Polish Films at 2014 Filmfest Dresden

Several Polish films will screen at the Dresden International Short Film Festival, which runs from April 15 through April 20, 2014.

Polish Films in Main Competition

The lineup of the festival’s international main competition features five Polish shorts:

• Ex Animo, directed by Wojciech Wojtkowski. A six-minute animated film that has received a number of awards to date, including the Bronze Line Award for Best Professional Film at the 2014 OFAFA Polish Festival for Auteur Animation Films and the Grand Prize in the Animated Film category at the Rhode Island International Film Festival in Providence.
• Arbuz (Watermelon), directed by Tato Kotetishvili. A film about a day in the life of a watermelon salesman, which has previously received he Silver Hobby-Horse award for Best Feature Film in the Polish Competition at the Krakow Film Festival and received the award for Best Film Under 10 Minutes at the Brno 16 International Short Feature Film Festival.
• Chomik (The Hamster), directed by Bartek Ignaciuk. A film made within the framework of Munk Studio’s “30 Minutes” programme. Winner of the Grand Prize and audience award at the Quest Europe International Film Festival in Zielona Góra.
• Ziegenort, directed by Tomasz Popakul. Winner of multiple festival awards, including Oberhausen, Krakow, New York City, London, and Bratislava; a coming-of-age story about life in a small fishing village.
• Łaźnia (Baths), directed by Tomek Ducki. Winner of the Best Visual award at the Fantoche International Film Festival in Baden for its “superb and innovative visual style.”

All five films screening in the festival’s international main competition have been co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.

Animated Films by Izabela Plucińska

The festival’s National Competition lineup features Liebling, a German-Polish animated film by Izabela Plucińska. The film has received the Grand Prize in the German Competition at the “Interfilm” Short Film Festival in Berlin.

Regional Focus and Cellar Cinematics

The festival’s Regional Focus section features Pająk i muchy (Spider and Flies), a German-Polish co-production directed by Tessa Moult-Milewska. The film is the director’s interpretation of a poem by Jan Brzechwa that bears the same title. Another Polish film in the lineup is Kinefaktura by Marcin Giżycki, screening in the festival’s Cellar Cinematics section.

Youth_free: Strong Bonds

The lineup of this section includes Lizkor Velo Lishkoach, a student film by Assaf Machnes made as a co-production between Israel and Poland. The project was filmed in Warsaw.

A Retrospective of films by Daniel Szczechura

The festival’s special programme includes a retrospective of films by Polish animation artist Daniel Szczechura, winner of multiple awards at film festivals in Poland and abroad. Dresden audiences will have an opportunity to see a selection of Szczechura’s films, including Konflikty (Conflict), Fotel (The Chair), Wykres (A Graph), Hobby, Podróż (The Journey), Gorejące palce (Fingers on Fire), Dobranocka (A Bedtime Story), Fatamorgana 1 (Fata Morgana 1) and Fatamorgana 2 (Fata Morgana 2).

Further details about the festival are available at www.filmfest-dresden.de.

Magdalena Wylężałek

Translated by Karolina Kołtun