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KRAKOW 2024 Awards

Of Caravan and the Dogs and Silent Trees triumph at the 64th Krakow Film Festival

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- The film by Askold Kurov and Anonymous1 has come out on top in the International Documentary Competition, while Agnieszka Zwiefka’s coming-of-age story did likewise in the National Competition

Of Caravan and the Dogs and Silent Trees triumph at the 64th Krakow Film Festival
The winners of the 2024 Krakow Film Festival (© Maciek Zygmunt)

One of the oldest film gatherings in Poland, the Krakow Film Festival has wrapped its 64th edition with a screening of All Inclusive, an experimental hybrid film by Małgorzata Szumowska and Maciej Englert. This was followed by the presentation of the awards recognising the best short films across all genres as well as the top feature-length documentaries. The winner of the International Documentary Competition – and thus the recipient of the Golden Horn – turned out to be Of Caravan and the Dogs [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
, directed by Askold Kurov and Anonymous1, who followed Russian journalists and activists fighting for freedom of speech and human rights.

The first Silver Horn, for the director of a film with high artistic values, went to Tomasz Wolski for his found-footage pic A Year in the Life of a Country [+see also:
interview: Tomasz Wolski
film profile
]
, exploring the introduction of martial law in Poland in 1981. Oksana Karpovych, who made Intercepted [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
, which uses recordings of phone conversations between Russian soldiers and their families, nabbed the second Silver Horn, for the director of a film about social issues.

Agnieszka Zwiefka received a Special Mention for her film Silent Trees [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, which follows teenage Kurdish refugee Runa Husni, who takes on responsibility for her entire family. Zwiefka’s doc also bagged the Golden Hobby-Horse – the top prize in the National Competition – as well as the recommendation from the Krakow Film Festival for the European Film Awards. Furthermore, protagonist Husni picked up a Special Mention from the jury.

Three Polish short films were given Golden Hobby-Horses, too: Comme des Cowboys by Julia Sadowska (Best Narrative), There Will Be No Other End by Piotr Milczarek (Best Animation) and Tiger Soup by Kacper Świtalski (Best Documentary). Additionally, Elżbieta Benkowska, who made the narrative short The Power of Resistance, received a Special Mention.

The winner of the DocFilmMusic Competition was Teaches of Peaches [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philipp Fussenegger, Judy L…
film profile
]
by Philipp Fussenegger and Judy Landkammer, which was given a trophy called the Golden Heynal. The International Short Film Competition offered its main award, the Golden Dragon, to the animation Kawauso by Akihito Izuhara, while Silver Horns went to Don Benjamin by Ivan Zahinos (Best Documentary), Diamond Beauty by Anna Korom (Best Narrative) and Dark Cloud Memories by Seung-Hee Jung (Best Animation). Mohammed Almughanni’s An Orange from Jaffa became the Krakow Film Festival’s candidate for the European Film Awards this year.

There were several additional gongs presented during the gala. FICC (the International Federation of Film Societies) gave its Don Quixote Award to the narrative short Buzz of the Earth by Greta Stocklassa and a Special Mention to the animation On the 8th Day by Agathe Sénéchal, Alicii Massez, Elise Debruyne, Flavie Carin and Théo Duhautois. The FIPRESCI Prize went to Intercepted, the student jury picked the music documentary Omar and Cedric by Nicolas Jack Davies, while Everything Needs to Live by Tetiana Dorodnitsyna and Andrii Lytvynenko emerged as the Krakow audience’s favourite. Anna Bławut-Mazurkiewicz, the film’s producer, won the Award for Best Producer of a Documentary or Short Film. Grzegorz Brzozowski won the Maciej Szumowski Award for special sensitivity to social issues for his documentary Only Day and Night, Ewa Borysewicz and her Miracle grabbed the CETA Award, while Aleksandra Rosset-Żak won the Prize of the Polish Filmmakers’ Association President for editing the latter film. The DoP of Koka, Aliaksandra Tsymbaliuk, pocketed the Best Cinematography Award.

Here is the full list of award winners:

International Documentary Competition

Golden Horn
Of Caravan and the Dogs [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
– Askold Kurov, Anonymous1 (Germany)

Silver Horns
Tomasz Wolski – A Year in the Life of a Country [+see also:
interview: Tomasz Wolski
film profile
]
(Poland)
Oksana Karpovych – Intercepted [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
(Canada/France/Ukraine)
Special Mention
Agnieszka Zwiefka – Silent Trees [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(Poland/Germany/Denmark)

National Competition

Golden Hobby-Horse for a Feature-length Film
Silent Trees - Agnieszka Zwiefka
Special Mention
Runa Husni – Silent Trees

Golden Hobby-Horse for Short Films

Narrative
Comme des Cowboys – Julia Sadowska (Poland, short film)

Animation
There Will Be No Other End - Piotr Milczarek (Poland, short film)

Documentary
Tiger Soup – Kacper Świtalski (Poland, short film)
Special Mention
The Power of Resistance – Elżbieta Benkowska (Poland, short film)

International DocFilmMusic Competition

Golden Heynal
Teaches of Peaches [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philipp Fussenegger, Judy L…
film profile
]
– Philipp Fussenegger, Judy Landkammer (Germany)

International Short Film Competition

Golden Dragon
Kawauso - Akihito Iz (Japan, short film)

Silver Horn for Best Documentary
Don Benjamin - Ivan Zahinos (Spain, short film)

Silver Horn for Best Narrative
Diamond Beauty - Anna Korom (Hungary, short film)

Silver Horn for Best Animation
Dark Cloud Memories - Seung-Hee Jung (South Korea, short film)

FICC – Don Quixote Award
Buzz of the Earth - Greta Stocklassa (Czech Republic, short film)
Special Mention
On the 8th Day - Agathe Sénéchal, Alicii Massez, Elise Debruyne, Flavie Carin, Théo Duhautois (France, short film)

FIPRESCI Award
Intercepted - Oksana Karpovych

Student Jury Award
Omar and Cedric - Nicolas Jack Davies (Germany)

Audience Award
Everything Needs to Live - Tetiana Dorodnitsyna, Andrii Lytvynenko (Poland/Ukraine)

Best Producer Award
Anna Bławut-Mazurkiewicz - Everything Needs to Live

Best Cinematography Award
Aliaksandra Tsymbaliuk – Koka (Poland)

Polish Filmmakers’ Association President Award
Aleksandra Rosset-Żak – Miracle (Poland)

CETA Award
Miracle - Ewa Borysewicz

Maciej Szumowski Award
Grzegorz Brzozowski - Only Day and Night (Poland)

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