The National Competition of the 64th Krakow Film Festival promises a showcase of 40 “outstanding and incredibly diverse” Polish films, twelve of which are feature docs, as well as eight documentary shorts. The competition for the Golden Hobby-Horses will feature works from both seasoned masters and emerging talents.
“If my calculations are correct, no less than seven filmmakers behind this year’s films had been previously awarded in Krakow, with Tomasz Wolski leading the pack with ten accolades!” comments concludes Krzysztof Gierat, director of the Krakow Film Festival.
“In addition, five others are returning with new titles. We welcome such comebacks with open arms. However, we also eagerly anticipate the arrival of new faces, to introduce their achievements to both the audience and the numerous members of the foreign film industry. After all, our festival often marks the beginning of an international career.”
Furthermore, three Polish documentary titles have been invited to participate in the festival’s two international competitions. Competing for the Golden Horn are the latest docs by Agnieszka Zwiefka and Tomasz Wolski. Zwiefka’s Silent Trees presents a poignant portrait of a Kurdish family who crossed the Polish-Belarusian border and is now trying to find its place in a new reality. Meanwhile, A Year in the Life of the Country marks another archival project by the award-winning director. This time, Wolski delves into the theme of martial law.
The documentary Submarine has secured a selection in the International Short Film Competition. The film is a deeply intimate story by director Oliwia Zakrzewska in which a young, independent mother is striving to find some space in her life to take care of herself.
For the second time, four equal Golden Hobby-Horses will be awarded in the National Competition. “This will allow creators of different film formats to have a chance for the highest awards,” write organisers. Golden Hobby-Horses will be presented to the best medium or feature-length documentary film and, among short films, to the best animated short, the best fiction film, and the best documentary short.
The 64th Krakow Film Festival will be held in cinemas from 26 May to 2 June and online across Poland on the KFF VOD platform from 31 May to 16 June 2024.
Medium and Feature-length Documentaries:
- Silent Trees, dir. Agnieszka Zwiefka, Poland, Germany, Denmark, 84’, 2024
- I, Rosiński, dir. Piotr Kielar, Poland, 86’, 2024
- I Am the Creation of Fiction, dir. Arkadiusz Bartosiak, Poland, 75’, 2024
- Are You There?, dir. Xavery Deskur, Poland, 47’, 2023
- Koka, dir. Aliaksandr Tsymbaliuk, Poland, 48’, 2024
- Lili, dir. Sylwia Rosak, Poland, 73’, 2023
- Otherland, dir. Piotr Wysocki, Poland, 76’, 2024
- The Peter Plan, dir. Grzegorz Pacek, Poland, United Kingdom, 72’, 2024
- Putin’s Playground, dir. Konrad Szołajski, Poland, Czechia, Bulgaria, Norway, Latvia, Germany, 91’, 2024
- A Year In the Life of the Country, dir. Tomasz Wolski, Poland, 85’, 2024
- Only Day And Night, dir. Grzegorz Brzozowski, Poland, 69’, 2024
- Everything Needs to Live, dir. Tetiana Dorodnitsyna, Andrii Lytvynenko, Poland, Ukraine, 70’, 2024
Short documentaries:
- Needle, reż. Józef Gross, Poland, 30’, 2024
- Submarine, dir. Oliwia Zakrzewska, Poland, 17’, 2024
- Dust dir. Paweł Chorzępa, Poland, 28’, 2024
- Do You Hear Me?, dir. Magdalena Sienicka, Poland, 17’, 2023
- Crazy Love, dir. Martyna Peszko, Poland, 30’, 2023
- In My Hands, dir. Igor Kuna, Poland, 7’, 2024
- Debtors, dir. Andrzej Danis, Poland, 24’, 2023
- Tiger Soup, dir. Kacper Świtalski, Poland, 36’, 2023
