The 64th Krakow Film Festival opens May 26 with I Am the Creation of Fiction, Arkadiusz Bartosiak’s portrait of distinguished Polish actor, director, manager and social activist Andrzej Seweryn.
The film illustrates a core criterion of the festival’s selection policy, says Kraków FF director Krzysztof Gierat. “We are mostly looking for ‘complete’ works, with an intriguing hero, a fascinating topic, and executed as perfectly as possible,” he says.
I Am the Creation of Fiction is described as not a biographical film but a vigorous portrait of an “eminent European artist captured in motion…A man who refuses to rest on his laurels and continually seeks new challenges.”
“It’s a very dynamic film,” Gierat adds. “The camera literally follows the hero [Andrzej Seweryn]. We are with him in public and very intimate situations. We watch his moments of triumph and weakness. But there is no scandal here. This is not a pitch for a popular TV show. It is a deep documentary film reflecting on maturity and transience.”
The 64th edition of Krakow Film Festival runs May 26 to June 2, during which time 106 films will compete across four competition sections. The International Doc Competition comprises 12 titles of which the winning film is eligible for Academy Award selection. The National Competition section is sub-divided into a Medium- and Feature-length Documentaries section and Shorts (Animation, Docs and Features). The International Short Film Competition is the oldest competition of the Krakow Film Festival, presenting short films from all around the world: documentaries, animations and fictions and documentaries up to 30 minutes. The DocFilmMusic Competition features music documentary films from all around the world. Scroll down for all Competition titles.
A further 92 films are selected across a plethora of Non-competitive sections, such as the Polish Documentary Panorama programme of recent and new Polish films. Kraków FF director Gierat offers a succinct assessment of the local doc mentality.
“Behind us is a very difficult time of absurd and bad cultural policy,” he says. “But even during the rule of the PiS party, [Polish] filmmakers did well. Now you can finally discuss any topic, hence the abundance of films about the situation on the border with Belarus and LGBT topics. It seems that there will be more documentaries about Poland, about us, and that filmmakers will stop escaping into the world looking for topics.” Two Polish films are also selected for International Competition in 2024, including A Year In the Life of a Country by Tomasz Wolski, which world-premieres in Krakow.
Gierat expands on the Polish theme to include professional activities at Krakow, core of which are the Docs to Start and Docs to Go programmes in which new and established Polish projects are pitched to interested potential stakeholders from across the international doc sector.
“We have always been guided by the idea that the festival would be a bridge between the Polish and global film industries, which is why there is such a large presence of the foreign industry in Krakow. During KFF Industry we start promoting Polish films, which we then continue abroad. The festival’s producer, the Krakow Film Foundation, is a very strong guardian of Polish production short films and documentaries.”
Other non-competitive festival programmes (documentary) include the Focus on Romania and 75 years of the WFO Film Studio .
“The successes of [Romanian] cinema are so fantastic that we must share its riches with our audience,” says Gierat. “It’s a small cinematography but a lot of its topics, and the way they are told, are extraordinary.”
“During the communist era in Poland, the WFDiF (for documentary films) and WFO (educational films) studios had a very strong position,” Gierat adds of the 75th anniversary focus. “Surprising for young viewers will [now] be aware of how many outstanding and completely non-didactic films were made at WFO. We will show some of them, they are masterpieces of Polish documentaries in their various dimensions.”
Despite Krakow being a student city, festival audiences are “dominated by professionally active people,” Gierat notes, adding that he and colleagues also target young and senior audiences with their programming and promotions.
In terms of what will constitute an agreeable conclusion to the 64th Krakow FF, Gierat simply hopes that audience and professional needs requirements are met. “Full halls, of course, the audience talking after the screenings, the filmmakers’ satisfaction with both the screenings of their films and the effects of presenting their projects and conversations with representatives of festivals, TV platforms and channels as well as sales agents and distributors.”
