The festival ended this evening with the prize ceremony in the huge Kijew Kino. The jury, of which I was the chairman, judging 20 international documentaries, made the following decision – quoting the short motivations, reviews of three main prize winners follow below:

Golden Horn: The Argentinian Lesson by Wojciech Staron. The film maintains its form and story from beginning to end, a story not only about different cultures but much more about the beauty of a young boy and a young girl getting closer to each other, a growing friendship. The jury finds the film a true piece of art.

Silver Horn (Medium-length documentary): Phnom Penh Lullaby by Pawel Kloc. The film uses a strong cinematic language to depict a very unconventional  struggle for love and acceptance in a devastating family environment under hard existential conditions. A very strong character development kept the jury on the edge of our seats. Silver Horn (Feature-length documentary): Regretters by Markus Lindén. The film has found a perfect solution to self-analysis performed by two human beings, who have undergone sex changes in search of their identity and the gender of their personality. The dialogue carries the touching story in a perfect arc.

Honorary Mention: Agnus Dei. The Lamb of God by Alejandra Sanchez.The film follows the bravery of the main character’s decision to challenge the institution of the church. Honorary Mention: Doctors by Tomasz Wolski (photo). The film is taking its audience to an important public institution and tells the story through amazing imagery and sparse and sometimes humoristic dialogue in serious moments of life and death.

For awards in the many other categories, take a look at site of the festival. A pleasure to see that the film of Marcel Lozinski got the first prize in the national competion, see review below.

www.krakowfilmfestival.pl

http://www.kff.com.pl/en/news/168

It has a story, a point of view, a humanistic approach and a director, who is also the cameraman and who has the skills to catch magical moments as they happen in life. A decade ago the director made ”Siberian Lesson” and now he goes to Argentina with (his family) the same teacher and her two kids. She teaches Polish to Argentinians who have Polish origins, and we see how this is practised, while the son, Janek, takes a soft step into the world of meeting the opposite sex. Into adulthood, one could maybe also say. He meets and plays with Marcia, who is a bit older than him, it seems, they are always together, he helps her earning a bit of money, there is time for games but there is also time to discover the harsh reality of Marcia’s family. They travel by train to meet her father, who lives separated from the mother, who has mental problems. 

This is a film with a social content, but also a love story with many levels where much emotion is to be read in the faces of the characters. Dialogue is sparse, images give the information needed, step by step there is a development and an interpretation being made with painting-kind-of-tableaux, from the location, from the small village where it all takes place, to chapter a narrative with many sensitive and metaphoric images.

Poland, 56 mins. 2011

www.krakowfilmfestival.pl

I want to be seen, says one them. I want to be conventional, says the other. Both of them took a very unconventional decision, to change from being a man to being a woman. The title says that they have regretted that decision. The film tell their stories, with all the pain they have suffered, but also with warmth and humour. They are very different and that gives the film an extra dimension. You listen attentively every single minute, carried as the narrative is by dialogue. And that is where the decision of the filmmaker comes in with a strike of genius:

They walk into a studio, the two of them, they sit down, and they talk to each other, or to the camera, with small private and public archive material presented to show, how they looked in their childhood, in school, in their marriage (Isadora alias Orlando), all the way through accompanied by their own commentaries. Orlando has gone back to being a man again (got a penis and breast operation), Mikael (alias Mikaela) is waiting for the same operation.

Their stories have been told as a theatre play but when Mikael after hesitation agreed to take part, it was luckily made into this documentary that profits succesfully from the preciseness in the dialogue. Why do you want to have that penis operation back, says Orlando, can’t you just be you, you are a man. Orlando was married for 11 years, her husband knew nothing about her male past, it ended dramatically, now he is on his own, an extravagant feminine exhibitionist with clever remarks to Mikael, who also cleverly insists on being an orderly, ordinary citizen.

Talking faces are boring in documentary films… no they are not, look at these two brave human beings with all their experiences and wisdom. They walk out of the studio, a theatre of life has been performed.  

Sweden, 58 mins. 2010

www.krakowfilmfestival.pl