"The Youth and Film" - The Festival of Film Debuts in Koszalin begins

This year for the third time the festival “The Youth and Film” will have a national formula, with only Polish debuts in the competition. In the feature debuts category, 12 films will be shown; in short films there will be 54 features, animations, and documentaries.

Traditionally, each screening will end with discussion entitled “Honesty to Honesty” (“Szczerość za szczerość”) during which the creators will confront the opinions of critics and viewers.

The work of the two juries will be led by Radosław Piwowarski and Maciej Pieprzyca. In the feature debuts competition, the main award is the Great Amber (Wielki Jantar) Statuette, Ambers will also be given for scripts, acting debuts, and shoots, as well as an award for Best Sound funded by Toya Studios.

For the first time, jurors will also bestow the Stanisław Różewicz Award for Best Directing.

The jury assessing short films has three Small Ambers to grant, for the best plot, animation, and documentary plus three honourable mentions. Journalists and viewers will also award their best films.

The programme will include a retrospective called “Jantary na 100-lecie kina” featuring past films which premiered at the festival, plus a presentation of the last year’s best foreign debuts, and out-of-competition screenings of Demakijaż by Maria Sadowska, Dorota Lamparska and Anna Maliszewska, and Before the Twilight (Jeszcze nie wieczór) by Jacek Bławut.

Other events include the exhibition “100 Years of Polish Cinema” prepared by PISF, a retrospective of posters by Rafał Olbiński, and a rich musical programme of Polish jazz and alternative music (Smolik, Muchy, Black Heritage Orchestra, and Artur Dutkiewicz Trio).

“The Youth and Film” festival is also a forum for environmental discussion. This year the organisers have arranged informational panels about the recently established Łódź Film Commission, and Regional Film Funds, and a discussion led by Janusz Kijowski about the condition of Polish cinematography.

The young filmmakers will also take part in the second meeting of Script Laboratory, organised by the Munk Studio.

Jacek Paprocki is the festival’s director and Janusz Kijowski is the programme director. The organisers are the Marshal of West Pomerania Voivodeship, the City of Koszalin, and the Polish Filmmakers Association. The producer is the Centre of Culture 105 in Koszalin.

The festival was twice nominated for PISF awards and is co-financed by the Institute.

The festival runs 16-20 June. The programme and details may be found at www.mif.org.pl

Translated by Monika Miziniak | Edited by Patricia Koza