Polish productions at the festival in Annecy

Short film „On Time” by Zbigniew Czapla, animations „Oderwanie” by Sylwia Zawila, „Świątynia Ukwiału” by Justyna Pazdan, „Zieleń” by Karolina Kajetanowicz and „Furia” by Julia Siuda, animated trailer by David Štumpf and films by Tomasz Popakul – „The Moon” (from the series „At home”) and Marek Skrobecki – „Bobaski i Miś” episode: „Balloons” were included in the competition sections of the International Animated Film Festival in Annecy. This year’s edition will be held from 14 to 19 June.

The festival in Annecy is one of the most prestigious animated film festivals in the world and the oldest in Europe – its first edition took place in 1960. The films, awarded with Le Cristal d’Annecy and the Jury’s Special Award, are often included in the list of proposals that may be nominated for the American Film Academy Award.

Awards at the festival have already given to the productions co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. In 2012, the Polish-Romanian co-production „Crulic – The Path To Beyond” by Anca Damian received the Grand Prix in the feature film competition, and a year later the best animation in the student competition was the film „Ab-ovo” dir. Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi. In 2017, „Loving Vincent” by Dorota Kobiela received the Audience Award, and in 2019, Piotr Milczarek’s film „Rain” won the Jean-Luc Xiberras award for the best debut in the short film competition. The latest success was the jury’s distinction in the main competition, which was awarded to Mariusz Wilczyński’s film „Kill It and Leave This Town”.

Polish presence in 2021 edition

The organizers have not yet announced the list of films competing in the main competition, but invited Zbigniew Czapla’s picture „On Time” to participate in the Short Film Competition. In the Graduation short Films in Competition five Polish animations are included. They are: „Beasts around us” by Natalia Durszewicz, „Oderwanie” by Sylwia Zawila, „Świątynia Ukwiału” by Justyna Pazdan, „Zieleń” by Karolina Kajetanowicz and „Furia” by Julia Siuda. The three titles were made at the Film School in Łódź and the last two produced by Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts.

In turn, the animated trailer announcing the 15th International Festival of Short Films Żubroffka, whose author is the Czech-Slovak animator David Štumpf, was qualified for the Commissioned Films competition. Two Polish productions were also included in the competition section for TV films. New productions by Tomasz Popakul („Księżyc” from the „At Home” series) and Marek Skrobecki („Bobaski i Miś”, episode „Balloons”) will be presented. The full list of competition films is available here: https://www.annecy.org/festival/official-selection