TWO AWARDS IN PALM SPRINGS: "JOANNA" BY ANETA KOPACZ BEGINS ITS CAREER IN THE USA

The documentary film by Aneta Kopacz was awarded twice at the recently finished, largest short film festival in the USA - ShortFest in Palm Springs.

The film "Joanna" by Aneta Kopacz won the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau Grand Jury Award for the best documentary film and the Best Documentary Short award at Palm Springs ShortFest. The screening in Palm Springs was the American premiere of the film.

For me, the awards in Palm Springs are the confirmation of what I observed and experienced during the festival screenings in the USA. Both the audience and the film industry were reacting in a very emotional way. I heard a lot of praise for the film and for Joanna herself. I am very happy about it, said Aneta Kopacz about her success.

The unique thing about "Joanna" is the subtle vision of the director. There is no narration to tell the viewer how to feel or what to experience. And this approach, which punctuates the things not said becomes a very powerful experience for the viewer, wrote Kay Shackleton on examiner.com

You can also read about "Joanna" on filmthreat.com, and here you can find the interview with Aneta Kopacz, conducted for examiner.com.

The author of the cinematography is one of the most talented young cameraman, Łukasz Żal, and the music was composed by the Academy Award winner - Jan A. P. Kaczmarek.

Last week, there was yet another screening of the film in the USA - within the frames of the prestigious festival AFI Docs in Washington.

So far, "Joanna" won 19 awards and was shown at over 30 festivals around the world, including Silver Eye in Jihlava, the Prize of the Youth Jury in Leipzig, the jury's Special Mention at DocsBarcelona and many others.  In recent times, the film also won the awards at Ismailia in Egypt and in Macedonia.

The film is produced by the Wajda Studio, co-produced by National Audiovisual Institute, and sponsored by Codemedia.

The full list of the films which won awards in Palm Springs can be found here.

[source: press release by the Wajda Studio]