POLISH FILMS AWARDED IN SOFIA

Córki Dancingu (The Lure) and the Czech-Polish-Slovak co-production Ja, Olga Hepnarová (I, Olga Hepnarová) have received acclaim at the 20th Sofia International FIlm Festival.

Best Director Award for Film Co-Produced by Poland

The jury of the Sofia IFF recognized Ja, Olga Hepnarová (I, Olga Hepnarová), a film co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, as winner of the Best Director award. Directed by Tomáš Weinreb and Petr Kazda, this film had its world premiere in the Panorama of the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. Ja, Olga Hepnarová (I, Olga Hepnarová) marks the directing and producing debut by both Tomáš Weinreb and Petr Kazda, who also co-wrote the script. The lead part was played by Polish actress Michalina Olszańska. The film was lensed by Adam Sikora, with production on the Polish side handled by Wrocław-based Media Brigade.

Another Award for Córki Dancingu (The Lure)

The Sofia fest also brought another award for Agnieszka Smoczyńska, whose debut feature Córki Dancingu (The Lure) received the Youth Jury Prize. Since its premiere, the film has received acclaim at the Gdynia Film Festival (Best Directing Debut, Best Make-Up), Sundance (the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Unique Vision and Design), and Porto (Best Film, Best Director, Best Special Effects). Most recently, at the 2016 Polish Film Awards, Agnieszka Smoczyńska received the award for Discovery of the Year. Córki Dancingu (The Lure) was produced by Warsaw-based WFDiF, co-produced by Telewizja Polska and Platige Image, and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.

Award for Fuga

During the Sofia film festival, director Agnieszka Smoczyńska participated in the 13th edition of the Sofia Meetings, an industry events that screened 27 projects, including Smoczyńska’s latest feature project Fuga, co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. In Sofia, Fuga received the Focusfox Studio award of 10,000 euros worth of post-production services.

Sofia International Film Festival

The Sofia International Film Festival is accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) as a competitive specialised festival for first and second feature films. In 2007, Variety featured Sofia on its list of 50 unmissable festivals around the world. One of the sidebars of the Sofia IFF is Sofia Meetings, an industry event for producers and festival programmers.
This year’s edition of the Sofia International Film Festival ran from March 10 through March 20. The festival’s non-competitive section also featured Karbala, a film by Krzysztof Łukaszewicz.

Further details are available at: siff.bg.

Translated by Karolina Kołtun