On Friday, 4 June at 8 p.m., the Industry Gala took place and the first festival winners were announced. Awards were also given to the participants of Doc Lab Poland – Poland’s largest programme aimed at documentary filmmakers, whose next session has just ended as part of the 61st Krakow Film Festival. The gala was held in the Potocki Palace at Rynek Główny 20 in Krakow and was broadcast online.
On Friday evening we got to know, among other things, the winner of the Krakow Students’ Award for the best competition film. As every year, a group of several students of film studies selected the best film from among those qualified for the festival competitions. The award went to “Inside the Red Brick Wall” (dir. Hong Kong Documentary Filmmaker).
All special, non-statutory prizes and distinctions were also announced. In the National Competition, the Award of the President of the Polish Filmmakers Association for Best Film Editing went to Zbigniew Czapla for the animated film “On time”. The Best Cinematography Award Under the Patronage of the Polish Society of Cinematographers went to Andrzej Cichocki for the short documentary “A Little Bit of Paradise”.
The Best Short and Documentary Film Producer in Poland Award funded by the Polish Producers Alliance was given to Piotr Kobus and Agnieszka Drewno (MAŇANA) for the film “Walk with Angels” directed by Tomasz Wysokiński. The film was also awarded for its music written by Paweł Mykietyn. Special mentions in the National Competition went to Karolina Kajetanowicz for the film “Green”, Monika Proba for “Light Years”, Michał Kawecki for “No Hero At All”, and Anna Kokoszka-Romer and Mateusz Kudła for “Polański, Horowitz. Hometown”.
The International Federation of Film Societies (FICC) Jury Award in the international short film competition was granted to “Hide” by Daniel Gray. The short documentary “Locked Out” (dir. Julien Goudichaud) received a special mention from the FICC. In the short film competition, Marieke Elzerman received a distinction for the film “Come here”.
The jury of the international documentary competition decided to hand out two distinctions. They were awarded to the creators of “Inside the Red Brick Wall” (dir. Hong Kong Documentary Filmmaker) and “North by Current” (dir. Angelo Madsen Minax).
The Krakow Film Festival is on the exclusive list of festivals recommending short films (fiction, animation, documentary) and full-length documentaries for the European Film Award. On Friday evening we learned the nominees selected by the Jury and the KFF who will get a chance to win the most important European film trophies: Tomasz Wysokiński’s “Walk with Angels” and Daniel Gray’s “Hide”.
On Time, dir. Zbigniew Czapla 
Inside the Red Brick Wall, dir. Hong Kong Documentary Filmmaker 
A Little Bit of Paradise, dir. Andrzej Cichocki 
Walk With Angels, dir. Tomasz Wysokiński 
Polański, Horowitz. Hometown, dir. Mateusza Kudła, Anna Kokoszka-Romer 
Not Hero At All, dir. Michał Kawecki 
Locked Out, dir. Julien Goudichaud 
North By Currant, dir. Angelo Madsen Minax 
Green, dir. Karolina Kajetanowicz 
Light Years, dir. Monika Proba 
Hide, dir. Daniel Gray 
Come Here, dir. Marieke Elzerman
In the second part of the gala, winners for the best projects still in development were announced – both animated films presented at Animated in Poland and documentaries under the Doc Lab Poland program for projects at the initial development stage (Docs to Start) and projects in the post-production phase (Docs to Go!).
Animated in Poland Awards
- „Oczniak”, dir. Małgorzata Wowczak (prod. Animation Film Studio in Krakow – Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts)
- “All My Effing Superheroes”, dir. Piotr Kabat (prod. Letko)
- “Once There Was a Sea…”, dir. Joanna Kożuch, (prod. B-Film and Anima-pol)
Polish Docs Special Mention
- „Base 13”, dir. Paweł Hejbudzki (prod. Wojciech Karubin – Movie Mates)
Eyeshroom, dir. Małgorzata Wowczak 
All My Effing Superheroes, dir. Piotr Kabat 
Once here was a see…, dir. Joanna Kożuch 
13 Base, dir. Paweł Hejbudzki
DOCS TO GO! Awards
- “Old Hippies Die Young”, dir. Zofia Pręgowska (prod. Prego Media)
- “Leon”, dir. Wojciech Gostomczyk (prod. Wojciech Gostomczyk, Anna Stylińska – Metrage Studio)
Nagrody DOCS TO START
- “Papa Was a King of Kongo”, dir. Joanna Ratajczak (prod. Maciej Kubicki, Joanna Ratajczak – Telemark)
- “Step by Step”, dir. Eliza Kubarska and Michał Woroch (prod. Monika Braid – Braidmade Films)
- “Child of Dust”, dir. and prod. Weronika Mliczewska (Ya-Man Studio)
- “Girl’s Stories”, dir. Aga Borzym (prod. Marta Dużbabel, Agnieszka Rostropowicz-Rutkowska – Pinot Films)
Old Hippies Die Young, dir. Zofia Pręgowska 
Leon, dir. Wojciech Gostomczyk 
Papa Was King of the Congo, dir. Joanna Ratajczak 
Step by Step, dir. Eliza Kubarska, Michał Woroch 
Child of Dust, dir. Weronika Mliczewska 
Girl’s’ stories, dir. Aga Borzym
The Krakow Film Festival Closing Gala, during which the winners of the main awards and the audience award will be announced, will take place on Saturday 5 June at 8.30 p.m. at the Kijów cinema in Krakow and online. Łukasz Wojtusik will be hosting the event live.
The 61st Krakow Film Festival takes place simultaneously in Krakow’s cinemas and online. The latest documentaries, animated films, and shorts from around the world, highly anticipated Polish premieres, as well as meetings with filmmakers are available to viewers throughout Poland.
A detailed programme can be found on the festival website – www.krakowfilmfestival.en