Firsts awards at Festival in Gdynia

The film Reverse (Rewers) captured five awards outside of the main competition at the 34^th 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 received the Award of Organisers of Polish Film Festivals and Reviews Abroad, the Audience Award of Multikino (PLN 25,000), the Award of Arthouse Cinemas Network, the Award of the Polish Federation of Film Discussion Clubs – Don Quichote statuette (“for an original connection of humour and horror”), and the Press Award.

All That I Love received the Golden Clapper Award from Radio Gdańsk for the film getting the longest applause at the festival. “This is an award from those who are the best cinema experts,” said Jacek Borcuch in thanking the viewers.

Borcuch was also awarded the Golden Kangaroo by Australian film distributors (a second Kangaroo was given to Borys Szyc). The prizes are screenings in Australia and a holiday in the country of kangaroos.

The Amber Lions Award for success in attendance was given to Love and Dance (Kochaj i Tańcz).

In the Independent Competition, the Grand Prix and PLN 10,000 went to Horizontal 8 (8 w poziomie) by Grzegorz Lipiec and his Sky Piastowskie group from Zielona Góra. The jury awarded his “original screenplay and daring directing”, while Piotr Materna and Krzysztof Gawałkiewicz were awarded for “innovative cinematography in independent cinema”, and Tomasz Burka for “wonderful acting creation”.

Special Awards (PLN 2,500 each, funded by the Kino Polska channel) were given to Jan Kwieciński for Incident (Incydent), “for consequent and professional directing”, and to Dominik Matwiejczyk for the screenplay for the film Black (Czarny), “for the courage to undertake difficult and complicated subjects”.

Honorary Mentions were awarded to Mateusz Damięcki for his role in the film Black, Marcin Kabaj for the role in the films Student II and Consumers (Konsumenci) by Hubert Gotkowski and Robert Jarociński, and to Modest Ruciński and Wojciech Solarz for Albert’s Mystery (Tajemnica Alberta).

In the Young Cinema Competition, the Grand Prix (PLN 7,000) went to Dark Rooms Do Not Have to Be Afraid (Ciemnego pokoju nie trzeba się bać) by Jakub Czekaj, a student in the Radio and Television Department of the University of Silesia. The Jury awarded the film for “for innovation in content and film language”.

A Special Award (PLN 4,000) was given to Hanoi-Warsaw (Hanoi-Warszawa) by Katarzyna Klimkiewicz “for introducing the emancipation process in Polish cinema”.

Two Mentions (PLN 2,000 each) were given to Barbara Białowąs for My New Life (Moja nowa droga), “for an ambitious and successful portrait of three generations in contemporary Poland”, and to Ewa Banaszkiewicz for Come to me (Przyjdź do mnie), “for great sensitivity and ability to express emotions”.

Honorary Mentions were given to Thu Ha Mai for his role in the film Hanoi-Warsaw,  Olga Serebryakova for her role in Come to Me (Przyjdź do mnie), and Piotr Skiba for his role in Echo by Magnus Von Horn.

The films were assessed by a jury composed of Janusz Zaorski, Magdalena Schejbal, Maciej Buchwald, Piotr Marecki, and Wojciech Mecwaldowski.

“The level of the competition was very high, and sometimes even masterly,” said Janusz Zaorski, chairman of the jury. “A new, wonderful film generation is coming.”

Translated by Monika Miziniak | Edited by Patricia Koza