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
- 1489, dir. Shoghakat Vardanyan, Armenia, 76’, 2023
- Baldiga – Unlocked Heart, dir. Markus Stein, Germany, 90’, 2024
- The Andersson Brothers dir. Johanna Bernhardson, Sweden, Finland, 84’, 2024
- Silent Trees, dir. Agnieszka Zwiefka, Poland, Germany, Denmark, 84’, 2024
- Inheritance, dir. Matt Moyer, Amy Toensing, USA, 83’, 2024
- The Gospel According to Ciretta, dir. Caroline von der Tann, Italy, 73’, 2024
- Alice On & Off, dir. Isabela Tent, Romania, 84’, 2024
- Monogamia, dir. Ohad Milstein, Israel, Germany, 73’, 2023
- Of Caravan And The Dogs, dir. Askold Kurov, Anonymous, Germany, 89’, 2024
- Intercepted, dir. Oksana Karpovych, Canada, France, Ukraine, 93’, 2024
- A Year In the Life of the Country, dir. Tomasz Wolski, Poland, 85’, 2024
- Son of the Mullah, dir. Nahid Persson, Sweden, 100’, 2023
- Johatsu – Into Thin Air , dir. Andreas Hartmann, Arata Mori, Germany, Japan, 86’, 2024
- Life Is Beautiful, dir. Mohamed Jabaly, Norway, 93’, 2023
NATIONAL COMPETITION 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
NATIONAL COMPETITION Short Animation Films
- Aha, dir. Paulina Jaklik, Poland, 8’, 2024
- All My Fucking Superheroes, dir. Piotr Kabat, Poland, 12’, 2023
- Codex, dir. Betina Bożek, Poland, 12’, 2024
- Nutcracker Girl, dir. Michalina Musialik, Poland, 14’, 2023
- And Don’t Call Me Crazy, dir. Dorota Skupniewicz, Poland, 13’, 2024
- There Will Be No Other End, dir. Piotr Milczarek, Poland, 8’, 2024
- Me, Monster, dir. Zofia Tomalska, Poland, 9’, 2024
- Joko, dir. Izabela Plucińska, Poland, Czechia, Germany, 15’, 2024
- Nabu, dir. Joanna Rusinek, Poland, 6’, 2023
- Potatoes, dir. Marcin Podolec, Poland, 4’, 2023
NATIONAL COMPETITION Short Documentary Films
- Needle, dir. Józef Gross, Poland, 30’, 2024
- Submarine, dir. Oliwia Zakrzewska, Poland, 17’, 2024
- Dustdir. Paweł Chorzępa, Poland, 28’, 2024
- Do You Hear Me?, dir. Magdalena Sienicka, Poland, 17’, 2024
- 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
NATIONAL COMPETITION Short Fiction Films
- Comme Des Cowboys, dir. Julia Sadowska, Poland, 25’, 2024
- The Miracle, dir. Ewa Borysewicz, Poland, 30’, 2024
- Honey Bunny, dir. Gracjana Piechula, Poland, 24’, 2024
- Here For You, dir. Cezary Orłowski, Poland, 20’, 2024
- Ends and Beginnings, dir. Klaudia Fortuniak, Poland, 17’, 2024
- The Mandala, dir. Mikołaj Janik, Poland, 25’, 2023
- An Orange from Jaffa, dir. Mohammed Almughanni, Poland, France, 26’, 2023
- From You, dir. Jędrzej Gorski, Poland, 15’, 2024
- The Power of Resistance, dir. Elżbieta Benkowska, Poland, 30’, 2024
- Stimulants & Empathogens, dir. Mateusz Pacewicz, Poland, 25’, 2024
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION: Documentaries animation and fiction
- Autism Plays Itself, dir. Janet Harbord, United Kingdom, 18’, 2023
- Babylonia / Babilonia, dir. Duda Gambogi, Cuba, Brazil, 23’, 2024
- Fahnenflucht, dir. Emil Ahlhelm, Konradin Schuchter, Germany, 29’, 2023
- A Good Mind Grows in Thorny Places, dir. Katarína Gramatová, Slovakia, 20’, 2023
