Warsaw Film School

„My Old Gals” will travel to Wales

// 2023-09-05

Another international qualification for the film „My Old Gals”! The short, directed by Natasza Parzymies, with cinematography by Ignacy Kiełczewski, will take part in the Iris Prize LGBTQ+ Film Festival – an event qualifying for the BAFTA Awards. The festival will take place from October 10-15 in Cardiff.

Still from the film „My Old Gals”. Cinematographer: Ignacy Kiełczewski

The Iris Prize was named by MovieMaker magazine as one of the „50. film festivals worth the entrance fee”. The programme of the event includes the best short and full-lenght films on LGBTQ+ topics. In addition to the screenings, Iris Prize also organizes discussion panels with the participation of artists, special networking events and accompanying events. As part of the festival competition, the world's largest prize for short films related to the LGBTQ+ community is awarded, in the amount of as much as £30,000.

Stills from the film „My Old Gals”. Cinematographer: Ignacy Kiełczewski

„My Old Gals” went to the „Silver Hearts” section, which presents shorts focusing on the stories of older representatives of the LGBTQ+ community. Welsh viewers will see our film on October 11 at 12:15pm (BST) at Vue Cinema Cardiff. The short will also be available online from 11 to 31 of October on the Eventive platform.

Stills from the film „My Old Gals”. Cinematographer: Ignacy Kiełczewski

The director of the film, Natasza Parzymies, is our graduate and lecturer. While still a student, she created the record-breaking web series „Control”. The stormy lovestory of two girls was watched by almost 70 million viewers around the world. The production went under the wing of the media giant Warner Bros. Discovery and has 4 seasons in total.

The cinematographer of the film is our graduate, Ignacy Kiełczewski, for whom „My Old Gals” is a graduation diploma. The story of Ania and Zofia, together with Natasza, was created by another graduate of our School, Alicja Sokół, also co-author of the script for the last season of „Control”, winner of the Grand Prix of the Gdynia Film Festival for the short film „My Brother a Fisherman”. The film's music was composed by the popular artist Ralph Kaminski.

Qualification for the Iris Prize is the fourth international official selection of „My Old Gals”. The film has already been shown in Canada and the USA. He will soon return overseas to take part in the Out On Film Festival in Atlanta, which opens the way to the Oscars. A little earlier, our production will compete for awards in the most important film event in Poland, the Gdynia Film Festival.

Good luck to our fantastic film crew!

Below you will find the logline and the list of the film crew of the short.

Poster by Kaśka Czapska

MY OLD GALS

After 50 years, Zofia and Ania are deciding to go on their last journey together to fight for their old love.

CAST: Dorota Pomykała, Dorota Stalińska, Marta Masza Wągrocka, Barbara Jonak, Bartek Nowosielski

DIRECTOR: Natasza Parzymies SCRIPT: Natasza Parzymies, Alicja Sokół DOP: Ignacy Kiełczewski EDITING: Weronika Bystrowska SOUND: Filip Szawernowski MUSIC: Ralph Kaminski PRODUCTION MANAGER: Karolina Barska ARTISTIC SUPERVISION: Barbara Pawłowska, Andrzej Wolf PRODUCER: Maciej Ślesicki PRODUCTION: Warsaw Film School

Natasza Parzymies – She is 23 years old. She is the Warsaw Film School's graduate. She became famous for the series „Control” about the stormy relationship of two girls, which she created, wrote and directed while not yet in college. The first season was watched over 60 million times around the world, and Natasza received, among others, nomination for O!Lśnienia of Onet 2021 in the „Series” category. The new seasons of „Control” were produced by Player (TVN), where all 4 seasons of the series are now available. Thanks to the worldwide popularity, „Control” became the first Polish production to join the Discovery+ platform library, and in 2022 Natasza was the first Polish woman to be included in the prestigious „Power of young Hollywood 2022” list of the American magazine Variety. Natasza is also the creator, director and co-writer of the mini-series „Random" (produced by Storytel), which is the first Polish series combining a radio drama and a film, starring Julia Wieniawa and Maciej Musiałowski. The project received two golden EFFIE statuettes.

Photo by Krystian Pakieła

Ignacy Kiełczewski – 24-year-old cinematographer. Since childhood, he had two great passions: traveling and sport. As he says about himself, he is a child raised on sets who fell in love with making films. In the years 2011 – 2017, he made dozens of trips by his BMX all over Poland, Europe and Asia, creating memories with a camera or video camera – this is how he gained his first experience. In 2016, his friend decided to become a stedicam operator, and Ignacy assisted him on hundreds of film sets for 3 years. Soon he decided to study cinematography himself and enrolled at the Warsaw Film School, which provided him with the necessary knowledge.

Photo by Krystian Pakieła

Films by students of the Warsaw Film School are co-financed by the Polish Film Institute

NEWS