Opening: TBA
POLISH SCHOOL OF ANIMATION – NEW WAY
Organizer:
Fundacja Promocji Kultury Artystycznej, Filmowej i Audiowizualnej Etiuda&Anima (27th International Film Festival Etiuda&Anima)
Address: ul. Morawskiego 5/220C, 30-102 Kraków, Poland
Tel.: +48 507 062 615
www.etiudaandanima.pl, www.fundacja.etiudaandanima.pl
Project coordinator: Katarzyna Surmacz
e-mail: biuro@etiudaandanima.pl
With the support of The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of The Republic of Poland and the Polish Film Institute.
Sixty-two (62) years ago, thanks to the success of ”The House”, which won the prize in the experimental film competition at EXPO 58 in Brussels, Jan Lenica and Walerian Borowczyk initiated the world-renowned artistic phenomenon called ”Polish school of animation”. From the very beginning, one of the most important features of the school was its original, plastic character which, as time passed by, strengthened the conviction that the auteur artistic animation has more in common with the tradition of plastic arts than film. The following generations of Polish animated filmmakers reveal new facets of this unique visual adventure of the world cinema. The last set is animations made by Polish artists, women who are now the dominant majority and delight with their creativity, sensitivity, and talent.
1st PROGRAMME (78’)
01. Dom / House, real./dir. Walerian Borowczyk, Jan Lenica, 1958, 11’
02. Labirynt / Labyrinth, real./dir. Jan Lenica, 1961, 14’ 15’’
03. Czerwone i czarne / Red and Black, real./dir. Witold Giersz, 1963, 6’ 30’’
04. Wszystko jest liczbą / Everything Is a Number, real./dir. Stefan Schabenbeck, 1966, 7’ 30’’
05. Hobby, real./dir. Daniel Szczechura, 1968, 7’
06. Apel / The Roll-Call, real./dir. Ryszard Czekała, 1970, 7’ 15”
07. Droga / Road, real./dir. Mirosław Kijowicz, 1971, 4’ 30’’
08. Refleksy / Reflection, real./dir. Jerzy Kucia, 1979, 6’
09. Tango, real./dir. Zbigniew Rybczyński, 1980, 8’
10. Solo na ugorze / Solo in a fallow Field, real./dir. Jerzy Kalina, 1981, 7’
2nd PROGRAMME (83’)
01. Katedra / The Cathedral, real./dir. Tomasz Bagiński, 2002, 6’ 30’’
02. Śmierć na 5 / A - Grade Death, real./dir. Mariusz Wilczyński, 2002, 3’ 40’’
03. Zoopraxiscope, real./dir. Hieronim Neumann, 2005, 11’ 45’’
04. Ichthys, real./dir. Marek Skrobecki, 2005, 15’
05. Wywijas / Inside Out, real./dir. Andrzej Jobczyk, 2008, 5’ 30''
06. Laska / Stick, real./dir. Michał Socha, 2008, 5’
07. Ex Animo, real./dir. Wojciech Wojtkowski, 2013, 6’ 50’’
08. Łaźnia / Baths, real./dir. Tomek Ducki, 2013, 4’ 20’’
09. Hipopotamy / Hippos, real./dir. Piotr Dumała, 2014, 12’ 30’’
10. Lato 2014 / Summer 2014, real./dir. Wojciech Sobczyk, 2014, 12’ 20’’
3rd PROGRAMME (84’)
01. Nieprawdopodobnie elastyczny człowiek / The Incredibly Elastic Man, real./dir. Karolina Specht, 2013, 5’
02. Pies Schroedingera / Schroedinger’s Dog, real./dir. Natalia Krawczuk, 2016, 8’ 50’’
03. O, Matko! / Oh Mother!, real./dir. Paulina Ziółkowska, 2017, 12’ 15’’
04. Rok / Year, real./dir. Małgorzata Bosek, 2018, 11’ 40’’
05. O Jezu! / Oh, God!, real./dir. Betina Bożek, 2018, 3’ 48’’
06. III, real./dir. Marta Pajek, 2018, 12’
07. Kwadratura koła / Squaring the Circle, real./dir. Karolina Specht, 2018, 4' 50''
08. Historia / Story, real./dir. Jola Bańkowska, 2018, 5’
09. Na zdrowie! / Bless You!, real./dir. Paulina Ziółkowska, 2018, 4’ 45’’
10. Portret Suzanne / Portrait of Suzanne, real./dir. Izabela Plucińska, 2019, 15’
1st PROGRAMME - The Movies (78’)
01. Dom / House
dir. and script: Walerian Borowczyk, Jan Lenica, phot. Antoni Nurzyński, music: Włodzimierz Kotoński, Ligia Borowczyk, prod. Wytwórnia Filmów Dokumentalnych, Studio Filmowe „Kadr”, Poland 1958, 11’
