Poland as Guest of Honour at Annecy Film Festival

Poland will feature as the guest of honour at the 37th Annecy International Animated Film Festival, which runs from June 10 through June 15, 2013.

Poland as Special Guest

This year marks the 37th edition of the Annecy International Film Festival. Poland will feature as guest of honour at this year’s event, which also means that the festival lineup will include a significant number of Polish films.

Annecy Film Festival

The Annecy Film Festival is one of the most prestigious animated film festivals in the world. Its significance in the world of animated filmmaking matches that of the Cannes Film Festival for live-action films. Every year, the Annecy festival features approximately 180 animated films from around the world in several competition sections, including feature-length animated films, short animated films, television series, television specials, educational, scientific or industrial films, advertising films, music videos, and graduation films. A special selection of short animated films also screens out of competition.

Polish Animated Films in Annecy

Over 60 Polish films have screened in competition at the Annecy International Film Festival to date. The animated film Krok (The Step) by Piotr Kamler received the festival’s Grand Prize in 1975 and was voted the best film in the festival’s 30-year history. Previous editions of the festival also brought awards for such films as Labirynt (Labirynth) by Jan Lenica, Wszystko jest liczbą by Stefan Schabenbeck, Klatka by Mirosław Kijowicz, Apel by Ryszard Czekała, Och, och… by Bronisław Zeman, Refleksy by Jerzy Kucia, Tango by Zbigniew Rybczyński, Ściany by Piotr Dumała, and Laska by Michał Socha.

Awards for Films Co-Financed by the Polish Film Institute

Awards at the Annecy Film Festival have gone out to several animated films co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. In addition to Droga na drugą stronę (Crulic – The Path to Beyond), which won the Grand Prize in 2012, Piotruś i wilk (Peter & the Wolf) by Suzie Templeton also won the festival’s Grand Prize in 2007. The 2011 Annecy Film Festival brought awards for three animated films co-financed by the Polish Film Institute: Świteź (The Lost Town of Świteź) by Kamil Polak (best first film), Paths of Hate by Damian Nenow (special distinction), and Maska (Mask) by the Quay Brothers (Sacem award for original music composed by Krzysztof Penderecki).

Further details about the festival available at: www.annecy.org.

Paulina Bez

Translated by Karolina Kołtun