For the third time, Krakow Film Festival recommends feature-length documentary films to the
European Film Award. This year, the official recommendation went to the film ‘THE BEKSIŃSKIS. A
Sound and Video Album’ by Marcin Borchardt, which opened this year’s edition of the Festival and
was given the special mention in the international documentary film competition.
The international première of the film was held on the 28th of May in the cinema Kijów.Centrum with
the participation of the film-makers and numerous viewers. A première screening at the Festival is
one of the requirements for the recommendation to the European Film Academy.
The international jury appreciated the documentary film for ‘the moving story about complex family
relationships, recreated in the inconspicuous form of a family album’. In the prestigious ranking in the
Festival Newspaper, the film received the highest rating from acclaimed film critics, which gave it the
first place among feature-length documentary films, presented within the frames of the Festival. The
films were evaluated by: Tue Steen Müller (Filmkommentaren.dk), Will Tizard (‘Variety’), Truls Lie
(‘Modern Times’), Paweł T. Felis (‘Gazeta Wyborcza’), Krzysztof Kwiatkowski (‘Wprost’) and
Patrycja Wanat (TOK FM).
In one of the original columns for the Festival Newspaper, Paweł T. Felis wrote: ‘From the video and
audio traces, Borchardt creates a poignant story about the paradoxes of the artist’s life. About
oversenstivity and depression, with which you can live, but sometimes it is not possible. About Zofia,
who stands aside and lets her men behave in their eccentric ways. But also about father and son: so
different and yet so alike, also in appearance’. However, Anita Piotrowska, the selector of KFF, points
out in the review for ‘Tygodnik Powszechny’ that ‘The Beksińskis by Borchardt use the real records
as artistic raw material in a fascinating way, but first of all in order to get as close to the facts as
possible’.
‘THE BEKSIŃSKIS. A Sound and Video Album’ is a feature-length documentary film, made out of
sound, film and photography archive materials, most of them come from the private archive of
Zdzisław Beksiński and have not been shown publicly before. Almost fifty years long, the painter
meticulously documented his life and the life of his closest family. He kept a diary, wrote letters, took
photos, as well as passionately filmed everyday events. From these materials emerges an extremely
complex image of the relationships between the artist and his wife Zofia and his son– the charismatic
radio journalist and translator– Tomasz.
Last year’s recommendation of the Festival, the film ’21 x New York City’ directed by Piotr Stasik,
was included on the list of 6 documentary films, nominated for the European Film Award.
The European Film Award, given since 1988, is one of the most prestigious awards granted to
European films. Its first laureate was Krzysztof Kieślowski for his ‘A Short Film About Killing’. This
year’s award ceremony is held in Berlin.
Krakow Film Festival is one of the 10 European film festivals, recommending films to the Award in the
category Documentary Film and one of the 15 festivals, nominating films in the category Short Film.
The festivals which have this privilege include, among others, the festivals in Locarno, Venice, San
Sebastian, Berlin, Amsterdam and Lisbon.