IDEA

"POLISH SUNDANCE"
[AKTIVIST, life-style monthly]

"AN INHUMBLE FESTIVAL"
"Festival for dreamers", "Independent films - independent thinking", " You won't get these films from the web”

These are the watchwords describing our Festival. A Festival made by cinema lovers for cinema lovers. Created in order to watch films together, discuss them, to meet well-known and yet rising stars of cinema in an non-obligating atmosphere of Torunian breach.

But it is also a festival of people of the film industry, who would like to watch here the premieres, to learn about the future of Polich cinema in the division FOCUS TOFIFEST or the films that are breaking schemes in our competitions. Or to take part in unique fair of film schools - SCHOOL FOCUS.


TOFIFEST is also a Festival which is held at an unique place. In Gothic Toruń, an old town, but young at heart. In a large university campus [over 35 thousand students], on which Old Town you can find over 250 pubs, clubs, discotheques, restaurants and coffee bars.

A town, in which people who moved the world from its foundations were born: Nicolaus Copernicus, who discovered the Solar system; Thomas Soemmering, who had built the predecessor of SMS, the telegraph; Fryderyk Skarbek, who was the first to discover that the skeletons of man and woman differ. A town, enlarged by the "Templars of the East" – the monk knights of Teutonic Order.

This intricate history is our heritage and we add one more brick to it – our Festival, created for you.
 

TOFIFEST: who we are
IFF TOFIFEST is one of the fastest developing Polish film events presenting the cinema made by young directors from all over the world, accompanied by the films by the classics of world cinematography. The event, born in Torun, is a made with passion „festival for dreamers”, appreciated by the viewers and media. Lifastyle AKTIVIST monthly called TOFIFEST a „Polish Sundance”, biggest Polish daily gazette Gazeta Wyborcza wrote: „it is one of most-known and opinion-making festivals of independent cinema in Poland”.

The Festival has already been visited by such guests as famous europeen actress Emmanuelle Seigner [Frantic, Bitter Moon], two-time Oscar nominees: Agnieszka Holland [Europe, Europe] and Miroslav Ondricek [Ragtime, Amadeus, Hair], the winner of Venice’s Golden Lions Krzysztof Zanussi [Constans] and the winners of Silver Bear in Berlin Martha Meszaros [Napló szerelmeimnek] or Cannes’ Golden Palm winner Krystyna Janda [Przesłuchanie].

TOFIFEST is the festival of  I N S O L E N T  C I N E M A. Of young, rebellious, „independent inside”, free-spirited and willingly taking part in the discussion on present days films. It is a review of pictures, which one cannot see on Polish screens – in 2007, 92 titles were shown as premieres. Festival’s Grand Prix is Golden Angel, referring to the medieval patron of Toruń – the town of TOFIFEST. Torunian event, as the only one, has the right to award with Zygmunta Kałużyński’s Polish Film Critics Award – the greatest person of Polish film critics. For 6 years the Festival has been held in Toruń, and since previous year, the editions are paralelly held in Bydgoszcz.

The Festival’s meaning for Polish culture has also been recognized by the authorities – The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Poland and the director of Polish Film Institute have taken their patronages over TOFIFEST. Local voivodship and municipal authorities also co-operate with us.

Already now TOFIFEST is the only festival in Poland that screens the films selected to the programme on a basis of categories as used at American Independent Spirit Award. Each year we present over 150 films, among which there are numerous premieres, never seen on Polish screens.

The Festival also promotes Polish cinema abroad and the event’s sponsors all across country as the MAECENASES of culture, developement of which is so crucial for the rise of Poland’s significance in the world. This is why we are not satisfied with the Festival itself, but throughout all the yeartime we organize events, as well in Poland, as abroad [Berlin/Germany, Rome, Vienna, Lithuania, Bulgaria, USA, Singapore]. All year long we run an active film culture centre – Orzeł studio cinema in Toruń.

TOFIFEST is an international festival of world range. The 6th edition has been entered by films from 46 countries of the world - Serbia, Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Hungary, Norway, Turkey, South Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, Kosovo, Macedonia, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, India, Kirgisia, Ukraine, Russia, Canada, Chile, Australia, Austria, France, Germany, USA, Croatia, Israel, The Netherlands, Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Estonia, Georgia, Armenia, Canary Islands, Bulgaria, Romania, South Africa, Portugal, China and Poland. Each year we present the full spectrum of world’s young film. The Festival has been visited by dozens of foreign guests from many countries.