POLISH FILMS WIN AWARDS AT 25TH COTTBUS IFF

Several films produced and co-produced in Poland have received awards at this year’s edition of the Cottbus Festival of East European Cinema.

Special Mention for Demon

Demon, photo courtesy of Magnet Man Film

Screening in Main Competition, Marcin Wrona’s Demon received Special Mention of the Jury. The grand prize for Best Film in this category went to Zvizdan, a Croatian-Slovenian-Serbian co-production directed by Dalibor Matanic. Chemia (Chemo) by Bartosz Prokopowicz also screened in Main Competition.

Special Prize for Miłosz Sakowski

Dzień babci (Grandma’s Day) photo courtesy of Gdynia Film School

The Special Prize in the festival’s Short Feature Competition went to Miłosz Sakowski, director of Dzień babci (Grandma’s Day). The top prize went to Russian director Aksinya Gog for her film Fedor’s Journey Through Moscow at the Turn of the XXI Century. In this section, festival audiences also had an opportunity to see W narożniku (In the Corner) by Maciej Bartosz Kruk and Z łóżka powstałeś (From Bed Thou Arose) by Bartosz Konopka.

Special Mention for First-Time Director Julia Kowalski

Crache-Coeur (Raging Rose), photo courtesy of Alter Ego Pictures

In Cottbus’ U18 competition for Polish and German films for young adult audiences, special mention went to Crache-Coeur (Raging Rose), a Polish-French co-production by first-time director Julia Kowalski. The top prize went to 4 Kings, a German film directed by Theresa von Eltz. Other Polish films in this section included Mur (The Wall) by Dariusz Glazer and Gigant by Tomasz Jeziorski.

Further details about Polish presence at the 25th Cottbus film festival are available at www.pisf.pl.

The complete list of winners of the 25th Cottbus Festival of East European Cinema is available on the festival website: www.filmfestivalcottbus.de.

Paulina Bez

Translated by Karolina Kołtun