Topa has Kebab and Skonieczny has Disko
The Festival Centre played host to a meeting with Jerzy Hoffman – a winner of Golden Angel 2014. This master of Polish cinema, who was nominated for Academy Awards for his legendary film The Deluge, answered all questions with caustic humour and strong emotions. The questions that stirred most emotions were the allegations that The Trilogy by Henryk Sienkiewicz was a nationalistic and anti-Ukrainian book, to which Jerzy Hoffman strongly opposed.
He protested against the notion and made emphatic comments that people in Poland were ashamed of patriotic feelings, while we should have actually taken the American model of patriotism, as a model of behaviour. Hoffman was also talking at length about his historic film that had a special screening at Tofifest, i.e. Ukraine – The Birth of a Nation.
The audience had a chance to see three films in the On Air competition and meet their authors. Kebab & Horoscope by Grzegorz Jaroszuk, which won the title of the best debut at the Raindance London FF, drew a lot of attention. Following the screening, there was a meeting with the director and two leading actors: Bartlomiej Topa and Piotr Zurawski. During the meeting, Grzegorz Jaroszuk admitted that he was fascinated with the prose work of Bohumil Hrabal. In view of that it comes as no surprise that his latest film has been coined “the most Czech of Polish films”. Late in the evening, there was the Polish premiere of A Blast by the Greek film director Syllas Tzoumerkas. Following the film, the audience had a meeting with the director. After the screening of Hardkor Disko, the audience had a meeting with the director and leading actor, Krzysztof Skonieczny and Marcin Kowalczyk, respectively. This debut film by director Krzysztof Skonieczny, who has been more recognizable as an author of amazing video clips, has won awards at film festivals in Gdynia and Koszalin.
In From Poland competition we saw the screening of Beavers, also followed by a meeting with its authors, i.e. Hubert Gotkowski and Marcin Kabaj.
One of the films that drew most of attention on Monday was the Norwegian Insomnia by Erik Skjoldbjærg. The film is part of the Phenomena: Nordic Noir section and it is the original version of the American Insomnia by Christopher Nolan, starring Al Pacino in the leading role. There were also two films screened in the Three Bs section: Main Street by Juan Antonio Bardem and Welcome Mr. Marshall! by Luis García Berlanga.
Another of the films that attracted a lot of attention was the inner of the Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes, i.e. Mommy by Xavier Dolan, which was screened as part of the Forum 2013/2014 section. Majdan by outstanding Sergei Loznitsa represented the Ukrainian section. There were also screenings of the second and third sets in the Shortcut competition: films from Ireland, USA, Iran, Russia, France, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Slovakia, and Germany.
The day ended with a treat for poetry enthusiasts: Filmowy slam poetycki Tofifest. Tuesday marks the beginning of the Audiowizje music festival that from now on will be an integral part of Tofifest.
Recommendations for Tuesday, 21st October 2014
- On Tuesday, the following films will compete in the On Air main competition:
- Snow in Paradise by Andrew Hulme from Great Britain – a story about conversion to Islam, set in the British criminal underground;
- A story about a certain couple in peril, i.e. the Swedish Tourist by Ruben Östlund (Polish premiere) and
- The highlight of the day – the Georgian Corn Island by George Ovashvili; The film has won this year’s Karlovy Vary IFF and it will have its Polish premiere at Tofifest.
- There will be three interesting films in the From Poland competition:
- Polish Shit; following the screening, there will be a meeting with Tymon Tymanski, Robert Brylewski, Agnieszka Glinska, and Grzegorz Jankowski, at 9:10 p.m., at Od Nowa Club;
- No Matter How Hard We Tried by Grzegorz Jarzyna; and
- Little Crushes by Aleksandra Gowin and Ireneusz Grzyb, which portrays our reality in a somewhat funny way; after the film, there will be a meeting with both directors, at 5:30 p.m., at Centrum Cinema.
- We also recommend seeing Shoot the Piano Player by François Truffaut and Vanishing Waves by Kristina Buožytė from Lithuania, the latter of which is part of the Viva Baltic! section. All enthusiasts of short films will have a chance to sink their teeth in the fourth part of the Shortcut competition – this time, we will present films from Argentina, Belgium, Hungary, Ukraine, and Austria.
- Finally, Tuesday marks the beginning of concerts in the Audiowizje Tofifest music festival:
- Estrada Stage Bar Torun — Benzin Machine and 30daysofline;
- Dwa Światy (the main festival club of Tofifest) — TGI Teraz improvisational theatre;
- Kulturhauz — AlphaShip and Soundscape Mirror;
- NRD Club — Stardust Memories and Tau Ne;
- Galeria i Kawiarnia Muza —Hulajdusza.
Recommendations for Wednesday, 22nd October 2014
- One of the more interesting meetings at Audiowizje will be a visit of Psychokino collective, which creates amazing video clips – it will take place at 5:00 p.m., at Od Nowa Club.
- There will be some strong contestants in the On Air main competition:
- Class Enemy by Rok Biček from Slovenia, which is a shocking story about the hostility between a class and its teacher;
- Zero Motivation by Talya Lavie (Polish premiere), which is a perverse and bitter story about a group of girls in the Israeli army.
- We will also see three films in the FROM POLAND competition:
- Parasite, directed by famous Polish visual artists Anna and Wilhelm Sasnal; following the film, there will be a meeting with Anna Sasnal, at 7:15 p.m., at Od Nowa Club;
- Heavy Mental by Sebastian Buttny, followed by a meeting with the director and actor Piotr Glowacki, at 8:45 p.m., at Centrum Cinema, and
- The Word by Anna Kazejak-Dawid.
- There will also be a screening of I won’t come back by Ilmar Raag, who is a special guest to Tofifest. After the film, he will a meeting with the audience at 6:00 p.m., at Centrum Cinema. Tuesday marks the start of screenings in the Lokalizacje section and the fifth set of short films in the Shortcut competition: this time, we will see films from Great Britain, USA, Israel, and France.
- The following bands will perform, as part of the Audiowizje festival:
- Klub Dwa Światy — Groove Gravity and Diuna;
- Estrada Stagebar Toruń — Bicz and Nankinowa;
- Kulturhauz — Blackberry Hill and drUMMat;
- NRD Club — Alters and 3moonboys;
- Galeria i Kawiarnia Muza — The Soulmates and Kartony.
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