The Krakow Film Foundation, the organiser of the 60th Krakow Film Festival, announces the first titles of the next year’s anniversary programme! As it is the case every year, the top film-makers from all over the world come to Krakow to present their latest productions. In the international documentary film competition, we will see, among others, the opening film of the festival IDFA in Amsterdam, “Sunless Shadows” by Mehrdad Oskouei and the documentary film “My Father and Me” by the outstanding British film-maker, Nick Broomfield.
Nick Broomfield is one of the most frequently awarded British documentary film-makers in the world. During over 40 years of his artistic work, he observed the South American Nazis, met face to face with the infamous American serial killer Aileen Wuornos (on the basis of her life, the film “Monster” starring Charlize Theron was made), as well as confronted Courtney Love in connection with the circumstances of the death of Kurt Cobain. All these tasks were difficult, but according to the director himself, the most difficult film experience was documenting his own family history and his relationship with his father, famous British photographer, Maurice Broomfield, in the latest film “My Father and Me.”
The film will be the first moving picture by Broomfield presented at the festival, and at the same time, the one which the audience in Krakow will certainly appreciate. This is an extremely personal story about the father, who is full of optimism and documents the post-war British industry and about the son, who is inspired by the father’s activity to make films and document the world. It is also a private portrait of a family relationship, where opinions and ideas clash, but also a film tribute to the protagonist who died in 2010. The film also depicts a deep and philosophical outlook on the 20th century from the perspective of this exceptional family.
It is also noteworthy that the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is currently preparing an extensive exhibition of the photographs by Maurice Broomfield, which will be made available to the public in October 2020.
My Father and Me, dir. Nick Broomfield 
Sunless Shadows, dir. Mehrdada Oskouei
Another hit of the anniversary edition of the Krakow Film Festival will undoubtedly be the latest film by Mehrdad Oskouei, one of the greatest Iranian documentary film-makers. The director visited Krakow twice. In 2005, his film “The Other Side of Burka” won the Grand Prix: the Golden Dragon award in the international short film competition. Last year, the director participated in the Festival as the chairman of the jury. This time, his latest film, “Sunless Shadows,” which opened this year’s edition of one of the most important international film festivals, the IDFA in Amsterdam, will compete for the Golden Horn statuette against the best documentary films from all over the world.
“Sunless Shadows” is a shocking tale about young murderesses who serve their sentences of imprisonment in an Iranian prison for murdering their fathers, husbands or other family members. The unusual bond between the director and the characters in his film often leads to private confessions in front of the camera, dealing with the motives for the committed crimes, as well as the painful consequences. The camera observes the sincere conversations but also funny interactions of the incarcerated girls, for whom the prison reality sometimes does not seem to differ from the lives of ordinary teenagers. It also seems that the walls of the penitentiary and the hermetic company of other women are a kind of shelter from the society, aggressively dominated by men.
The intensive selective period is underway, and the full list of films, which we will see in addition to “My Father and Me” and “Sunless Shadows” in the international documentary film competition will be announced in March 2020. The qualified films will compete for the Golden and the Silver Horn statuettes, they will also gain the opportunity for an Academy Award and the EFA award. The Krakow Film Festival is included on the prestigious list of film events qualifying for the Academy Awards in the short film competition (feature film, animated film, documentary film) and feature-length documentary film, and it also recommends the films to the European Film Awards in the same categories.
The anniversary 60th Krakow Film Festival is held from the 31st of May to the 7th of June 2020.