It was House that finished collaboration between Walerian Borowczyk and Jan Lenica. Simultaneously, the film opened a door to an international career. House was inspired by the French avant-garde tradition of the 1920s. Different scenes, varied stylistically and thematically, take place inside the secession tenement house: an animate wig drinking milk, two men fighting, and a woman kissing a dummy’s head…
Walerian Borowczyk (1923 - 2006) was an author of posters, scriptwriter, director of the animation, and feature films. He has graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. He designed posters and satirical cartoons at the beginning of his career. He started the Polish School of Animation in the 1960s together with J. Lenica. Borowczyk emigrated to France in 1959 where he stayed and was recognized as an author of many animated films. Afterward, he started making artistic erotic films.
Jan Lenica (1928 - 2001) was the son of Alfred Lenica. Jan was a painter, author of posters, scriptwriter, and director of animated films. He started his career in animation together with Walerian Borowczyk, when they initiated the Polish School of Animation. After the end of their collaboration, Lenica emigrated to France where he continued his career in animation and teaching.
02. Labirynt / Labyrinth
dir. and script: Jan Lenica, phot. Antoni Nurzyński, music: Włodzimierz Kotoński, prod. Studio Miniatur Filmowych, Poland 1961, 14’ 15’’
A mysterious man with fake wings unexpectedly finds himself in a labyrinth of the unknown town. Dangerous, hybrid creatures inhabit this place. The man decides on a risky escape. Labirynth is a cutout animation.
Jan Lenica (1928 - 2001) was the son of Alfred Lenica. Jan was a painter, author of posters, scriptwriter, and director of animated films. He started his career in animation together with Walerian Borowczyk, when they initiated the Polish School of Animation. After the end of their collaboration, Lenica emigrated to France where he continued his career in animation and teaching.
03. Czerwone i czarne / Red and Black
dir. and script: Witold Giersz, Tadeusz Kowalski, Andrzej Lach, phot. Jan Tkaczyk, music: Waldemar Kazanecki, prod. Studio Miniatur Filmowych, Poland 1963, 6’ 30’’
Likewise in Little Western, Giersz uses a technique of painting figures directly on celluloid tapes without framing images. A battle between the bull and the bullfighter becomes a starting point for a witty and light animated play.
Witold Giersz (1927 -) is a scriptwriter and director of animated films. He is one of the most important artists of the Polish School of Animation. When he achieved success in the animation field, he decided to study a film directing in the film school in Łódź. He is a recognized and awarded artist who represents the animated painting style made directly on a celluloid tape.
04. Wszystko jest liczbą / Everything Is a Number
dir., script and phot. Stefan Schabenbeck, music: Zofia Stanczewa, prod. Studio Małych Form filmowych Se-Ma-For, Poland 1966, 7’ 30’’
The film was awarded for the best debut during the Oberhausen festival. A man in a ball falls down on the earth. He finds himself in the world dominated by numbers, equations, and geometrical figures. When others are merging into the crowd of the numbers One, the man decides to change into one of them. He finally wants to belong to the community.
Stefan Schabenbeck (1940 -) has graduated from the film school in Łódź. He is a scriptwriter, director of cartoons and puppet animation. He represents a philosophical trend (Neo-Pythagorism, particularly) in the second generation of the Polish School of Animation. He emigrated from Poland in 1970 after much success achieved in the 1960s. He has focused on the pedagogical work in film schools.
