Six films from the Warsaw Film School in Texas
As many as six productions from the Warsaw Film School qualified for the official selection of the Austin Polish Film Festival in Texas. The event will be held in a hybrid formula: stationary from November 4-7 and virtually from November 7-30.
The Austin Polish Film Festival, held in the Texas state capital, brings Polish cinema closer to American audiences and raises awareness of Polish culture and art. This festival stands out from other Austin film events not only in that it hosts screenings of Polish feature films, documentaries, shorts, and animations, but also showcases the amazing art of the Polish poster while promoting collaboration between Polish and local creative communities.
Audiences overseas will have the opportunity to watch two short documentaries and four feature shorts from our School. The full list of films selected for the Austin Film Festival is presented below.
SHORT DOCUMENTARY FILMS:
7 WORDS ABOUT PASSING AWAY
dir. Łukasz Iwanicz
Still from the film "7 Words About Passing Away". Cinematographer: Łukasz Iwanicz
Black and white short documentary about how people's approach to death changes with age. It touches upon the fragility of human existence and points to what remains most important in the face of the inexorable passing of time. It shows the uncertainties and fears that accompany a person when reflecting on the subject of death.
REALISATION: Łukasz Iwanicz SOUND POSTPRODUCTION: Wojciech Zboina PRODUCTION MANAGER: Aleksandra Krucińska TRANSLATION: Marta Sobczak ARTISTIC SUPERVISION: Barbara Pawłowska PRODUCER: Maciej Ślesicki PRODUCTION: Warszawska Szkoła Filmowa
LAST CHANCE
dir. Wiktoria Niewiadomska
Still from the film "Last Chance". Cinematographer: Monika Rakowska
Sara is 26 years old and she has been suffering from anorexia for eight years. She currently weighs 36 kilos, but it is her highest weight since a very long time. She lives in a city called Sztum, with her mom and her younger brother. Her parents got divorced when she was three. As she says herself - she doesn’t remember her own childhood, but she remembers her brothers’, who she has always envied for the care that was taken of him. Her illness has given her the ’right’ to be weak and she says she’s liked it, because someone had to look after her. Paradoxically, Sara’s life has always revolved around food. Her time spreads between one meal and another. Her best friend is a kitchen scale and her worst enemy is also a scale, but the one in the bathroom. Obsessive calorie counting and weighing every single eaten product has been an inherent part of Sara’s life. After many years, because of her wish to start a family, she has decided to begin treatment in a closed therapeutic facility and has started a fight for herself and her own health.
DIRECTOR: Wiktoria Nieiwadomska DOP: Monika Rakowska EDITING: Malwina Wodzicka SOUND: Jakub Ochnio, Patryk Wielocha ARTISTIC SUPERVISION: Barbara Pawłowska PRODUCER: Maciej Ślesicki PRODUCTION: Warsaw Film School
SHORT FEATURE FILMS:
PRINCE
dir. Filip Rembikowski
Still from the film "Prince". Cinematographer: Kacper Świderski
Konrad, ośmioletni chłopiec, jest członkiem typowej polskiej rodziny. W ramach zadania domowego pokazuje świat, w którym, na co dzień funkcjonuje. Mama jest typem współczesnej “pracoholiczki”. Starsza siostra wchodzi w okres burzliwego dojrzewania, a taty-głowy rodziny, z nieznanego powodu... nie ma. Opowieść dziecka różni się jednak od realiów. Rzeczywistość jest przefiltrowana przez dziecięcą wrażliwość, a gdy trzeba zmierzyć się z trudniejszym tematem, Konrad ucieka i zagłębia się w świat fantazji. Słodko-gorzka opowieść pozwala zobaczyć świat z unikatowej, dziecięcej perspektywy, jednocześnie, stanowiąc portret modelu współczesnej rodziny.
