Polish Films in Cottbus
The lineup of the 22nd edition of the Festival of East European Cinema in Cottbus, which runs from November 6 through November 11, features several Polish films, including films co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.
Jesteś Bogiem (You Are a God) and Dzień kobiet (Women’s Day) in Main Competition
This year’s Main Competition lineup features ten films. Among them are two Polish films, both co-financed by the Polish Film Institute: Jesteś Bogiem (You Are a God) directed by Leszek Dawid, and Dzień kobiet (Women’s Day) directed by Maria Sadowska. The Cottbus competition screening will mark the international festival premiere for both films.
The two Polish films will compete for the festival’s grand prize against such films as The First Rains in Spring by Sano Shinju and Erlan Nurmuhambetov, Kolka Cool by Juris Pokus, A Month in Thailand by Paul Negoescu, Kokoko by Avdotya Smirnova, In the Fog by Sergei Loznitza, Djeca – Children of Sarajevo by Aida Begić, Halima’s Path by Arsen Anton Ostojić and Redemption Street by Miroslav Terzić.
Focus: Eastern Europe by Religions
The topic of the focus section at this year’s Cottbus film festival is “Eastern Europe by Religions”. Its lineup also includes Polish films that discuss religious issues. These films are W imieniu diabła (In the Name of the Devil) by Barbara Sass, Przeklęta Zorica (Loveless Zoritsa) by Radoslav Pavković and Hristina Hatziharalabous, made in co-production between Serbia, Poland, Cyprus and Greece, Łaska (Mercy) by Eliza Subotowicz, Księżyc to Żyd (The Moon is a Jew) by Michał Tkaczyński, Moja Australia (My Australia) by Arni Drozd, a co-production between Israel and Poland, and Popiełuszko – wolność jest w nas (Popiełuszko) by Rafał Wieczyński. All Polish films screening in the Focus: Eastern Europe by Religions section of the Cottbus festival were co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.
Under 18 and Short Feature Competition
The U18 Polish-German Competition Youth Film section of the Cottbus festival is a competition for films made by first-time directors and film students from Poland and Germany. This year’s lineup includes Koleżanki (Amigos Forever) by Sylwester Jakimow, Yuma by Piotr Mularuk, and Być jak Kazimierz Deyna (Being Like Deyna) by Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz. The Short Feature Competition will feature Święto zmarłych by Aleksandra Terpińska. All films in these two festival sections were co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. The Under 18 competition section will also be judged by Polish jury members Paulina Pietrasiak and Wojciech Lewicki, young high school film critics.
Polish Horizons
This year’s Polish Horizons section of the festival features two films co-financed by the Polish Film Institute: 80 milionów (80 Million) by Waldemar Krzystek and Daas by Adrian Panek. German audiences will also have an opportunity to see Polish short films that previously screened at the Solanin Film Festival.
Argentyńska lekcja (Argentinian Lesson) in Global East Section
The Global East section of the festival will feature the documentary film Argentyńska lekcja (Argentinian Lesson), directed by Wojciech Staroń. The film was co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. The film will screen on November 7 at 2:30pm at Kammerbühne; and on November 10 at 1:00pm at Obenkino.
Łukasz Maciejewski in Debut Film Prize Jury
Polish presence at the 22nd Cottbus Film Festival is also marked by Łukasz Maciejewski as a member of the Debut Film Prize jury, which will give out awards in Main Competition.
The 22nd edition of the Festival of East European Cinema in Cottbus will run from November 6 through November 11, 2012.
Further details about the festival are available at: www.filmfestivalcottbus.de.
Paulina Bez
Translated by Karolina Kołtun