- Don Benjamin, dir. Ivan Zahínos, Spain, 29’, 2024
- Amma’s Pride, dir. Shiva Krish, India, 20’, 2024
- Emilio Barreto: Angels and Demons, dir. Cris Arana, Spain, 26’, 2024
- Where Russia Ends, dir. Oleksiy Radynski, Ukraine, 25’, 2024
- Submarine, dir. Oliwia Zakrzewska, Poland, 17’, 2024
- Inside San Isidro, dir. Katherine Bisquet, Cuba, 28’, 2023
- Blank Page Syndrome, dir. Jānis Ābele, Toms Šķēle, Latvia, 8’, 2024
- Force and Courage, Rise and Decline of an Italian Football Club, dir. Francesco Bovara, Giovanni Merlini, Italy, 20’, 2023
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION: Animation
- Silent Panorama, dir. Nicolas Piret, Belgium, 5’, 2024
- The Shadow Of Dawn, dir. Olga Stalev, Estonia, 15’ 2023
- Ready, dir. Eirini Vianelli, Greece, Belgium, 11’, 2023
- Me, Monster, dir. Zofia Tomalska, Poland, 9’, 2024
- Joko, dir. Izabela Plucińska, Poland, Czechia, Germany, 15’, 2024
- The Illustrated Woman, dir. Isabel Herguera, Spain, 8’, 2023
- Moving Mountains, dir. Jessica Poon, Germany, 6’, 2024
- The Car That Came Back From the Sea, dir. Jadwiga Kowalska, Switzerland, 11’, 2023
- Three Birds, dir. Zarja Menart, Slovenia, Croatia, 8’, 2024
- On the 8th Day, dir. Agathe Sénéchal, Alicia Massez, Elise Debruyne, Flavie Carin, Théo Duhautois, France, 8’, 2023
- Dark Cloud Memories, dir. Seung-hee Jung, South Korea, 12’, 2024
- Kawauso, dir. Akihito Izuhara, Japan, 15’, 2023
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION: Fiction
- Abel, dir. Dekel Berenson, Paul Wesley USA, United Kingdom, Mexico, 15’, 2024
- Abraham, dir. Elnaz Ghaderpour, Reza Gamini, Iran, 14’, 2023
- Buzz of the Earth, dir. Greta Stocklassa, Czechia, 29’, 2023
- Red Emma, dir. Macha Ovtchinnikova, France, 14’, 2023
- Diamond Beauty, dir. Anna Korom, Hungary, 30’, 2023
- How to Skin a Cheetah, dir. Meghan O’Shaughnessy, Ireland, 20’, 2023
- Captive, dir. Lika Nadir, Ukraine, France, 15’, 2023
- Better This Way, dir. Emanuel Pârvu, Romania, 15’, 2023
- Open Eyes, dir. Qi Zhang, China, 18’, 2023
- Manual for a Divorce, dir. Peter Ghesquiere, Belgium, 12’, 2023
- An Orange from Jaffa, dir. Mohammed Almughanni, Poland, France, 26’, 2023
- Suisunday, dir. Tal Menkes, Israel, 12’, 2024
- This Peculiar Day, dir. Emilia Ondriasova, Slovenia, 19’, 2023
- Cry Me Through Hell, dir. Jae Yang, Taiwan, 29, 2023
DocFilmMusic COMPETITION
- Abebe-Butterfly Song, dir. Rosie Jones, Australia, 98’, 2023
- Berchidda Live – A Journey Into Time In Jazz Archive, dir. Gianfranco Cabiddu, Michele Mellara, Alessandro Rossi, Italy, 93’, 2023
- Don Lewis And The Live Electronic Orchestra, dir. Ned Augustenborg, USA, 80’, 2023
- Blues Run the Game: The Strange Life of Jackson C. Frank, dir. Damien Aimé Dupont, France, 84’, 2023
- Joana Mallwitz – Momentum, dir.Günter Atteln, Germany, 88’, 2024
- Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird, dir. Nicolas Jack Davies, Germany, 127’, 2023
- Stay Homas. The Band That Shouldn’t Exist, dir. Oriol Gispert, Nick Bolger, Ramon Balagué, Spain, 81’, 2024
- Teaches of Peaches, dir. Philipp Fussenegger, Judy Landkammer, Germany, 102’, 2024
