Pawlikowski Best Director in Vilnius

“Ida”, Fot. Solopan

At the 19th Vilnius IFF, Paweł Pawlikowski received the award for Best Director for his feature Ida, a film co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.

Polish Director Wins Best Director Award

Ida screened within the framework of the festival’s new ‘Baltic Gaze’ competition section, which showcases films from countries in the Baltic region. This new section also featured Chce się żyć (Life Feels Good), a film by Maciej Pieprzyca. This year’s Best Director award went to Paweł Pawlikowski. The winner of the top prize of the festival was Japanese Dog, a film directed by Cristian Jurgiu.

Polish Films Awarded at Pavasaris IFF

At the 2013 edition of the festival, Sławomir Fabicki’s feature Miłość (Loving) received top laurels in the festival’s ‘New Europe – New Names’ main competition, while Grzegorz Zariczny’s Gwizdek (The Whistle) won the international short film festival. In 2012, the winner of the main competition was Wymyk (Courage), a film by Greg Zgliński.

Another Award for the Creators of Ida

The Vilnius award marks yet another success for the creators of Ida. The film has previously received the FIPRESCI jury award in the Special Presentations section of the 38th Toronto International Film Festival and four awards at the 38th Gdynia Film Festival: the Golden Lions for Best Film, the award for Best Cinematography, Best Actress (Agata Kulesza), and Best Production Design (Katarzyna Sobańska and Marcel Sławiński). The film also won top prizes at the 29th Warsaw Film Festival and 57th London Film Festival. Łukasz Żal and Ryszard Lenczewski received the Golden Frog grand prize at the 21st Camerimage International Festival of the Art of Cinematography and the ASC Spotlight Award. Ida was released theatrically in Poland on October 25, 2013. Distribution in Poland is handled by Solopan.

The Pavasaris festival website is available at: www.kinopavasaris.lt.

Paulina Bez

Translated by Karolina Kołtun