Filmmakers, film protagonists, winners of the most prestigious film awards, critics – film screenings at the Festival will be accompanied by the meetings with the prominent personalities from the world of cinema. We will see in Krakow: Etgar Keret, Talal Derki, Peter Forgacs, Anna Zamecka, Chris Niedenthal, Dorota Kobiela and many others.
This year’s Dragon of Dragons award will be received in Krakow by a distinguished documentary film director Sergei Loznitsa. At the same time, in the Focus on Estonia section, we will present an original programme of Estonian animation prepared by the master and 2015 winner of the Dragon of the Dragons award – Priit Pärn, who will present it in Krakow in person.
The list of film protagonists visiting Krakow this year includes one of the most famous and popular Israeli writers, the master of short fiction, screenwriter and lecturer – Etgar Keret. Documentary film about the writer “Etgar Keret. Based on a True Story” will be presented in the World Stories section. The festival will open with the screening of “Concerto for Two” by Tomasz Drozdowicz, and the film heroes – the conductor Jerzy Maksymiuk and his wife Ewa – will meet with the audience. We will also meet in Krakow Jerzy Górski, triathlonist whose story was presented in the feature movie “The Fastest” by Łukasz Palkowski, while at the festival we will see him in Kacper Lisowski’s documentary “World Champion”. Among the festival guests we can also find the President of the Polish Humanitarian Action, Janina Ochojska, the protagonist of the partly animated documentary “Janka” by Adela Kaczmarek.
What is more, the Taiwanese protagonist of the documentary “Son Son”, the mother of a murdered boy who decided to adopt the young killer of her son who is currently serving his sentence, will also come to Krakow. The main character in the film “Joe Boots”, who influenced by the September 11 attacks joined the army and went through hell in Iraq, will come from the United States. We will also meet heroes from Polish film like: “Newborn” by Lidia Duda, “Krzyżoki” by Anna Gawlita and “I Grew Up As You Slept” by Marcin Sauter.
The filmmakers previously awarded in Krakow come back to the festival. Their latest films will be presented in the international documentary competition. The 2014 winner of the Golden Horn for his film “Retutn to Homs”, Talal Derki, once again will confront the audience in Krakow with the sheer terror of the Syrian war in his new documentary “Of Fathers and Sons”. Till Schauder, the last year’s winner of the DocFilmMusic competition, in his latest movie takes us to Jamaica, where he follows the national football team preparing for the World Cup qualifications. Kaleo La Belle with his film “Beyond This Place” won the KFF documentary competition in 2010. In his new film “Fell in Love with a Girl” the director once again talks about family and focuses the camera on himself. Zosya Rodkevich, who for “My Friend Boris Nemtsov” received in 2016 the Golden Horn for the best documentary film director, this year will present her new film “White Mama”.
What is more, Polish filmmakers also will be present at the festival: Marta Prus, the author of the widely known documentary “Over the Limit”, that secured her a place on the prestigious Variety magazine list; Marta Pajek, last year’s winner for her animation “Impossible Figures and Other Stories II”, whose latest film “III” was selected to the competition in Cannes; Grzegorz Zariczny, the director behind the film “The Whistle” which was awarded in Sundance, who comes back to the festival with his film “The Last Lesson” about high school graduates. Incredible and successful Polish documentary filmmakers who will also come to the festival with their new productions are: Małgorzata Imielska, Lidia Duda and Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz.
What guarantees the professional judgement of the films in the competition is a carefully selected jury. The head of the documentary competition jury this year will be Peter Forgacs – Hungarian director and media artist. He will be accompanied by, among others, Chris Niedenthal, one of the most famous and highly valued photographers, and Anna Zamecka, the author of the extremely successful film “Communion”.
The head of the short film competition jury this year is Mehrdad Oskouei – director, screenwriter, independent producer; whereas the DocFilmMusic competition jury will be led by Marcin Borchardt, director of the last year’s opening film “The Beksińskis. A Sound and Picture Album”.
Films in the national competition will be judged by the jury consisting of: Tadeusz Sobolewski – the head of the jury, Anna Jadowska, Dorota Kobiela, Mikołaj Jazdon, Petro Aleksowski.
Most of the festival screenings will be followed by the Q&As with the filmmakers. What is more, some of the prominent guests of the Krakow Film Festival will also take part in debates.
Meetings with filmmakers
Debate by “Tygodnik Powszechny” after the screening of “Of Fathers and Sons” by Talal Derki
May 29, Kino ARS, sala Reduta (Reduta room), 8.15 PM
Debate “Wyborcza live” after the screening of “Dreamland” by Stanisław Berbeka
May 30, Kino Pod Baranami, Sala Czerwona (Red Room), 6.30 PM
Q&A with Etgar Keret after the screening of “Etgar Keret. Based on a True Story”
May 30, kino Kijów.Centrum, 7 PM
Q&A with Janina Ochojska after the screening of “Janka” by Adela Kaczmarek
May 31, Małopolski Ogród Sztuki, 5 PM
Q&A with Petro Aleksowski after the screening of “Aborted Mission”
May 31, Kino Pod Baranami, Sala Czerwona (Red Room), 9 PM
Kategoria: news.