Polish Animations in Annecy
On March 26, the lineup of the short film section of the 37th Annecy International Animated Film Festival was announced. The competition section will feature a total of nine films by Polish filmmakers. The Annecy International Film Festival runs from June 10 through June 15.
Short Film Competition
Among 52 titles screening in the Short Film Competition at Annecy are three films by Polish animation artists: Dróżnik (The Railway Watchman) by Piotr Szczepanowicz (produced by Munk Studio – Polish Filmmakers Association and by No Label; award winner at film festivals in Krakow and Banja Luka), Liebling by Izabela Plucińska (produced by Clay Traces) and Ziegenort by Tomasz Popakul (produced by No Label; screened at the Rotterdam film festival and others). Polish filmmakers will compete for Annecy awards against such acclaimed artists as Bill Plympton, Yoriko Mizushiri and Paul Wenninger.
Animated Television Series
The 27 animated TV series from around the world screening in competition include two Polish productions: Kacperiada by Wojciech Wawszczyk and Kamil Polak, and Zajączek Parauszek (Flapper & Friends) by Krzysztof Brzozowski, Jacek Łechtański and Luc Toutounghi. Both productions received support from the Polish Film Institute.
Best Music Video
One of the 11 titles selected for the Best Music Video Competition is a video made by Przemysław Adamski and Katarzyna Kijek for the single “Katachi” by Japanese musician Shugo Tokumaru. The Polish duo will compete against the creators of music videos for such acclaimed artists as Bjork or Gotye. At last year’s Annecy Film Festival, the Adamski/Kijek duo received the Best Music Video award for their music video to “Pirate’s Life” by the band We Cut Corners.
Graduation Films
The selection of 51 animated graduation films from around the world will feature three films from Poland: Ab Ovo by Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi (National Film School in Łódź); Ars Moriendi by Miłosz Margański (Artistic University in Poznań), and Plaża by Piotr Prewencki (Artistic University in Poznań).
Polish Films Awarded in Annecy
The Annecy Film Festival is one of the most prestigious animated film festivals in the world. A total of 2,461 short films were submitted for consideration this year. In recent years, several Polish films co-financed by the Polish Film Institute have received awards at Annecy. In 2007, Piotruś i wilk (Peter & the Wolf) by Suzie Templeton won the festival’s Grand Prix. In 2012, the Grand Prix in the animated feature competition went to the Polish-Romanian co-production Droga na drugą stronę (Crulic – the Path to Beyond) by Anca Damian. The 2011 Annecy Film Festival brought awards for three Polish animated films: Świteź (The Lost Town of Świteź) by Kamil Polak (best first film), Paths of Hate by Damian Nenow (special distinction), and Maska (Mask) by the Quay Brothers (Sacem award for original music composed by Krzysztof Penderecki).
The lineup of the animated feature competition of the 37th Annecy International Animated Film Festival will be announced in April.
Further details available at: www.annecy.org.
Marta Sikorska
Translated by Karolina Kołtun