We’ve just learned the nominees for this year’s PFI awards. Polish Docs Pro is competing for the statuette in the Film Promotion Abroad category. Winners will be announced on 21 September during the 46th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia.
Awarded since 2008, the Polish Film Institute awards are a special distinction in the film industry – recognising the work of people and institutions that are not involved in film production. These are the only Polish awards whose purpose is to distinguish special achievements in supporting Polish cinematography, promoting its accomplishments, enabling public access to Polish filmmaking. Candidates could be submitted by cultural institutions, film schools, local authorities, cultural NGOs, as well as other entities and persons operating in the cultural sector.
Winners will be chosen in nine categories: cinema, film event, film critique, book on film, film education, film discussion club, Polish film distribution, film poster, and Polish film promotion abroad. It’s the last category where Polish Docs Pro has been nominated.
Polish Docs Pro is the only project in Poland focused on promoting the Polish documentary industry at international events dedicated to film professionals. It supports filmmakers and producers in developing their projects by facilitating access to foreign markets, coordinating delegation visits to pitching forums and co-production fairs, organising project presentations and networking sessions, enabling participation in lectures, panel discussions, workshops, and training sessions. As part of Polish Docs Pro project presentations combined with meetings with decision-makers were held at IDFA Forum (Netherlands), Visions du Reel (Switzerland), Doc/Fest Sheffield Marketplace (UK), East Doc Platform (Czech Republic), DOK Leipzig (Germany), Ji.hlava Industry (Czech Republic), including Polish stands at Sunny Side of the Doc (France). About 80 projects were presented and several dozen producers participated. The result included invitations to other forums, film festivals or distribution proposals.
In 2021, further events were held to promote the Polish documentary industry, including during FIPA Doc Industry in France and CPH: DOX Industry in Denmark, and in September the Polish delegation will be a special guest of the Nordisk Panorama Forum in Malmö, Sweden.
You can read about selected events organised as part of the project here:
Polish Docs PRO at Sheffield Doc/Fest & Meet Market 2019
Polish Docs PRO at Sunny Side of the Doc 2019
Polish Docs PRO at DOK Industry 2019
Polish Docs PRO at East Doc Platform 2020
Polish Docs PRO at Sunny Side of the Doc 2020
Polish Docs PRO at Ji.hlava Industry and DOK Industry 2020
Polish Docs PRO at IDFA Industry 2020
Polish Docs PRO at FIPADOC 2021
Polish Docs PRO at CPH:Forum 2021
Polish Docs PRO at Sunny Side of the Doc 2021
This isn’t the first time someone has appreciated the activity of the Krakow Film Foundation – with whom the Polish Docs Pro project is associated. In 2008, Polish Docs Pro received an award and previously the foundation received several nominations, incl. for the foreign promotion of the animation “Pussy” and for the promotion of Polish documentaries.
A list of all nominees can be found on the website of the Polish Film Institute.