Today is the day the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) begins. Among the films in the competition and those at the Docs For Sale market there is a strong representation of 11 Polish films that we presented during the 57th KFF. Two of them were selected to the international competitions: ”The Ugliest Car” (Grzegorz Szczepaniak) will compete for a title of the best mid-length documentary at IDFA 2017 and ”Zhalanash – Empty Shore” (Marcin Sauter) will be presented in the Competition for Short Documentary, that comes back to the festival after 7 years long break.
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam is the largest and one of the most important documentary film festivals in the world. Every year, it attracts almost 300 000 viewers, is visited by over three thousand people from the most important organisations in the documentary film industry, and the films shown at IDFA are often festival favourites later on.
The films of Grzegorz Szczepaniak and Marcin Sauter had their world premieres at the 57th Krakow Film Festival, where they were presented in the National Competition. Jury appreciated the editing of “Zhalanash – Empty Shore” and awarded “The Ugliest Car” the Golden Hobby-Horse award, choosing it the best film of the competition. Screenings in Amsterdam will be for both of films an international premiere.
Apart from the cinema screening both films can be seen at Docs For Sale – the oldest documentary film market in the world. Among other films in the Docs For Sale catalogue are:
“A Stranger on My Couch” by Grzegorz Brzozowski
(SILVER HOBBY‑HORSE for the director of the best Polish documentary film, 57th KFF)
“THE BEKSIŃSKIS. A Sound and Picture Album” by Marcin Borchardt
(Special Mention in the Documentary Competition, 57th KFF)
“Opera about Poland” by Piotr Stasik
(Special Mention in the Documentary Competition and The Award for the best short and documentary films producer in Poland for Anna Gawlita, 57th KFF)
“Festival” by Tomasz Wolski and Anna Gawlita
(Best Cinematography Award for Tomasz Wolski and The Award for the best short and documentary films producer in Poland, 57th KFF)
“Desert Coffee” by Mikael Lypinski
(the Documentary and the National Competitions, 57th KFF)
“Arabic Secret” by Julia Groszek
“Dos Islas” by Adriana F. Castellanos
“Land of the Homeless” by Marcin Janos Krawczyk
“The Mine” by Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz
(all presented in the National Competition, 57th KFF)
This year, IDFA is held from November 15-26, and it is the 30th edition of the festival.