Polish Animations and Oscars

45 short animated films will compete for the 2012 Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced. Eleven of these are Polish films and films co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.

The deadline for submitting short animated projects was October 3. Screenings of the 45 competing animated films will be held in Los Angeles and New York City.

Polish Animated Films Compete for Oscars

This year’s animated shorts, aside from films by studios such as Disney or Pixar, include also Polish films. Eight films are projects of the Polish-British film studio BreakThru Films. BreakThru Films previously produced, together with Lodz-based Se-Ma-For studios, the best short animated film of 2008; the Academy Award then went to their film Piotruś i wilk (Peter & the Wolf), directed by Suzie Templeton.

All films submitted for Academy Award consideration by BreakThru Films were made as part of the Flying Machine project (which consists of a full-length feature film and a collection of short films). These short films were made in co-production between Poland and China. The directors’ nationalities are provided in parentheses.

• Chopin’s drawings / Szkice Chopina, directed by Dorota Kobiela (Poland);
• Fat Hamster / Państwo Chomikowie, directed by Adam Wyrwas (Poland);
• Hamster Heaven / Chomiczy raj, directed by Paul Bolger (Ireland);
• Little Postman / Mały Listonosz, directed by Dorota Kobiela (Poland);
• Night Island / Nocna Wyspa, directed by Salvador Maldonado (Venezuela);
• Papa’s Boy / Synek Tatusia, directed by Leevi Lemmetty (Finland);
• Spirits of the Piano / Skrzaty Fortepianu, directed by Magda Osińska (Poland);
• The Magic Piano / Zaczarowany fortepian, directed by Martin Clapp (United Kingdom)

How To Get Nominated?

The Academy Awards short list also includes films awarded at various international film festivals. The condition for Oscar consideration is an award at film festivals in Sydney, Venice, or Zagreb, among others. The Krakow Film Festival is a Polish event that also enables acquiring a nomination, as was the case for the Oscar-winning picture The Wasp by Andrea Arnold. As of next year, the Warsaw Film Festival will also be eligible for qualifying for Academy Award nominations.

Festivals Nominate Polish Films

Polish animated films received awards at many festivals this year. Thus Świteź (The Lost Town of Świteź) by Kamil Polak (award at Palm Springs), and Paths of Hate by Damian Nenow (recognition at the Annecy film festival) were also shortlisted for the Academy Awards. Maska (The Mask) by the Quay brothers is among shortlisted candidates thanks to its award at the Montreal Festival du Nouveau Cinéma in Canada. The complete list of qualifying festivals is available on the official Academy Award website.

Further details about shortlisted films available at: www.imdb.com, www.awardscircuit.com, www.awn.com, www.cartoonbrew.com, www.hitfix.com, www.ropeofsilicon.com.

The list of five films nominated for the Academy Award will be announced on January 24, 2012. The 84th Academy Awards ceremony will be held on February 26, 2012.

Marta Sikorska

Translated by Karolina Kołtun