05. Hobby
dir. Daniel Szczechura, phot. Wacław Fedak, music: Eugeniusz Rudnik, prod. Studio Małych Form Filmowych Se-Ma-For, Poland 1968, 7’
The film was made in the year of the student revolt against totalitarian rule in 1968. Hobby links a drawn technique with a cutout technique. It is a grotesque story about female possessiveness, but simultaneously a metaphor of political enslavement and a fight for freedom. The film was awarded in Oberhausen.
Daniel Szczechura (1930 -) has graduated from the Warsaw University with a degree in Art History and graduated from the Cinematography Department of the film school in Łódź. He is a scriptwriter, director of animation and documentaries, and the professor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw for many years. Szczechura, connected with the circle of the Studencki Teatr Satyryków (the Student Theatre of Satirists) during his studies, became one of the most important artists of the Polish School of Animation in the 1960s. His animation has evolved from satirical animation to a philosophical one.
06. Apel / The Roll-Call
dir. Ryszard Czekała, prod. Studio Miniatur Filmowych, Poland 1970, 7’ 15”
It is one of the most stirring animated films in the history of animation. In a simple, but powerful way Czekała presents a horror that happened in concentration camps – prisoners’ dread, humiliation, and lost humanity. The everyday roll-call ends tragically because of prisoners’ “insubordination” in this black and white film. The Roll-Call crossed borders of what can be presented or not in animation. It is sometimes interpreted as a response to the trend of allegorical and philosophical films that dominated Polish animation in the 1960s.
Ryszard Czekała (1941 - 2010) had been graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. He was a scriptwriter, director of the animation, and feature films. Czekała was a student of K. Urbański and one of the most important artists of the second generation of the Polish School of Animation. After achieving international success in animation, he made his feature debut – Sophie.
07. Droga / Road
dir. Mirosław Kijowicz, script: Wojciech Krukowski, photo: Jan Tkaczyk, music: Bohdan Mazurek, prod. Studio Miniatur Filmowych, Poland 1971, 4’ 30’’
It is a philosophical parable about a man at the crossroads. He divides himself in two, as he cannot decide on the one way only. Each half follows its own path. When they meet again, they do not fit each other any longer. The journey changed them irreversibly.
Mirosław Kijowicz (1929 - 2001) had been graduated from Warsaw University with a degree in Art History and in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He was a scriptwriter, pedagogue, art critic, and director of the animation that combined different techniques. His animation represented the philosophical trend in the first generation of the Polish School of Animation.
08. Refleksy / Reflections
dir. Jerzy Kucia, script: Jerzy Kucia, Ewa Gołogórska, phot. Krzysztof Stawowczyk, music: Krzysztof Suchodolski, prod. Studio Filmów Animowanych, Poland 1979, 6’
It is an ironic reflection about life, rivalry, and pointless fight. An insect is going out from his cocoon with a lot of effort. Unexpectedly, another insect attacks him. A stiff fight is interrupted by a passing man who will leave only his footprints and embraced dead insects. The film received many awards, including the Golden Dragon at the Cracow Film Festival.
Jerzy Kucia (1942 -) has graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow where has been a professor for many years now, holding the position of the director of the Animated Film Studio, too. He is a scriptwriter and director of animation that combines different techniques. Kucia is one of the most important artists of the second generation of the Polish School of Animation who communicates with his audience by means of animated inner experiences. He has organized and led the International Workshop of the Animated Film in Krakow for many years.
09. Tango
dir. Zbigniew Rybczyński, music: Janusz Hajdun, prod. Studio Małych Form Filmowych Se-Ma-For, Poland 1980, 8’
People enter the small room in turn. Firstly, one by one, then the sequences of rhythmical moves start looping and overlapping, but characters do not interfere with each other. It is accurate time compression within a limited space. Tango won the very first Oscar in the history of Polish cinema.
