“Tonia and Her Children” by Marcel Łoziński, “The Argentinian Lesson” by Wojciech Staroń, and “1994” by Haveh Tehrani chosen as the best films at the 51st Krakow Film Festival; “Phnom Penh “ by Paweł Kloc awarded twice – with Silver Horn and Silver Hobby-Horse.

The winners of the National, Documentary, and Short Film Competitions were announced on May 29th, at the Award Ceremony at Kijów.Centrum. The host of the evening was Maciej Stuhr. The ceremony began with a concert of a famous jazz band, Marcin Wasilewski Trio, a group that for many years worked with Tomasz Stańko, our guest last year.

Altogether 87 films, selected from 2700 entries, entered the three competitions. From these the following received awards:
The jury of Documentary Competition, chaired by Tue Steen Müller, chose “The Argentinian Lesson” by Wojciech Staroń as the best film for maintaining its form and story from the beginning to end; a story not only about different cultures but rather about the beauty of a young boy and a young girl getting closer to each other, a story about a growing friendship. The jury found the film a true masterpiece. The film was also awarded with the Award of the Polish Association of Cinematographers PSC for its cinematography.
Silver Horn for the Director of the Best Medium-length Documentary went to Marcus Lindeen for his film “Regretters”. Jury appreciated the author for finding a perfect solution to self-analysis performed by two human beings who have undergone sex changes in search of their identity. In the feature-film category, Silver Horn was awarded to Paweł Kloc for “Phnom Penh Lullaby” whose strong cinematic language was used to depict a very unconventional struggle for love and acceptance in a devastating family environment. Special mentions were awarded to Alejandra Sanchez for “Agnus Dei” and to Tomasz Wolski for “Doctors”.

Golden Dragon for the best short film was given to Haveh Tehrani, the director of “1994”. The jury, chaired by Lech Kowalski, based their choice on the theme and characters which pose a question crucial to the contemporary film making, “What is fiction, and what is non-fiction?’ The film challenges the viewer to consider the role of immigrants in European society. The film received also the award of the FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Jury.
Silver Dragon for the best documentary went to José Miguel Ribeiro for “A Journey to Cape Verde”, which perfectly captured the hot and primitive island environment of the coast of Africa. The best short animation is “1989 (When I Was 5 Years Old)”. In awarding Thor Ochsner with Server Dragon, the jury appreciated his artistic style of storytelling which fits perfectly the intimate character of the film. Silver Dragon for the director of the best feature film was awarded to Daniel Mulloy for “Baby” as a well-crafted film which uses a tight directing style to play with the usual stereotypes.

Special Mentions in Short Film Competition were given to “Photographer’s Wife”, directed by Karsten Krause and Philip Widmann, and to “Decrescendo” by Marta Minorowicz. The nomination to the European Film Award 2011 in the short film category went to “Paparazzi”, directed by Piotr Bernaś.
The National Competition Jury, chaired by Jerzy Kapuściński, awarded Golden Hobby-Horse for the director of the best film to Marcel Łoziński for the film “Tonia and Her Children”, for combining the tradition of the Polish documentary with intellectual bravery and critical perceptiveness.
Silver Hobby-Horse for the director of the best documentary went to Paweł Kloc for “Phnom Penh Lullaby”. “The Lost Town of Świteź” by Kamil Polak was chosen the best animation, whereas the award for the best short film went to Magnus von Horn for “Without Snow”. Special Mentions were given to Natalia Brożyńska for “Shivering Trunks” as well as to Joanna Turowicz and Anna Zakrzewska for “Kwiekulik”.

The Dragon of Dragons Award at the 51st Krakow Film Festival went to Piotr Kamler, one of the greatest animation makers.

Also those who could not make it to the Festival had the opportunity to watch some of the films. Twelve chosen works were available on the VOD Kinoplex.gazeta.pl website.

The organizer of the Krakow Film Festival is Krakow Film Foundation in cooperation with Polish Filmmakers Association and Apollo-Film.