Polish Animations at 37th Annecy IFF
Ten Polish animated films have been selected to screen in competition at the 37th Annecy International Film Festival in France, which runs from June 10 through June 15, 2013. This year Poland is celebrated as guest of honour of the festival.
Special Focus on Poland
Poland will be the guest of honour of the upcoming edition of the Annecy Film Festival. As a result, the festival lineup will feature a number of events related to Polish animation. Audiences will have an opportunity to see films in several special sections dedicated to Polish filmmakers, including works by Damian Nenow, Tomasz Bagiński, Daniel Szczechura, Piotr Dumała, Witold Giersz, Marek Skrobecki, and Piotr Kamler.
Short Film Competition
Among 52 titles screening in the Short Film Competition of the Annecy International Film Festival are four films by Polish animators: Dróżnik (The Railway Watchman) by Piotr Szczepanowicz (produced by Munk Studio of the 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) Ziegenort by Tomasz Popakul (produced by No Label; previously screened in Rotterdam), and Lost Senses by Marcin Wasilewski, award winner at the 2013 Siggraph festival in Los Angeles. Polish filmmakers will be in the running for Annecy awards against such filmmakers as Bill Plympton, Yoriko Mizushiri and Paul Wenninger.
Animated Television Series
The lineup of 27 animated series from around the world also features 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 eleven titles selected for screening in the Best Music Video Competition is a clip 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 Björk and 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 (University of Arts in Poznań) and Plaża by Piotr Prewencki (University of Arts in Poznań).
Honorary Crystal Award for Jerzy Kucia
This year the Honorary Crystal Award of the Annecy film festival will go to Polish animated filmmaker Jerzy Kucia, creator of such films as Powrót, Winda, and Strojenie instrumentów. The festival lineup also features a retrospective of films by Jerzy Kucia. An exhibition dedicated to the works of Jerzy Kucia and Walerian Borowczyk will be on display at the Musée-Château until June 16, 2013.
Polish Animation in Focus
On June 12, 2013, the MIFA Annecy International Animation Market will feature a special conference entitled ‘Polish Animation in Focus’, which will be attended by Izabela Kiszka-Hoflik, Head of International Relations at the Polish Film Institute, director Wojciech Wawszczyk, and Jarosław Sawko and Ole Wendorff-Østergaard of Platige Image.
Polish Films Awarded in Annecy
The Annecy Film Festival is one of the most prestigious events in the world of animated filmmaking. Recent years have brought awards for several Polish animated films co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. In 2007, Piotruś i wilk (Peter & the Wolf) by Suzie Templeton won the festival’s Grand Prize. 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 festival brought awards for a total of three Polish animations: Świteź (The Lost Town of Świteź) by Kamil Polak (for best first film), Paths of Hate by Damian Nenow (special mention), and Maska (Mask) by the Quay Brothers (Sacem award for original music composed by Krzysztof Penderecki).
Further details available at: www.annecy.org.
Marta Sikorska, Paulina Bez
Translated by Karolina Kołtun