Zbigniew Rybczyński (1949 -) has graduated from the Film School in Łódź. He is a cinematographer, scriptwriter, and director of animated and experimental films. He left Poland after receiving Oscar for Tango. He went to the U.S. where he was acclaimed as the „pope of the video art”.
10. Solo na ugorze / Solo in a Fallow Field
dir. and script: Jerzy Kalina, phot. Jan Tkaczyk, music: Bohdan Mazurek, prod. Studio Miniatur Filmowych, Poland 1981, 7’
Kalina links traditional animation with a re-projection. To the rhythm of the popular folk song Ukochany Kraj, umiłowany Kraj (Beloved country, dear country) he creates an anti-ballade about the farmer’s hard life and difficult work. Monotonous and mechanical activities degrade a man.
Jerzy Kalina (1944 -) has graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He is a painter, sculptor, set designer, theatre and film director, and an author of documentaries and animated films made in different techniques. He is a versatile, committed artist who often presents important social and political issues in a sophisticated art form.
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2nd PROGRAMME - The Movies (83’)
01. Katedra / The Cathedral
dir. and script: Tomasz Bagiński, music: Adam Rosiak, prod. Platige Image, Poland 2002, 6’ 30’’
Bagiński worked on The Cathedral by himself for three years. It is a dream-like story about a man, who finds the mysterious cathedral on the remote planet. The cathedral becomes alive when the first sunbeams fall on the building. The film is based on the short fantasy story written by Jacek Dukaj. It was nominated for the Oscar award.
Tomasz Bagiński (1976 -) is a self-taught person in the film field. He is a drawer, author of animation, and laureate of many festivals. Bagiński makes applied animation and films. He has been connected to the Platige Image for many years.
02. Śmierć na 5 / A - Grade Death
dir., script and phot. Mariusz Wilczyński, music: Grzegorz Ciechowski, Poland 2002, 3’ 40’’
It is an animation made for the last song of Grzegorz Ciechowski, the leader of the Republika band, who died in December 2001. It was to be the fragment of the 30-minute-long animation that Wilczyński planned with Ciechowski. Unfortunately, the artist’s sudden death interrupted the work. Wilczyński finished Death to five in March 2002 and he added a new ending.
Mariusz Wilczyński (1964 -) is a self-taught person in the film field. He has graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź. He is a painter, stage designer, performer, pedagogue in the Film School in Łódź, and an author of the artist and applied animation. He usually makes his films by himself using characteristic, unreal narration based on the dream-like logic and connotations. He is well known as an author of the animation setting of TVP Kultura, a Polish television channel. Awarded many times, he became one of the most recognized “personas” of contemporary Polish animation. He had an individual exhibition in the MOMA in New York.
03. Zoopraxiscope
dir. and script: Hieronim Neumann, phot. Maciej Ćwiek, music Janusz Hajdun, prod. Studio Mansarda, Poland 2005, 11’ 45’’
The film is inspired by the invention of an English photographer and inventor, who design zoopraxiscope in 1879. It was found as a prototype of the cinematograph because it enabled to animate photographs and record consecutive move stages.
Hieronim Neumann (1948 -) has graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań. He is a pedagogue, author of animation made in different techniques. At the beginning of his career, he was under the strong influence of Z. Rybczyński with whom he collaborated. He works on his own projects, as well as commissioned animation to the classical music masterpieces.
04. Ichthys
dir. Marek Skrobecki, script: Antoni Bańkowski, phot. Mikołaj Jaroszewicz, music: Wojciech Lemański, prod. Se-Ma-For, Wytwórnia Filmów Dokumentalnych i Fabularnych, Poland 2005, 15’
It is a puppet animation linked with an additional 3D computer technique. Ichthys is a metaphorical parable about human’s dreams, expectations, and grit. A young man comes to the restaurant in the sacred-like building. A waiter with a cherub-like face takes an order and goes away. The client is waiting patiently. Time is passing. When the waiter shows up again, the man cannot enjoy a meal evermore.
