Krakow FF Announces Intl. Competition
The festival, that runs May 29 till June 5, has previously announced the selection of Polish documentaries and short films and animated films for competitive sections, as well as a special focus on Sweden this year. And not to forget a tribute to master Marcel Lozinski, whose ”Anything Can Happen” recently was honoured as The Best Polish Documentary Ever – today arrived a fine press release on the 19 titles invited to compete for the Golden Horn in the international section.
Talented Piotr Stasik opens the festival and the competition with a film from New York, ”21 x New York”, ” an extraordinary story about loneliness which accompanies the contemporary inhabitant of a great metropolis, shown from the point of view of twenty one people, met in the New York City subway…” Stasik has previously been praised on this site for his “The Last Summer” and “A Diary of a Journey”.
The press release: “Every year, the competition is characterised by extraordinary diversity of stories, portrayed protagonists or phenomena. However, very often the dominating motifs of the films mirror the current reality or social problems around the world…” in other words the festival selection mirrors the world we live in so you will find films about refugees, on “how we perceive “the others” today, on the armed conflict in Ukraine, but also films on “family bonds”, “interpersonal relationships, intricate and multi-faceted…”. Among them is Swedish Sara Broos “Reflections”, reviewed on this site.
Let me finish by giving you a full paragraph from the press release: The competition section does not lack cinematic portraits, either. Among them, there is the film “My Friend Boris Nemtsov” (dir. Zosya Rodkevich), depicting the last period in the life of the eponymous protagonist, the leader of the opposition in Russia, shot dead last year. The camera accompanies him during his pre-election journeys and also in less formal moments, but it also allows to notice the close bond which the director managed to create with her protagonist. “All You Need Is Me” (photo) (dir. Wim van der Aarn) is a story about young Dutch painter, his work and life, made on the basis of abundant archival materials and conversations with the protagonists, creating a colourful and at the same time tragic portrait of a contemporary artist.”
All titles and a mention of all sections, go to the website of the rich festival: