With the beginning of October, the call for films for the 64th Krakow Film Festival has started. The organisers and selectors are eagerly awaiting short films and documentaries from all over the world. From among several thousand entries, approximately 200 of the most interesting titles are going to make it to be shown in Kraków’s cinemas to festival audience in late May and early June – and online throughout Poland.
To us, beginning the process of accepting submissions for the next festival is like entering the new year. It’s the same emotions and expectations for returning masters and brilliant debutants. We expect the films to show us – as in a mirror – the most painful but also hopeful moments. Every choice comes with certain tension, because we are aware of the importance of each decision. – says Krzysztof Gierat, director of the Krakow Film Festival.
The Seekers
They review films, lecture, but also create themselves on a daily basis. Each member of the 20-person team has several hundred titles to watch. They watch, rate, and comment in order to finally identify productions worthy of being shown to the festival audience. Their decisions are reviewed by director Krzysztof Gierat. It is he who decides on the final shape of the program and also decides on the composition of the jury, which, already during the festival, will be looking for productions deserving the Golden Hobby-Horses (for the best productions in the Polish Competition), the Dragons (for the winners of the International Short Film Competition), Horns (for titles from the International Documentary Competition) and the Golden Heynal (for a music documentary from the DocFilmMusic Competition).
The Sought-after
The selectors are waiting for documentaries (no runtime limit) and short films (up to 30 minutes) from all over the world. Submissions for the competitions are accepted in two stages: until 30 November 2023 for films made before 31 October 2023 and until 31 January 2024 for foreign films made after 31 October 2023, and until 15 February 2024 for Polish films made after 31 October 2023.
Approximately 200 titles will be selected among all the submissions, which audiences will find in the festival program. The selected films will be presented as part of several thematic segments and in 3 international competitions: the documentary competition, the short film competition, the DocFilmMusic music documentary competition, and the Polish competition, which is Poland’s most important presentation of the latest domestic films. Like every year, all competing films will be presented in Poland for the first time, and many of them will have their world and international premieres at the Krakow Film Festival.
The regulations and the application form can be found at www.krakowfilmfestival.pl
Krakow Film Festival is on the exclusive list of qualifying events for the Oscars® in the categories of short film (live action, animated, documentary) and documentary feature, as well as a recommending event for the European Film Awards in the same categories.
The 64th Krakow Film Festival will be held in Kraków’s cinemas from 26 May to 2 June 2024 and across Poland at the KFF VOD online streaming platform between 31 May and 16 June 2024.