Marek Skrobecki (1951 -) has graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and the film school in Łódź. He is a scriptwriter and director of animated films, including puppet animation mainly. He is the laureate of many international festivals. He collaborates with many other artists as for instance with Suzie Templeton on the Oscar winner Peter and the Wolf.
05. Wywijas / Inside Out
dir., script and phot. Andrzej Jobczyk, music: Sebastian Rogowski, prod. PWSFTviT, Poland 2008, 5’ 30’’
It is animation inspired by hyperbolic and multidimensional geometry. The definition of the „inside out” is a starting point for the film. A man wakes up in the morning and eats breakfast during which he starts bending, unbending, twisting all things around, including a house, a mug, a clock…
Andrzej Jobczyk (1985 -) is a student of animation and special effects in the Film School in Łódź. He works in animation, photography, and graphic fields.
06. Laska / Chick
dir. and script: Michał Socha, music: Meritum, prod. Platige Image, Poland 2008, 5’
It is a story full of nonsensical sense of humor about a fatal charm of the femme fatale told to rhythms of jazz band Meritum music. A woman is preparing herself for going out – she has a shower, makes her face up, and dresses. Finally, she meets a man in the nightclub. They drink, dance, and have sex. But when the man, charmed by her, goes out of the room, the unpleasant surprise will wait for him. The film was awarded in Annecy for an interesting usage of music.
Michał Socha (1981 -) has graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He works on animation and special effects. After making short animations The Concert (2006) and Odlot (2007) achieved international success with the film Chick.
07. Ex Animo
dir. and script: Wojciech Wojtkowski, music: Tomasz Opałka, prod. Fumi Studio, Poland 2013, 7’
An animated impression. Images conjured up by the animator form a two-dimensional reality of their own. Absurd and unrelated scenes describe the rules governing the world confined to a sheet of paper and animation technique. The relationships between the characters seem strangely familiar.
Wojciech Wojtkowski (1956 -) is a graphic artist, press illustrator, animator and storyboard artist, director of animated films, and actor. He is a co-author of numerous films for children (including animated series). He made his own artist films: Gra (The Game, 1988) and Ex Animo (2013) – a production that won awards at many festivals including Grand Prix of a Providence festival.
08. Łaźnia / Baths
dir. and script: Tomek Ducki, phot. Katarzyna Zolich, music: Jean Marc-Petsas, prod. Studio Miniatur filmowych, Peek and Boo, Poland 2013, 4’
Two elderly swimmers meet at the baths for their ritual swimming. This time, lured by the unusual light, they are diving deeper than usual. Animated reflection on time and limits of what is real.
Tomek Ducki was born in 1982 in Budapest. He is a Polish author of animated films and video clips, graphic artist and poster designer. He studied animation at MOME in Budapest and at Film and Television School in London. He achieved considerable successes at various festivals with his film Eletvonal (2007) and Łaźnia (Baths).
09. Hipopotamy / Hippos
dir. and script: Piotr Dumała, phot. Mateusz Michalak, music: Alexander Balanescu, prod. Fumi Studio, Poland 2014, 12’
A film based on observations of the behavior of hippos. A group of women and children swimming in the river is approached by some men. The most determined male gets close to one of the women. When she rejects him, there is a sudden outbreak of group aggression.
Piotr Dumała (1956 -) has graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He is a scriptwriter, director of animated and feature films, writer, actor, graphic artist, and pedagogue. He is the most important artist of the third generation of the Polish School of Animation. Dumała is interested in surrealism and prose of Fyodor Dostoyevsky or Franz Kafka and he tries to reflect the atmosphere of their novels in his films.
10. Lato 2014 / Summer 2014
dir. and script: Wojciech Sobczyk, music: Bartosz Chajdecki, prod. Stowarzyszenie Twórców Filmu Animowanego, Eksperymentalnego i Video Studio A, Poland 2014, 12’
Animated poetic treaty on violence regarded by the author as the main mover of the history filled with plagues and misery. Another great battle results in an apocalyptic landscape where a falling man is lost.
