157 films at Warsaw
The 22nd FilmFest Warszawa) kicked off today with the screening of Północ-południe (lit. "North-South") by Lukasz Karwowski.
Audiences will have until October 15 to discover 157 films from 48 countries, including a majority of titles never shown before in Poland. These include several features straight from Toronto, Venice and Locarno, as well as a total of ten films nominated for the 2007 Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film. Free Jimmy [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Norway’s Christopher Nielsen will close the event.
A jury presided over by Petr Zelenka, and whose members include Ilja Chrzanowski, Alberto Fuguet, Ognjen Svilicic and Piotr Szczepanski, will choose from fifteen titles selected for the New Films, New Directors competition.
New to the festival are a regional competition for productions from Central and Eastern European countries and a competitive section for feature documentaries. "As organisers of the festival, we cannot ignore the current growth of documentaries in cinema. What’s important for the audience is the quality of a film, and not the fact that it is a documentary or a fiction," pointed out festival director Stefan Laudyn at a press conference.
An entire section will be devoted to new Polish cinema, with five films in the programme, including two prize-winners at the recent Gdynia Polish Film Festival: Co słonko widziało (lit. "What the Sun Saw") by Michal Rosa, winner of the Special Jury Prize, and Poland’s Oscar entry Retrieval, by Slawomir Fabicki, winner of the Best Editing (Jaroslaw Kaminski) and Best Photography awards (Bogumil Godfrejów).
Professionals should note that the CentEast market, specialising in Central and Eastern European films, will take place in Warsaw from October 11-15 (see news).
Competition – New Films, New Directors
The Boy on a Galloping Horse by Adam Guzinski (Poland)
Pure Hearts by Kenneth Kainz (Denmark)
Euphoria by Ivan Vyrypaev (Russia)
Komma by Martine Doyen (Belgium/France)
Contact by Sergej Stanojkovski (Germany/Macedonia)
The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros by Auraeus Solito (Philippines)
The Paper Will Be Blue by Radu Muntean (Romania)
Awaken by Renato "Ato" M. Bautista Jr (Philippines)
The Dog Pound (La perrera) by Manolo Nieto (Argentina/Uruguay/ Spain)
Son of Man by Mark Dornford-May (South Africa)
Fresh Air by Ágnes Kocsis (Hungary)
Longing by Valeska Grisebach (Germany)
Restless by Stefan Faldbakken (Norway)
Valerie by Birgit Möller (Germany)
Retrieval by Slawomir Fabicki (Poland)
(Translated from French)
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