50th Krakow Film Festival
May 31 - June 6, 2010
Krakow / Poland
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, festival representatives and journalists. The focus of the festival was on Israeli film.
DOCUMENTARY FILM COMPETITION
The Golden Horn for the Director of the Best Documentary Film in the Over 60 Minutes Category for Kaleo La Belle, the director of Beyond This Place (Switzerland) 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.
The Silver Horn for Special Artistic Merit in the Over 60 Minutes Category for Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath, the directors of Enemies of the People (UK/Cambodia) for persistence and determination, without wanting revenge, in searching for the truth about mass murders by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia by a filmmaker whose family was killed.
The Golden Horn for the Director of the Best Documentary Film in the 30-60 Minutes Category for Andrey Gryazev, the director of Sanya and Sparrow (Russia) for filming a human drama of two people, victims of the early capitalism in Russia and for proving that dialogue in a documentary film can reach the highest level of written dialogue in fictional film.
SANYA AND SPARROW
Russia 2009, 51 min
D: Andrey Gryazev
Sanya and his younger companion nicknamed ‘Sparrow’ share the fate of thousands of hired workers in today’s Moscow. For many months they have not received due payment but they are still hoping for a change of fate. Far away from home they delay the thought of coming back until the recovery of pay. Two strange men forge a son-father relationship. Long talks, cursing, laughter, tears and, of course, vodka drunk together help them make it through the time of waiting.
The Silver Horn for Special Artistic Merit in the 30-60 Minutes Category for Marc Isaacs, the director of Men of the City (UK) for a skilful cinematic journey into intimate lives of four British people from different social and economic spheres, all victims of the world's financial crisis dreaming about personal freedoms.
Honourable Mention:
The Dog Hill, directed by Grzegorz Zariczny (Poland) for the skilful creation of the unity of place and action and for the ability of the filmmaker to gain confidence of the participants in a film about men and animals, in the Polish mountains, far from civilization.
THE DOG HILL
Poland 2010, 39 min
D: Grzegorz Zariczny
Four shepherds meet far away from home and comforts of civilization to graze sheep. They spend many months in a shepherd hut doing their usual chores. But nothing brings lonely men closer to one another than talking, especially about women. They open their hearts, exchange views and experiences, support one another and quarrel. Their life depends of seasons of the year and rhythm of nature. In a few months’ they will meet once again in the Dog Hill.
Who Looks After, directed by Muriel Rebora (Argentina) for a heart breaking portrait of a Bolivian single mother, with optimism struggling in Argentina for a better life for her child and herself.
108, directed by Renate Costa (Spain) for a very disciplined film narration and high visual values in a film about a daughter returning to her Paraguayan home and discovering the world of intolerance towards homosexuals.
Osadné, directed by Marko Skop (Czech Republic, Slovakia) for the humour and irony in depicting the mood of a little Slovak village on the outskirts of a united Europe and for creating two unforgettable characters: the mayor and the priest.
OSADNÉ
Slovakia 2009, 65 min
D: Marko Škop
Osadne is a film about an encounter between current top European leaders and the local politicians from the last village on the edge of the European Union. The small village of Osadné welcomes a delegation from the European Parliament. And vice versa – the mayor and priest from OSADNÉ visit Brussels institutions on invitation from the European Parliament.
Docu Talents From the East 2008 / East Silver 2009
As Lilith, directed by Eytan Harris (Israel) for a penetrating portrait of an Israeli woman who, after a suicidal death of her daughter, fights with the surrounding her conservatism and intolerance.
The Student Jury for Documentary Competition consisting of: Joanna Jakubik, Stanisław Liguziński, Witold Mrożek has decided to award the film Let's Run Away from Her directed by Marcin Koszałka (Poland), for the Nightmares reflected in the Structure of Crystal.
LET'S RUN AWAY FROM HER
Poland 2010, 50 min
D: Marcin Koszalka
Another painfully intimate documentary by Marcin Koszałka is devoted to family matters seen through his sister’s experience. With a running camera adult siblings dissect their relations with parents and with each other. The protagonist of the film, affluent businesswoman, who still hasn’t come to terms with the death of their mother and father, becomes the director’s conscience. He is trying to get closer to his dead parents in his own way – filming the last moments of patients in a hospital.
SHORT FILM COMPETITION
The Golden Dragon for the Director of the Best Film for Jakub Stożek (Poland), the director of Out of Reach.
OUT OF REACH
Poland 2010, 30 min
D: Jakub Stozek
For most of their lives Klaudia and Karolina were raised without a mother. Due to a complex family situation sisters had to learn to be more responsible and independent than other teenagers. The girls are impressively mature, they solve their own problems, support each other in every circumstances. Just before they start their lives as adults, they make another attempt to rebuild family relations that had been neglected by adults for years. Yet it won’t be that simple...
The Silver Dragon for the Director of the Best Short Documentary Film for Jay Rosenblatt (USA), the director of The Darkness of a Day.
The FIPRESCI (International Film Critics) Jury at 50th Krakow Film Festival, consisting of: Tadeusz Lubelski (Poland), Laurence Boyce (UK), Maria Kornatowska (Poland), after viewing all the competition films, have decided unanimously to award the Czech film I Love My Boring Life, directed by Jan Gogola, for a creative reference to the tradition of the Czech cinematography in its combining of a poetic perspective with the ironic observation of everyday life.
I LOVE MY BORING LIFE
Czech Republic 2009, 27 min
D: Jan Gogola ml.
The diary of a grandmother from the Prague neighborhood of Zbraslav as a diary of eternity.Using informal language, for five years grandmother Alena Němcová from Zbraslav has been writing down weather forecasts, dreams, morning exercise, cooking, regular house bustle, global events as well as notes concerning relationships, religion and the general spirit of the age – matters of a private, family, social, real and also surreal nature. The film captures the life in her house, as a place that could represent a slice of the world and merge various events and connections, both of a daily and timeless nature. It points out that banality can indeed be part of our perception but not of the world itself. The device is just a change of banality to singularity.
Breathless - Dominance of the Moment / Docu Talents From the East 2009 / East Silver 2009
People's Choice Award, voted by the audience throughout the Festival, went to Marcin Koszałka for The Declaration of Immortality.
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