POLISH DOCUMENTARY „THE WHISTLE” WINS SUNDANCE!
The Short Film Competition award ceremony of Sundance Film Festival was held yesterday in Park City, USA. A documentary by Grzegorz Zariczny, “The Whistle”, triumphed winning the Grand Jury Prize. Congratulations!
The protagonist of "The Whistle" - Marcin - a young man from a village near Krakow, doesn't rush his way towards adulthood - which his mother doesn't approve of. She expects him to make life-changing decisions, finding a better job and a wife. Marcin is also a burgeoning football referee - every week he has to bear unrefined comments and remarks about his work, made by players and fans alike of amateur teams.
The jury of Sundance Film Festival Short Film Competition awarded “The Whistle” with Grand Jury Prize. The jury appreciated its ability of „surprising the jury with its depth and humour” and the way it „skillfully captures an everyday story and makes it magical”. Don Herztfeldt, animator and jury member who read the verdict enthusiastically added that the jury simply loved this „beautifully composed and exceptionally paced film”. Grzegorz Zariczny’s success seems even bigger if we take a look at the numbers. Over 8000 films were submitted to the Short Film Competition this year while only 65 titles got selected for the programme.
The film was produced by Munk Studio functioning within the frames of Polish Filmmakers Association as the part of the "First Documentary" programme. The film's co-producer is Full Film Service. The project of "The Whistle" was developed at Dragon Forum 2008. The film is represented by Krakow Film Foundation that collaborates with Sundance Film Festival on preselecting Polish documentary and short films for the festival.
It is already the fifth Polish film selected to the short-length competition in the last four years. Last year, Poland was represented at Sundance by short fiction "Frozen Stories" by Grzegorz Jaroszuk. Poles had also celebrated their big moments in Sundance - two years ago the documentary "Out of reach" by Jakub Stożek won the Special Mention, while four years ago, two fiction films were shown in the same competition: “Echo” by Magnus von Horn, as well as "Birthday” by Jenifer Malmqvist made in co-production with Sweden.
Sundance Film Festival is one of the most important festivals of independent cinema worldwide. Every year it receives over ten thousands film submissions. The festival is organized annually since 1978 and it takes place in Park City, Utah, USA.
More information about the festival can be found at its website.
You can watch the award ceremony here.
More information about the film are available here and here.