Ten Polish films to be screened as part of the From Poland competition
Ten brand new films made in Poland are going to compete in the From Poland competition at Tofifest 2014. The competition will include many debuts worthy of attention, but also a number of subversive film projects, made by famous filmmakers.
One can confidently conclude that Polish cinema has caught its second wind. We have already seen that a new wave of Polish cinema has its roots firmly set in independent films, as we could see both at the Gdynia Film Festival and at Koszalin Screen Debuts Festival “Young and Cinema”. All four main competitions of the Tofifest festival will include the total of 37 films from Poland. However, the most prestigious of them all is the From Poland competition, looking from the perspective of Polish cinema. In the previous years, the winners in the competition included Wojtek Smarzowski, Piotr Trzaskalski, or Lech Majewski. This year, we are going to see 10 brand new film productions, as part of this competition.
Beavers is an independent film by Hubert Gotkowski, about the reactivation of a punk rock band, whose past members had already abandoned all fantasies to become famous, but a completely random event makes them re-think their lost dreams. The film won a few awards at the BAREJAda Comedy and Independent Film Festival in Jelenia Góra, at the Multimedia Happy End FF in Rzeszów, or at “Pełny Metraż” Festival of Young Cinema. The Caged Swallow by Bartosz Warwas is the second full-length feature film made at the Film School in Łódź to be distributed nationwide. It is a journey in time with Agnieszka, who is re-experiencing some traumatic events that happened 30 years ago. For his film, Bartosz Warwas received an Award for Directing at Koszalin Screen Debuts Festival “Young and Cinema”. Heavy Mental by Sebastian Buttny, which features Piotr Głowacki, a winner of the Flisak of Tofifest Award, in one of the leading roles, is a story about a 30-year-old actor, who is unemployed and suffers from an inability to perform on stage. It is a straightforward and unpretentious portrait of the mood and spirit of modern day 30-year-olds, who live in Poland. Little Crushes by Aleksandra Gowin and Ireneusz Grzyb show two friends, who make their living by liquidating flats after recently deceased people. The film has been recognised, both in Poland and abroad. In Poland, it has been awarded for cinematography, as well as received the Young Jury Award and the Award of Journalists, at Koszalin Screen Debuts Festival “Young and Cinema”, while abroad, it won a honorary mention at Festival Novos Cineastas, a Special Award at the film festival in Giffoni Valle Piana, as well as three awards at the Naples IFF. The Word by Anna Kazejak is a story about the youth of today. The director uses her film to ask questions about their system of values, morality, and stability of family relations. The film was presented, as part of the Generation section at Berlinale IFF.
As for Waterline by Michał Otłowski, it could easily be included in the Phenomena section, alongside all films from the Nordic Noir genre. The film well deserves that, as Otłowski has made a solid film of the thriller genre. It is a mature detective film with Jowita Budnik, who portrays a police officer from a provincial town, engaged in an investigation into the death of a young woman. The film received an Award for Script at the Koszalin Screen Debuts Festival “Young and Cinema”.
Some other films worthy of your attention include those featuring leading roles played by people, who are not connected with the world of film, such as musician Tymon Tymański, painter Wilhelm Sasnal, and theatre director Grzegorz Jarzyna. The first of them is Parasite by Anna Sasnal and Wilhelm Sasnal. It invites to take a look at the world of a family of three, who lead a monotonous life. The filmmakers observe their everyday life and the process of their slow decline. The film had its international premiere at Berlinale IF 2013. As for Polish Shit by Grzegorz Jankowski, the author of the screenplay and the concept for the film is Tymon Tymański. The film is about a music band called Transistors from Pruszcz Gdański, who embark on a tour organised by bailiff Czesław Skandal. The tour will be a series of disappointments for the musicians. Polish Shit has been awarded the Audience Award in the Visions Apart competition at the Gdynia Film Festival. No Matter How Hard We Tried by Grzegorz Jarzyna is a cinema adaptation of a theatre play under the same name by Dorota Masłowska, performed at Teatr Rozmaitości (Variety Theatre) in Warsaw. The film is a story about the Polish society at the time of political transformation.
Let us finish the list with Lech Majewski – the master of unobvious cinema. In his Onirica-Field of Dogs, the most uncompromising of Polish film directors overlaps a personal drama of the main protagonist with a national tragedy. The action takes place in 2012, when the protagonist experiences some landmark events in his life, and the film asks philosophical questions about the meaning of life and religious issues.
The 12th edition of the Tofifest IFF will take place in Toruń, from 18th October to 26th October, 2014.
From Poland Competition
- Beavers, Hubert Gotkowski, Poland
- The Caged Swallow, Bartosz Warwas, Poland
- Heavy Mental, Sebastian Buttny, Poland
- Little Crushes, Aleksandra Gowin i Ireneusz Grzyb, Poland
- The Word, Anna Kazejak, Poland
- Waterline, Michał Otłowski, Poland
- Parasite, Anna i Wilhelm Sasnal, Poland
- Polish Shit, Grzegorz Jankowski, Poland
- No Matter How Hard We Tried, Grzegorz Jarzyna, Poland
- Onirica. Field of Dogs, Lech Majewski, Poland
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