Two Polish productions awarded at Animafest
„Kill it and leave this town” by Mariusz Wilczyński, co-financed by the Polish Film Institute, received a Special Mention by the jury of the main competition of the Animafest International Animated Film Festival in Zagreb. On the other hand, the animated short film „I’m here” by Julia Orlik won the Dušan Vuko Award for the best student film. Festival was held on June 7-12.
The Animafest, which first edition took place in 1972, is the second-oldest animation festival in the world and one of the most prestigious. This year, a total of 10 Polish productions were presented in Zagreb. Apart from the winners, the festival included: „Prince in a Pastry Shop” by Katarzyna Agopsowicz, „Your own bullshit” by Daria Kopiec and „The Moon” by Tomasz Popakul in the short film competition. Moreover, the World Panorama section includes „Dog’s Field” by Michalina Musialik, „The Visit” by Mateusz Jarmulski and „Three jumps to happiness” by Artur Hanaj. „Five minutes older” by Sara Szymańska, and „Goodnight neighbour” by Rozalia Las participated in the student etudes competition.
„Kill it and leave this town”
Mariusz Wilczyński’s film, which was made for 14 years, is a tender dialogue with ghosts, blues in honor of friendship, painstaking resurrection: people, places, dialogues, neon lights, sounds, and even wisps of cigarette smoke. Autobiographical, evoking the atmosphere of communist childhood and growing up in a post-transformation, colourful Poland – it combines poetry with harsh realism, the living with the dead, nostalgia with accepting loss. Animation by Mariusz Wilczyński is a moving farewell to the generation of his parents marked by the war, but also a reminder that the conversation with those who shaped us is endless.
Animated characters have the voices by Barbara Krafftówna, Andrzej Wajda, Irena Kwiatkowska, Krystyna Janda, Gustaw Holoubek, Anna Dymna, Marek Kondrat, Daniel Olbrychski, Magdalena Cielecka and Małgorzata Kożuchowska. One of the main characters in the film is music: songs by Tadeusz Nalepa and the band Breakout sound incredibly modern, giving the animation a bluesy, unhurried rhythm. The voice of Nalepa, a close friend of Wilczyński, resounds not only in the songs. The film itself was created out of the need to continue the conversation that lasted many decades, interrupted by the death of a musician.
The plot and the filmmakers
Escaping the despair of losing his loved ones, the protagonist hides in a safe land of memories, where time stands still and all his relatives live. Over the years, the city develops in his imagination. One day, childhood heroes and idols known from literature and cartoons, who are eternally young in the minds of future generations, arrive uninvited. When the protagonist discovers that everyone has grown old and that eternal youth does not exist, he decides to return to real life.
The producers of the film are Agnieszka Ścibior (Bombonierka) and Ewa Puszczyńska (Extreme Emotions). The co-producers are: National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute, Adam Mickiewicz Institute, EC1, Letko, Nolabel, Di Factory, Gigant Films.
„I’m here”
The author of the script and the director of the animation co-financed by the Polish Film Institute is Julia Orlik, a student of the Lodz Film School. The picture won an award at the Kaboom Animation Festival in the Netherlands, as well as the Grand Prix at the following festivals: PÖFF Shorts in Estonia, the Etiuda & Anima, and the 1st Prize in the Nice Short Film Festival and the Golden Pigeon statuette at the DOK Leipzig. In addition, the animation was awarded a special mention at the Krakow Film Festival and the Stuttgart festival, as well as the Audience Award at the ANIMATOR festival in Poznań.
The film tells the story of a marriage in which an older man takes care of his paralyzed wife. Despite his old age and his own health problems, he does his best to alleviate her suffering. He is helped by his daughter, who tries to reconcile taking care of her mother with work in the hospital and her family life. Each of them has different views on what care should be like, which leads to many arguments.