Poles in the spotlight at Cannes
The Festival de Cannes will last untilSunday, May 27. The Festival de Cannes is much more than just a film competition. The festival comprises many events dedicated to the celebration the cinematic arts. The events range widely from master classes and exhibitions, to tributes and special screenings. As the Polish Film Institute informed at this year?s jubilee edition of the festival, Poland has been invited to a non-competitive division, ?
Tous les Cinémas du Monde,? which is designed to present cinema achievements from various countries. The institute also prepared a detailed report on the Polish presence in France:
May 22, Polish Day:
Eight Polish productions were shown. These included feature films, short films and a documentary:
Feature films: ?Chaos? directed by Xawery Zulawski; ?What the Sun Saw? (Co slonko widzialo) directed by Michal Rosa; and ?Palimpsest? directed by Konrad Niewolski.
Short films: ?Melodrama? directed by Filip Marczewski; ?A Few Photographs? (Kilka fotografii) directed by Marcin Pieczonka; ?Factory? (Fabryka) directed by Maciej Adamek; and ?Emily Cries? (Emilka placze) directed by Rafal Kapelinski.
Documentary films: ?The Seeds? (Nasiona) directed by Wojciech Kasperski.
On Polish Day in Cannes, all directors participated in a panel discussion on Polish cinema.
The film ?They Loved Life? (Kanal) was showcased in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Special Jury Award, which was presented in 1957 at the 10th Cannes Festival. This was a Polish highlight of the festival. The film screening was held on May 21with director?s participation
?They Loved Life? (Kanal) is placed in the ?Cannes Classics? collection.
?The Man of Iron? by Andrzej Wajda was shown 26 years ago at the 34th Cannes Festival in 1981, the Polish director earned the Grand Prix ?La Palme d?Or? and Award of the Ecumenical Jury.
The animated film competition featured a Polish production ?Ark? (Arka) directed by Grzegorz Jonkajtys and Marcin Kobylecki.
?Boat? (Lodka), a film by Michal Szczesniak, was presented within the 46th ?Week of the Critic.? The screening and subsequent conference was held on Wednesday, on May 23.
The program of the Cinefondation section, presenting short films made by students of film schools, schedules a film ?Goyta? directed by Joanna Jurewicz, graduate of the New York Film School (NYU); Agnieszka Podsiadlik performs one of the lead roles.
Piotr Mularuk, Polish producer of ?Nightwatching? (Straz nocna) by Peter Greenaway, participated in Producers on the Move, a European Film Promotion program for young producers. The purpose of the project is to promote European producers and establish structures for future cooperation. The Polish Film Institute arranged diverse activities promoting Polish cinematography. The PFI is promoting the catalogue, ?New Polish Films 2007,? which contains a thorough list of produced films and current productions as well as information on the film market in Poland. Also, the PFI initiated and guided the publication of the ?Polish Film Guide,? a professionally prepared publication that includes a full compendium of the Polish film industry. It also covers related issues in tourism, business, and economy. The guide is intended to help and encourage foreign investors planning to make a film in Poland with the participation of Polish co-producers and filmmakers. Information about the Polish Film Institute may be found on their web site:
www.pisf.pl