49th Kraków Film Festival
The 49th Kraków Film Festival, which begins on 29 May, will feature 50 films from around the world, new documentaries by outstanding Polish filmmakers, and the only film market in Poland dedicated to promoting short, animated and documentary films.
As in previous years, competitions at the festival will be the key events, with awards in the categories of short films (Polish and international) and documentaries.
The international competition for short films will be dominated by European productions, including 10 from Great Britain, but also films from Japan, Nicaragua, and Singapore.
The Polish competition will attract interest as well, especially the documentary section, where the latest works by Poland’s leading documentary filmmakers will be shown, including Maciej Drygas, Marcel Łoziński, and Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz.
In the feature documentaries section, 12 productions will fight for the Golden Horn statuette. None of these films has been previously screened in Poland.
During the festival, students from Kraków schools will have an opportunity to take part in a special session of Filmoteka Szkolna (School Archives). Three morning screenings for schools will take place in cinemas and Prof. Tadeusz Lubelski will prepare a commentary for them.
For the fourth time, the Kraków Film Market will accompany the festival. This is the only event in Poland (and one of only a few in this part of Europe) promoting short, animated and documentary films. The goal is to promote Polish productions, help national cinematography to penetrate the international market, and support debuting filmmakers.
During the festival, the Dragon of Dragons Award will be presented to Prof. Jerzy Kuci, one of the veterans of Polish animated films. Viewers will be able to watch a retrospective of Kuci’s creativity.
The festival also features “100 Years of Polish Film. 1908-2008”, an exhibition that describes the history of Polish cinematography through photographs, fragments of old reviews and dialogues from films. The exhibition was prepared by the Polish Film Institute in co-operation with the Museum of Cinematography in Łódź and the National Archives. It was shown earlier in Berlin.
Translated by Monika Miziniak | Edited by Patricia Koza