at the Festroia International Film Festival in Setúbal, Portugal. It will also compete for the top international prize at the International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival in October and will be screened at several other festivals this fall.
Polish films fight for European Film...
Two Polish productions, 33 Scenes from Life (33 sceny z życia) by Małgorzata Szumowska and Tatarak (Sweet Rush) by Andrzej Wajda, are on the list of 48 films competing for the European Film Awards.
Andrzej Wajda Awarded in Venice
A Silver Ribbon Award was granted to Andrzej Wajda by Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists for his film Katyń.
Tricks in British cinemas
Tricks (Sztuczki), one of the most-awarded recent films in Poland, will be shown beginning on 2 September in the Curzon Soho cinema and other cinemas in London's West End, as well as selected cinemas across Great Britain.
Premiere of The Courageous Heart...
An exceptional event took place on the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II in Gdańsk - the European premiere of the film The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (Dzieci Ireny Sendlerowej) by John Kent Harrison.
The film, based on the book Mother of the Holocaust Children by Anna Mieszkowska, tells the story of an extraordinary Pole, Irena Sendler, who, with a group of collaborators during World War II, conducted a daring and dangerous campaign to save children from the Warsaw ghetto. She managed to save over 2,500 of them.
27th Torino Film Festival - Call for Entries 2009
The director of the Torino International Film Festival invites filmmakers to apply to the 27th edition of the festival. The deadline for the entries is 21 September 2009.
Mall Girls will be shown in Toronto
The film Mall Girls (Galerianki), a debut by Katarzyna Rosłaniec, was invited to "Discovery" section at Toronto International Film Festival.
Bajon begins Śluby panieńskie
This will be the biggest Polish cinema production since the times of The Revenge (Zemsta) and With Fire And Sword (Ogniem i mieczem). A lot of stars will be playing in the film.
Seven years with Janosik
"The topicality of the story about Janosik was something that attracted us in the script," said Agnieszka Holland after the screening of Janosik. "It is a story about lot and fate, not only a fairy tale." The film by Holland and her daughter, Kasia Adamik will be shown in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia from 4 September.
The Cinematograph in Venice
The animated film The Cinematograph (Kinematograf) by Tomasz Bagiński will compete in international short films competition Corto Cortissimo of the 66th Venice International Film Festival (2-12 September).
Lech Majewski has finished his shoots for The Mill and the Cross (Młyn i krzyż)
The latest film The Mill and the Cross by Lech Majewski, with many film stars - Michael York, Charlotte Rampling, Rutger Hauer - is at the post-production stage.