CAST: Paweł Hrab, Agnieszka Fajlhauer, Daria Sawczuk, Mateusz Curzydło
SCRIPT & DIRECTING: Filip Rembikowski DOP: Kacper Świderski EDITING: Aleksandra Wielgos SOUND: Kamil Smyk, Jan Lipiecki MUSIC: Jan Lipiecki PRODUCTION MANAGER: Dominik Zemła OPERATOR ASSISTANT: Sabina Dróżdż ARTISTIC SUPERVISION: Radosław Piwowarski PRODUCER: Maciej Ślesicki PRODUCTION: Warsaw Film School
FIRST...
dir. Adam Hartwiński
Still from the film "First...". Cinematographer: Michał Konopka
The film's protagonist, 40-year-old beauty vlogger Marysia, finds out that the baby she is expecting has an incurable genetic defect and probably will die soon after birth. A desperate woman makes a difficult decision to give birth to a child and donate its kidney to the sick Anielka.
CAST: Arek Demter, Gabriela Czyżewska-Detmer, Anna Grycewicz, Jacek Beler, Dorota Salamon, Jerzy Wojtkowski, Hanna Jasińska, Grzegorz Porzeziński
DIRECTOR: Adam Hartwiński SCRIPT: Adam Hartwiński, Aldona Hartwińska DOP: Michał Konopka EDITING: Maciej Gawda SOUND: Kacper Karpowicz Michał Rusnarczyk MUSIC: Andrzej Bonarek PRODUCTION MANAGER: Aleksandra Fornal ARTISTIC SUPERVISION: Barbara Pawłowska, Andrzej Jaroszewicz, Maciej Ślesicki, Arek Detmer, Wojciech Saramonowicz PRODUCER: Maciej Ślesicki PRODUCTION: Warsaw Film School
DISMAY
dir. Joanna Szymańska
Still from the film "Dismay". Cinematographer: Przemysław Brynkiewicz
"Dismay" is a magical and brutal story set in a Masurian village about the extraordinary bond between a father and an eight-year-old daughter and about the terrible consequences of an attempt to take away a hypersensitive girl from an alcohol-addicted musician. Little Ula does not know that at herCommunion party, instead of a long-awaited mother who has left her father, a curator from the social welfare centre will appear, ready to take her to an orphanage immediately. However, the girl will never allow anyone to take back what she managed to save after her mother left. Together with her father, a local organist, against all odds, she believes her mother will come back and she is still waiting for this moment. The joyful, May day of the First Holy Communion will turn into a nightmarish triumph of the wild world of Masurian nature, which is the only ally of little Ula.
CAST: Zoja Szcześniak, Mariusz Kiljan, Joanna Fertacz, Joanna Trzepiecnińska, Dominika Pasternak, Karolina Gibowska, Andrzej Andrzejewski, Rafał Zawierucha, Aleksy Komorowski
DIRECTOR: Joanna Szymańska SCRIPT: Malwina Chojnacka DOP: Przemysław Brynkiewicz EDITING: Łukasz Falkowski, Rafał Stolarczyk, Adam Cyran SOUND: Karol Szykowny MUSIC: Jan Sanejko ARTISTIC SUPERVISION: Maciej Ślesicki PRODUCER: Maciej Ślesicki PRODUCTION: Warsaw Film School
THE CRACKS
dir. Magdalena Gajewska
Still from the film "The Cracks". Cinematographer: Adam Pluciński
Teresa falls into postpartum depression. She and her husband decide to temporarily move to her family home in a small town. On the spot, the protagonist meets her old flame from years ago – Anna. Feelings between the two women are rekindled, which soon confronts Teresa with an extremely difficult choice. . .
CAST: Jaśmina Polak, Maciej Miszczak, Justyna Wasilewska, Fryderyk Gnap, Sandra Korzeniak, Maciej Robakiewicz
SCRIPT & DIRECTING: Magdalena Gajewska DOP: Adam Pluciński EDITING: Paweł Lichota SOUND: Miłosz Smyl, Szymon Guzik, Mikołaj Sosnowski SOUND POSTPRODUCTION: Natalia Sikorska MUSIC: Piotr Nermer ARTISTIC SUPERVISION: Robert Wichrowski PRODUCER: Maciej Ślesicki PRODUCTION: Warsaw Film School
Films by students of the Warsaw Film School are co-financed by the Polish Film Institute