50^th anniversary of KFF nearer and nearer, there­fore jubilee cycle con­tin­ues. Every month the most inter­est­ing in the his­tory of the Fest­ival films are presen­ted. In Novem­ber — Prize Hunters.

Dur­ing 7 fol­low­ing months, in 5 cinemas in Mało­pol­ska, there will be screen­ings of films which were awar­ded at the Fest­ival and con­trib­uted to the phe­nomenon of the event. Each screen­ing will include films joined together by a motif, the author or the coun­try of ori­gin. 

In the com­ing month, there will be presen­ted the films, for which the Krakow Film Fest­ival was the first stop on the road to the inter­na­tional career. Oscar win­ners (Zbig­niew Ryb­czyński), Oscar nom­in­ees (Tomasz Bagiński, Sła­womir Fabicki), as well as Pol­ish film fest­ival “globe­trot­ters” (Woj­ciech Kasper­ski i Rafał Skal­ski) will be reminded to the audi­ence.

Accord­ing to the dir­ector Krzysztof Gierat, the festival’s organ­izer is proud of dis­cov­er­ing “rough dia­monds” who are fur­ther pro­cessed and are able to com­pete with other tal­ents, win­ning acclaim from audi­ence and crit­ics world­wide. In the his­tory of Cra­covian con­tests, there are many events of excep­tional import­ance. Here are some of them:

TANGO, dir. Zbig­niew Ryb­czyński, Poland 1980, 8’ – Brown Hobby-​Horse 1981.

Anim­ated film. Only „bronze” in Krakow, but the com­pet­i­tion was enorm­ous in this year of free­dom. How­ever, what fol­lowed was a march of suc­cess around the world. Awards at the fest­ivals in Annecy, Huesca, Tampere, Ober­hausen, Ott­awa and the tri­umphant Oscar of 1983! To the rhythm of Janusz Hadun’s music, thirty char­ac­ters per­forms a crazy round­about of daily activ­it­ies in a very crowded house.


WASP, dir. Andrea Arnold, Wielka Brytania, 2003, 23′ – Golden Dragon 2004.
 

Fea­ture. 21 prizes all over the world, includ­ing Oscar 2005. The gem among shorts. Thriller about single mother, whose delight­ful date is dis­turbed by the wasp. Becom­ing our jury mem­ber in next years Arnold makes a world­wide career her­self, as her feature-​length movies win prizes from Jury in Cannes (Red Road – 2006, Fish Tank – 2009).


THE CATHED­RAL, dir. Tomasz Bagiński, Poland 2002, 7’ – Silver Hobby-​Horse 2003.
Anim­ated film. Based on a short story by Jacek Dukaj. Inspired by the paint­ings of Zdzisław Bek­siński and Ant­o­nio Gaudi’s archi­tec­ture. The film, made by Platige Image, a com­pany spe­cial­iz­ing in spe­cial effects, became the first great suc­cess of Pol­ish anim­a­tion. Oscar nom­inee in 2002. 

A MAN THING, dir. Sła­womir Fabicki, Poland 2001, 25’ – Silver Dragon 2002.

Fea­ture film. 21 prizes around the world, includ­ing Oscar nom­in­a­tion in 2002. School etude, made in cooper­a­tion with emin­ent Cra­covian cam­era­man Bogumił God­fre­jow, sur­prised by its matur­ity and form. Black-​and-​white film about a 13-​year-​old boy strikes with doc­u­ment­ary truth, mak­ing us aware of the adult world’s cruelty.

SEEDS, dir. Woj­ciech Kasper­ski, Poland 2005, 27’ – Golden Hobby-​Horse 2006.

Doc­u­ment­ary. A part of the cycle: “Rus­sia – Poland. A New Look”, made in cooper­a­tion between Adam Mick­iewicz Insti­tute and Eureka Media pro­du­cer. 19 awards world­wide. Poignant image of mar­ried couple with many chil­dren, who are rejec­ted by the local com­munity and live in abject poverty on the out­skirts of an Altaic village. 

52 PER­CENT, dir. Rafał Skal­ski, Poland 2007, 19’ – Golden Hobby-​Horse 2007.

Doc­u­ment­ary. A film from the cycle “Rus­sia – Poland. A New Look”. 5 awards in Krakow alone. A great suc­cess of a young artist. 52 per­cent is the ideal ratio of legs to height. Little Ałła does everything she can to have these pro­por­tions, because she dreams of being a bal­let dancer.

Anniversary cycle of 50^th KFF – part II: „Prize Hunters” — screening sched­ule:

9.11.2009, 6 p.m.— SFINKS, KRAKÓW

16.11.2009, 6 p.m.— KINO MIKRO, KRAKÓW

24.11.2009, 7.30 p.m. — KINO SOKÓŁ, NOWY SĄCZ

26.11.2009, 8 p.m.— MIL­LENIUM, TAR­NÓW

27.11.2009, 8 p.m. — KINO POD BARANAMI, KRAKÓW

(29.10.2009)