Magdalena Zawadzka and Eryk Lubos to receive the Golden Angels of Tofifest. We are ready to present to you the Jury of the On Air Competition
Magdalena Zawadzka is going to receive the Golden Angel Award for a Lady of Polish Cinema, while the Golden Angel for Artistic Insolence is going to Eryk Lubos.
Magdalena Zawadzka, the Golden Angel Award for a Lady of Polish Cinema
The Golden Angel Award for a Lady of Polish Cinema is a very special award given to outstanding actresses for their admirable achievements. All the ladies receiving this award share a true passion for cinema and theatre, and they have proven time and again to have great talent, artistic courage, versatility, temper, and achievements, all of which have contributed to enrich Polish culture, over the years. During the last year’s edition of the Tofifest IFF. Kujawy Pomorze Region, the award was presented to Emilia Krakowska. This year, the winner of the award is Magdalena Zawadzka.
Magdalena Zawadzka has been dazzling us with her artistic charisma, both in theatre and on the silver screen, for long years. The excellent acting quality and professionalism that she shows have made her one of the most recognizable Polish actresses in history. It is our great pleasure to award her with the Golden Angel Award for a Lady of Polish Cinema, says Kafka Jaworska, director of the festival, explaining the reasons behind the decision.
Eryk Lubos, the Golden Angel for Artistic Insolence
This year, the Golden Angel for Artistic Insolence is going to a multi-talented theatre and film actor, who has never feared playing controversial characters. The Golden Angel statuette will be presented to Eryk Lubos, an excellent actor, in Toruń.
It makes me very happy to be giving our most important award, the Golden Angel for Artistic Insolence, to an outstanding actor, whose acting qualities have won our hearts, showing consistency in creating unconventional and simply stunning characters. This year, Eryk Lubos is going to join the group of artists who have won this award, announces Kafka Jaworska, director of the festival.
Festival audience will have an opportunity to watch the film ‘Tata / Dad’, where Eryk Lubos plays the main protagonist. After the screening, the actor is going to have a meeting with the audience. The screening of the film is scheduled for 30th June, in Cinema City. You can attend the meeting with the winner of the Golden Angel for Artistic Insolence free of charge.
The On Air Competition - the most important section of the Tofifest IFF
Our festival cannot go without the On Air section, and this year is no different. Every single year, this particular section always stirs a lot of emotions. The section is dedicated to presenting film productions made by rebellious artists, who had already been recognized at various European film festivals. Among the films competing to win the main award, there is the film ‘Chleb i sól / Bread and Salt’ directed by Damian Kocur, which had already won the Jury Special Prize in the ‘Orizzonti’ section at the International Film Festival in Venice, and ‘A Cup of Coffee and New Shoes On’, which is the official Albanian candidate for the Academy Awards.
The winner of the competition is going to be selected by a jury comprised of the following people:
- Matylda Damięcka - an actress, singer, graphic artist, and theatre director. She works with the Comedy Club, Och-Teatr, Polonia Theatre in Warsaw, and InVitro Theatre in Lublin. She won the first prize at the Festiwal Piosenki i Ballady Filmowej (Festival of Film Songs and Ballads) in Toruń. She has also been nominated for the Polish Film Awards (Eagles) in 2023, in the Best Supporting Female Character, for her appearance in the film ‘Apokawixa / It Came from the Water’ directed by Xawery Żuławski. Tofifest audience will have a chance to see the film on 2nd July (Sunday).
- Agnieszka Kruk - a screenwriter, an expert in script development, and an educator. She is a graduate of the English studies and Dutch studies at the University of Warsaw, as well as the Academy of Photography in Warsaw and a screenwriting course at the Warsaw Film School, and the Leon Schiller Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in Łódź. She is an author of training programmes for screenwriters, script consultants and head writers. She is also the author and organiser of the Script Fiesta festival (2012-2017).
