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WARSAW 2017

The Warsaw Film Festival gears up to present 119 features

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- The programme of the 33rd edition of the Polish gathering, unspooling from 13-22 October, includes 28 world premieres

The Warsaw Film Festival gears up to present 119 features
Once Upon a Time in November by Andrzej Jakimowski

The Warsaw Film Festival (WFF), which is one of the top cultural events held in the Polish capital, with a regular audience of around 100,000 viewers, will open on Friday 13 October with the world premiere of Andrzej Jakimowski’s Once Upon a Time in November [+see also:
trailer
interview: Andrzej Jakimowski
film profile
]
. His previous films, including 2012’s Imagine [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, were also shown at Warsaw. This year’s edition is highly diverse – the audience will be presented with 119 features and 76 short films hailing from 63 different countries. There are 28 world premieres, 27 international ones and 13 European ones, which is hardly surprising, given that the gathering prides itself on bringing films that have never been seen before. Apart from this fresh batch of titles, the WFF will also screen some festival favourites, such as Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Yorgos Lanthimos
film profile
]
Claire Denis’ Bright Sunshine In [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Sergey Loznitsa’s A Gentle Creature [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sergei Loznitsa
film profile
]
and Vanessa Redgrave’s directorial debut, Sea Sorrow [+see also:
trailer
interview: Vanessa Redgrave
film profile
]
.

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The WFF programme is divided into five competitive (International Competition, Competition 1-2, Free Spirit, Documentary Film Competition and Short Film Competition) and four non-competitive sections, with additional sidebar screenings to boot. The International Competition will present 15 films: 2557 [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Roderick Warich, A Balkan Noir [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Dražen Kuljanin, Be Prepared [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Robert GlińskiBeyond Words [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Urszula Antoniak
film profile
]
by Urszula Antoniak, Boarding Pass by Mehdi RahmaniIf You Saw His Heart [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Joan ChemlaOf Skin and Men [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Mehdi Ben Attia, the aforementioned Once Upon a Time in November, Sella Turcica by Yusup Razykov, Sideway [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Tayfun PirselimoğluThe Anniversary [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Dan Chisu, The Bomb by Ralston Gonzales, The Confession [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Zaza UrushadzeThe Miner [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hanna Slak
film profile
]
by Hanna Slak and To Kill a Watermelon by Zehao Gao. Five of these films (A Balkan Noir, Of Skin and Men, Sideway, Once Upon a Time in November and The Confession) will be enjoying their world premieres in Poland. The winner will be chosen by a jury consisting of film professionals and will be presented with the Warsaw Grand Prix (which comes with a cash prize of approximately €22,000). 

Some of the filmmakers, such as Urushadze, Chisu and Jakimowski, are not only Warsaw regulars, but they also previously presented their projects during the festival’s industry event, CentEast. Running since 2005, the film market was one of the first platforms to promote Polish film to international professionals. From the upcoming edition onwards, it has been renamed Warsaw Industry Days (WID) and has been expanded. The new parts of the programme are Pitch&Meet Warsaw Coproduction Meetings, First Cut Lab and Doc Lab Poland. The WID also includes a closed workshop for young filmmakers (Warsaw Next), another for film critics (FIPRESCI Warsaw Critics Project), Warsaw Screenings (the presentation of new Polish films to international sales agents and distributors), Warsaw Works-In-Progress presentations, and “The Art of Film Editing” open workshop. The first edition of the WID will be held from 19-21 October.

The festival will wrap up on Sunday 22 October with Submergence [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, directed by Wim Wenders. The full programme and a screening schedule can be found here.

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