Wojciech Sobczyk (1974 -) is an animated film author, illustrator, photographer, and pedagogue. He has graduated from the department of animation of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków and professor Jerzy Kucia’s student. He works in the Animated Film Studio in Kraków; he is an author of animated films Drabina (A Ladder, 1997), Wiosna 1999 (Spring 1999, 2000), and Lato 2014 (Summer 2014) – nominated for the European Film Award in the Best Short Film category. Winner of the Grand Prix of the Animateca Festival 2015 in Ljubljana.
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3rd PROGRAMME - The Movies (84’)
01. Nieprawdopodobnie elastyczny człowiek / The Incredibly Elastic Man
dir., script and phot. Karolina Specht, prod. PWSFTviT, Poland 2013, 5’
The story of a man born without shape. Constant deformations and being crammed into other people’s molds make him feel rebellious. Can one live completely detached from others, from reality? Who and what decides who we ultimately are?
Karolina Specht (1991 -) is a graduate of animation at the department of Photography & Television Production of Lodz Film School. Apart from award-winning The Incredibly Elastic Man, she also made animations: Don’t lose your head (2015), Beside Oneself (2016), Squaring the Circle (2018). Laureate of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage Award for her outstanding achievements granted to students of Polish artistic schools.
02. Pies Schroedingera / Schroedinger’s Dog
dir. and script: Natalia Krawczuk, music: W.A. Mozart, prod. PWSFTviT, Poland 2016, 8’ 50’’
A short story of a man, women, their dog, and a couch. Their common days are filled with boredom and taking naps, but things will change when their pet will suddenly disappear. How simple yet complicated our relationships can be and whether we can feel lonely despite living with someone else. Special Golden Żmij for best student short. ANIMA.PL competition – IFF Etiuda&Anima 2017.
Natalia Krawczuk – is a graduate of ethnology and cultural anthropology at the University of Warsaw, currently a student of animation in Lodz Film School. Author of Ping Pong, Captain, Fences, and the award-winning Schroedinger’s Dog.
03. O, Matko! / Oh Mother!
dir. and script: Paulina Ziółkowska, music: Tomasz Opałka, prod. Fumi Studio, Poland 2017, 12’ 15’’
Mother and son are changing places and roles constantly; at times the mother is an adult, sometimes the son matures and takes care of the suddenly childish mother. The arrangement works fine until the boy decides to escape from under the skirt of the overprotective mother and start an independent life. Golden Jabberwocky – Grand Prix ANIMA competition – IFF Etiuda&Anima 2017.
Paulina Ziółkowska (1988 -) has studied art history at the University of Wrocław and graphic arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław, she is currently a student of animation in Lodz Film School. Her professional film Oh Mother was awarded numerous prizes at festivals in Poland and abroad.
04. Rok / Year
dir. and script: Małgorzata Bosek, music: Marcin Kuczewski, Sakhioba, prod. Serafiński Studio, Poland 2018, 11’ 40’’
A film made in memory of Marek Serafiński, an animation director, producer, and husband of the author. It is a graphic and sound memoir from paper waste, such as labels, price tags, tickets, etc, as well as boxes of cigarettes smoked by a nicotine addict over a period of six years and collected by one particular collector. It shows the magnitude of the smoker’s addiction, but also the determination and a kind of addiction of the collector, as well as passing of time in a strange symbiosis of the life that they shared together.
Małgorzata Bosek (1968 -) has graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. She finished the animation course organized by the Film Miniatures Studio. She is an author of animation, a painter who collaborates with other artists. She had many individual exhibitions that presented her collages, tapestries, and other works.
05. O Jezu! / Oh, God!
real./dir. Betina Bożek, 2018, 3’ 48’’
The reality presented in the film "Oh God" might be described using such terms as inertia or chaos. The characters feature a lack of willingness to take any action, they are passive and indifferent, unable to create their own reality. The author presents a world that loses its original shapes, loses its identity. Groaning “oh God” as the main theme combines it all: grimace, sigh, and a quiet whisper of despair over our own impotence.