- Kuba Czekaj - a film director and screenwriter. His full length début ‘Baby Bump’ won the Special Queer Lion prize at the 72nd International Film Festival in Venice (2015), which is awarded to the best film related to the LGBT theme. Kuba Czekaj also won the Baumi Script Development Award, which commemorates producer Karl ‘Baumi’ Baumgartner, for the script to the film ‘Sorry, Poland’, during Berlinale 2017. The film also received an honorary mention at the Krzysztof Kieslowski ScripTeast programme, for the Best Script from Central and Eastern Europe, which took place during the Cannes Film Festival in 2017.
- Tomasz Schuchardt - one of the most versatile contemporary Polish actor. He is a two-time winner of the Acting Award for the Best Actor at the Gdynia Polish Film Festival for the main role in the film ‘Chrzest / The Christening’ directed by Marcin Wrona and for the supporting role in the film ‘Jesteś Bogiem / You Are God’ directed by Leszek Dawid. In 2019, the actor received the Grand Prix Award at the Festiwal Teatru Polskiego Radia i Telewizji (Polish Radio and Television Theatre Festival) in Sopot for his role in the stage drama ‘Wesele / The Wedding’ based on the novel by Stanisław Wyspiański. He has worked with such prominent film directors as Małgorzata Szumowska (in the film ‘W imię / In the Name of’) and Jan Komasa (in ‘Miasto 44 / Warsaw 44’), among others. He is also a recognisable figure among international audiences, thanks to his role in the widely applauded TV series ‘Wielka Woda / High Water’ made for Netflix.
- Janusz Zaorski - a screenwriter, film director and producer. He is an academic teacher and has a PhD degree in film directing. He is a graduate of the Directing Department at the Leon Schiller National Film School in Łódź. He has made between ten and twenty full length films, including ‘Matkę Królów / The Mother of Kings’ (in 1982, the Silver Bear Award at Berlinale, and the Golden Lions Award in Gdynia) and ‘Jezioro Bodeńskie / Sons and Comrades’ (in 1985, the Golden Leopard Prize in Locarno). In 2011, he received the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis. He has also received the Jan Machulski Award in recognition for his achievements in supporting Polish independent cinema. He is a member of the European Film Academy and of the Directors’ Guild of Poland.
Here is a full list of the films accepted to compete in the On Air Competition:
- ‘A Cup of Coffee and New Shoes On’, dir. by Gentian Koçi, 2022
- ‘Barren’, dir. by Mordechai Vardi, 2022
- ‘Bread and Salt’, dir. by Damian Kocur, 2022
- ‘Iman’, dir. by Corinna Avraamidou, Kyriacos Tofarides, 2022
- ‘Moja Vesna’, dir. by Sara Kern, 2022
- ‘Numb’, dir. by Amir Toodehroosta, 2023
- ‘The Fishbowl’, dir. by Glorimar Marrero Sánchez, 2023
- ‘Time Out’, dir. by Ève Duchemin, 2023
- ‘Victim’, dir. by Michal Blaško, 2022
The 21st edition of Tofifest International Film Festival. Kujawy Pomorze Region takes place from 27th June, 2023, to 2nd July, 2023, (as always) in Toruń. Our festival audiences can see festival screenings at various locations, namely the Festival Centre in the Cultural and Congress Centre Jordanki, Cinema City, an open-air cinema in the yard of the Old Town City Hall, and in the Końcówa pub.
We would like to invite you to experience unique cinema, which asks many questions and leaves the task of finding answers to the audience.
The official patron of the Tofifest IFF. Kujawy Pomorze Region is the City of Toruń. The main partner is Kujawsko-Pomorskie, and the main sponsors are TZMO S.A. and the Bella Brand. Among other sponsors, there are ONDE S.A., PGE Toruń S.A., Apator S.A., Studio Podłóg Ablux, Urbitor Sp. z o. o., Finland's Honorary Consulate in Toruń, and the Freixenet Brand. Official Hotel of the Festival: Hotel Bulwar.
