THE JUBILEE CYCLE OF KRAKOW FILM FESTIVAL – PART III – TALES ABOUT MAN
December has arrived, and so has the next part of our jubilee cycle. This month in Krakow, Tarnow and Nowy Sacz we tell “Tales about man”
We have dug the festival archives to remind and bring to the audience the most interesting films in the rich history of the one of the oldest European festivals. Each screening includes several films, united by a common motif, topic or the author. In October and November, cinemas in Krakow, Tarnow and Nowy Sacz hosted the two first parts, called “Krakow scandals” and “Prize Hunters”. In December, it is the time for “Tales about man”.
Krzysztof Gierat, Festival director said about this part of the cycle: “For many years, the motto of the Krakow Festival was “Our twentieth century” – a bit misleading, suggesting a glance from a distance, synthesizing,almost global. But the films which were most beloved in Krakow were those that directed the camera at man and his – often very ordinary – everyday, arduous heroism. These stories, parables are still watched with emotion. This month, we reminds about three of them, made in very diferent decades by very different authors.“
The following films will be included in the “Tales about man”
KILKA OPOWIEŚCI O CZŁOWIEKU (SEVERAL STORIES ABOUT MAN) , dir. Bogdan Dziworski, Poland 1983, 20’ – Golden Dragon 1983, award for cinematography: Krzysztof Ptak.
Awarded also in Munich and Huesca. One of the gems of Polish documentaries and one of the most important festival events. Dziworski, the professor teaching many eminent cameramen and directors, (including Marcin Koszałka), watches a handless man with great admiration and fondness. This man, cruelly tried by fate, does not lose his zest for life, controls his body and soul. He excels at swimming and drawing, trying to suppress the painful awareness of disability.
WSZYSTKO SIĘ MOŻE ZDARZYĆ (ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN), dir. Marcel Łoziński, Poland 1995, 39′ – Golden Dragon 1995.
One of the most beautiful films, Polish documentary classic. Life seen from the point of view of the six-year-old director’s son. The boy rides on a scooter through Warsaw Royal Baths Park, chatting about the most important matters with accidentally met people. Questions about the sense of life and death, a clash between child’s mentality and the wisdom of an elderly man, emotions experienced by the viewers as a result of this confrontation, all contribute to the strength of the film.
EWOLUCJA (EVOLUTION), dir. Borys Lankosz, Poland 2001, 45’ – Silver Dragon, Silver Hobby-horse 2002, award for photography: Marcin Koszałka.
The film by the most famous artistic duo of recent months, thanks to Polish Oscar candidate, The Reverse. We enter the world which we do not experience every day, the world of people handicapped physically and mentally. This is a cruel picture, difficult to bear, and deeply moving. Slowly, gradually, we get accustomed to the inhabitants of the St Brother Albert shelters and we begin to sympathise with their desperate need for contact with other human being. Music by Abel Korzeniowski enriches this beautiful film.
50th KFF jubilee cycle – part III: “Tales about man” – screening schedule:
14.12.2009, at 6 p.m. – Kino SFINKS, Kraków
15.12.2009, at 6.15 p.m. – kino SOKÓŁ, Nowy Sącz
17.12.2009, at 8 p.m. – kino MILLENIUM, Tarnów
17.12.2009, at 8.30 p.m. – KINO POD BARANAMI, Kraków