The jubilee Closing Gala of the 50th Kraków Film Festival, hosted by Wojciech Mann, has ended late at night with a screening of the awarded films. Before, huge audience listened to a jazz recital by a virtuoso trumpeter, Tomasz Stańko. The ceremony was graced with the presence of the General Director of the Polish Film Institute, Agnieszka Odorowicz, the President of the Polish Filmmakers Association, Jacek Bromski, the Major of the city of Kraków, Jacek Majchrowski, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Bogdan Zdrojewski, professor Bronisław Chromy, the author of the awards/statuettes.
This year's Documentary Competition has two winners - "Sanya and Sparrow", directed by Andriej Griazew, has won in the 30-60 Minutes Category and the Golden Horn in the Over 60 Minutes Category went to Kaleo La Belle, an American director currently living in Switzerland, for the film "Beyond This Place". The Jury, chaired by Marian Marzyński, justified their decision as follows: the award for the maker of "Beyond This Place" for making an extremely intelligent film confronting the values of two generations of Americans, in which a son discovers the past of his father, absent in his life, and for the director of "Sanya and Sparrow" for filming a human drama of victims of the early capitalism in the Soviet Union.
The winners of the Silver Horns are: Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath, who, in their film "Enemies of the People" went back to the events which took place in the seventies in Cambodia, and Marc Isaacs for the portrayal of the modern business district of London in "Men of the City".
The Jury, emphasising high standards of the Documentary Commpetition, gave five Honourable Mentions: The Dog Hill, directed by Grzegorz Zariczny (Poland), Who Looks After, directed by Muriel Rebora (Argentina), "108", directed by Renate Costa (Spain) Osadne, directed by Marko Skop (Czech Republic, Slovakia), As Lilith, directed by Eytan Harris (Israel).
The Jury of the International Short Film Competition, chaired by Krzysztof Zanussi have decided to award the film "Out of Reach" directed by Jakub Stożek. The documentary tells a story about two very independent adolescent sisters trying to find contact with their mother, which they have never met.
The Silver Dragon for the Director of the Best Short Documentary Film went to Jay Rosenblatt for his film "The Darkness of a Day" (USA). The Best Short Animated Film is "1000 Voices" by Tim Treves Hawkins (UK), while "Incident by a Bank", directed by Ruben Östlund, has been awarded as the Best Short Fiction Film.
The Jury have awarded also: "Out in that Deep Blue Sea", directed by Kazik Radwanski (Canada), "Cicada", directed by Amiel Courtin -Wilson (Australia) and "Millhaven", directed by Bartek Kulas (Poland).
The Jury of the National Competition, chaired by Maciej Drygas, have awarded with the Golden Hobby-Horse Karolina Bielawska and Julia Ruszkiewicz. Their film "Warsaw Available" present the lives of three young women from the country, who try to settle down in the capital. The Silver Hobby-Horses went to Igor Chojny for a documentary, "The Screening at the Tatry Cinema", Bartek Kulas for an animation "Millhaven" and Kuba Czekaj for a fiction film "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark Room".
The Jury awarded also Izabela Plucińska ("Esterhazy") and Jakub Stożek ("Out of Reach").
"Tussilago", directed by Jonas Odell, has been awarded Krakow Short Film Nominee for the European Film Awards 2010. The Jury of International Film Critics (FIPRESCI) have awarded a Czech film "I Love My Boring Life", directed by Jan Gogola. The Jury of the International Federation of Film Discussion Clubs (FICC) have decided to give the Don Quichote Award for the film Logorama, directed by François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy, Ludovic Houplain.
Peoples Choice Award, voted by the audience throughout the Festival, went to Marcin Koszałka for "The Declaration of Immortality"
Since last Monday, over 250 films were screened in five cinemas: Kijów.Centrum, Pod Baranami, ARS, Mikro and Sfinks as well as in the open-air, at Szczepański Square. The Festival played host to over 500 guests from Poland and abroad - directors, producers, filmmakers, festivals' representatives and journalists. The special guest of the Festival was the Israeli cinematography.
‘This year, the audience turned up in large numbers - says Anna E. Dziedzic, the press spokeswoman of the Festival -- the screening rooms were often filled to the last seat. The Festival proliferates and more people arrive each year, which pleases because films are screened, above all, for the audience.'
The jubilee edition brought us also two important manifestos. The first one was delivered by the laureate of the Dragon of Dragons, Jonas Mekas, during the Award Ceremony. The outstanding artist of the avant-garde called from the stage at Kijów.Centrum for not resigning from carriers on which the films were originally made. ‘Productions recorded on the 16mm film should be preserved on the 16mm film. Productions recorded on the 35mm film should be preserved on the 35mm film. Films recorded on video should be preserved on video. Video should not be changed into cinema. Like with painting - watercolours remain watercolours and an oil painting remains an oil painting.' The director suggested also that the European Union should see to a law which would regulate the restoration of film copies. A similar opinion was expressed by Marcin Koszałka, a director and cameraman, who, at the 50th Kraków Film Festival, presented two of his films ("Let's Run Away from Her", "The Declaration of Immortality"), prepared film workshops and gave a Masterclass Lecture. On Thursday, during the panel "Still a Documentary or Already Fiction?", which took place in the International Cultural Centre, the artist in harsh words said that the standards and the form of the documentaries produced nowadays are deteriorating. The source of this problem is the readily available digital technology, which encourages negligence and sketchiness. Koszałka declared the intentions to use the 35mm as long as possible.
On the whole, over 20 laureates, or their representatives, stepped on the stage of Kijów.Centrum and the Krakow Film Festival entered its following half century of existence.
Press contact:
Anna E. Dziedzic
PR Manager
Krakow Film Festival
Tel: 012 294 69 45
Mobile: 0696 448 795
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