Betina Bożek was born in 1993 in Krakow. She is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts Jan Matejko in Krakow. A Laureate of international competitions, artistic scholarships, and film festivals. She is involved in illustration and animated film. She has so far realized five animated films: The Rumble, Kratoteka, Loneliness, Oh God, and The Land of Whim. She lives and works in Krakow.
06. III
dir. and script: Marta Pajek, music: Aleksandra Gryka, prod. Animoon, Poland 2018, 12’
A sudden meeting of a Man and a Woman begins a hypnotic act – a game of pleasure and discomfort.
Marta Pajek was born in 1982 in Kielce. She is a film director, graphic artist, and painter. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, she studied at the Animated Film Studio headed by Jerzy Kucia. She also participated in a traineeship under the tutorship of Priit Pärn at the Turku Arts Academy in Finland. She has directed short animations, such as After Apples (2004) and Behind the Wall (2005), and an award-winning film Sleepincord (2011). The latest part of her triptych Impossible Figures and Other Stories III was qualified for the short film competition at the Cannes 2018 festival.
07. Kwadratura koła / Squaring the Circle
dir., script, and phot. Karolina Specht, music: Paweł Cieślak, prod. PWSFTviT, Poland 2018, 4,50’’
At first glance, it seems that Square lives among the chaos and endless changes. Once, a new element sneaks into the pattern.
Karolina Specht (1991 -) is a graduate of animation at the department of Photography & Television Production of Lodz Film School. Apart from award-winning The Incredibly Elastic Man, she also made animations: Don’t lose your head (2015), Beside Oneself (2016), Squaring the Circle (2018). Laureate of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage Award for her outstanding achievements granted to students of Polish artistic schools.
08. Historia / Story
dir. and script: Jola Bańkowska, music: Skillbard, prod: Studio Munka, Poland 2018, 5’
The story is a reflection of a modern man in an age of omnipresent technology. Looking through stories – a popular function in many social media platforms – we see people who are lonely, lost, or already indifferent about the reality surrounding them. The action takes place during one day and it’s told by short, often (auto)ironic scenes, where virtual world sinks to reality.
Jola Bańkowska (1992 -). She has won two Adobe Design Achievement Awards and, in 2016, received a scholarship for outstanding achievement from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. She is currently living in London while also finishing her graduation film at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw.
09. Na zdrowie! / Bless You!
dir. and script: Paulina Ziółkowska, music: Max Litvinov, prod. PWSFTviT, Poland 2018, 4’45’’
A sunny day. People are waiting at a bus stop. Suddenly, someone sneezes. Then someone else. And someone else. An epidemic breaks. In the chaos of sneezes, it turns out that it is the worst to fall ill with oneself.
Paulina Ziółkowska (1988 -) has studied art history at the University of Wrocław and graphic arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław, she is currently a student of animation in Lodz Film School. Her professional film Oh Mother! was awarded numerous prizes at festivals in Poland and abroad.
10. Portret Suzanne / Portrait of Suzanne
dir. and script: Izabela Plucińska, music: Pascal Comelade, Arfaaz Kagalwala, prod. ClayTraces, Films de Force Majeure, Fundacja Las Sztuki, Poland/Germany/France 2019, 15’
In a small hotel, there is a man who tries to stop the hunger for love by eating excessively. But his longing for his love, Suzanne, will not be soothed by the plates full of meat cuts, vegetables, and fruit. When the protagonist goes to the town in search of food, he accidentally hurts himself in the foot, which unexpectedly transforms into Suzanne. Since then, they are to be inseparable. Still, this is just the beginning of a surreal story about loneliness, jealousy, and love. Every single detail of this grotesque plasticine adaptation of Roland Topor’s short story enchants the audience.
Izabela Plucińska was born in 1974 in Koszalin. She has studied at Lódz Art School and Film School until the year 2000 and took up studies at “Konrad Wolf” Film School in Potsdam - Babelsberg, Germany in 2003. She specialises in clay animation. Her filmography includes Jam Session (2005) - a winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, Esterhazy (2009), and Sexy Laundry (2015). Currently, she is a teacher at the Academy of Art in Szczecin, at the same time she is working at her own production company, ClayTraces in Berlin.
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