Visegrad Film Forum is an upcoming project organized by the Student Film Festival Áčko, which should enrich the festival by creating space for a cooperation of the V4 countries in the field of culture, specifically in the film industry. Main
topic will be The Future of European Co-production.
It will be a meeting point of film students from FAMU in Prague, SZFE Budapest, PWSFTviT from Lodz, Andrzej Wajda Film School
from Warsaw and FTF VSMU Bratislava.
During four days 8 European film professionals will held a master-classes on various topics.
We are open to everybody who wants to meet new people from film industry in a student
atmosphere.
by Alex Deleon The Los Angeles film festival calendar is so crowded that three of them have currently been running in overlapping juxtaposition. The LA Indian film festival and the LA Polish film festival both started on the same day, April 20, but the Indian one only lasted six days leaving another six days to catch up with the second half of the Polish action. There is also an Asian festival going on simultaneously in Koreatown, but since it is physically impossible to be everywhere at once, ...
In the competition will be 41 films from countries all over the world, including Israel, Czech Republic, Belgium, Slovakia, France, Germany, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Denmark, and Belarus. They present Jewish culture, history and presence, both in Israel and in the diaspora, in an interesting and intriguing, sometimes moving, sometimes amusing way. They tell the story of today's world - our identity, loneliness, decisions, and conflicts. They are always the most recent productions, from the last two...
India wins 7 Awards at Asian Festival of First Films, Singapore
India hogged limelight with seven wins at the Asian Festival of First Films (AFFF) held in Singapore. Sona Jain's "For Real" swept four awards in the feature film category while Faiza Ahmad Khan's documentary "Malegaon Ka Superman" grabbed th...
The 22nd European Film Awards: CRITICS' AWARD 2009, Prix FIPRESCI goes to Andrzej Wajda
for TATARAK (Sweet Rush)
As FIPRESCI's General Secretary Klaus Eder explained: "For us critics it is without doubt a big pleasure to honour Wajda, who wrote European film history already with his first films (GENERATION, KANAL, ASHES AND DIAMONDS) and who has influenced generations of filmmakers. We are therefore pleased and honoured to show him all our respect as critics. Our award also honours...
One of the special events at the forthcoming Locarno International Film Festival will be a special evening devoted to the Polish director Andrzej Wajda, who will attend in person, on Monday August 10 at 8.30 pm at La Sala. Festival goers will have an opportunity to see the world première of an outstanding documentary made by four of Andrzej Wajda’s students – graduates of the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing (Warsaw), Andrzej Wajda: róbmy zdje¸cie! (Andrzej Wajda: Silence on ...
It is not stretching to declare the director Andrzej Wajda is indeed one of Poland's great cultural treasures. Well into his eighties, Wajda remains a current and consistent icon of European cinema. His last film, a meditation on one of the great tragedies of World War II, the massacre of Polish officers by the invading Russians in the film Katyn, was nominated for an Oscar last year. It is one of many international prizes the director has garnered in a career that spans over five decades, inclu...
Friday, October 24------It is not stretching to declare the director Andrzej Wajda is indeed one of Poland's great cultural treasures. Well into his eighties, Wajda remains a current and consistent icon of European cinema. His last film, a meditation on one of the great tragedies of World War II, the massacre of Polish officers by the invading Russians in the film Katyn, was nominated for an Oscar last year. It is one of many international prizes the director has garnered in a career that sp...
Films by famous directors in the over-seventy five category include “Kabei – Our Mother” by Japanese old master Yamada Yoji (third time in Berlin with a competition film), and the Polish non-competition entry “Katyn” by 80 year old director Andrzej Wajda who has been a familiar figure in Berlin over the years and was warded a Life Work career Golden Bear here three years ago. The Katyn film dealing with the mass murder of Polish Prisoners of war in WWII by the Russians which was...
The Academy awards coming nearly a month earlier than usual this year (late February instead of late march) brought a certain "freudenschade" (Joy over other people's misery) to Western Europe and an air of gloom to Warsaw. The German newspapers were practically gloating over the fact that all four acting Oscars went to European rather than American performers (UK, France and Spain), whereas the Poles, placing high hopes on Andrzej Wajda's WW II Massacre epic "Katyn", recei...
Wednesday, June 11-------Although they are both part of the European continent, Poland seems as far away from Portugal as one can imagine. I’ve now been to both places, and while it is a cliché and an exaggeration that Poland is always rather cloudy, gloomy and weighed down by its difficult history, the Polish sensibility (and humor) are decidedly dark. It is intriguing to have that sober mood contrast with the lightness and sparkle of Portugal in early June, but that is exactly the contras...
One of the most celebrated American Independent films of the past year has opened the American Independents Competition at Festroia: Troia International Film Festival last evening. STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING, a character drama set in the literary world of New York City, features an award-winning performance by veteran stage and screen actor Frank Langella, who won the Best Actor prize from the Boston Film Critics last year. Langella's performance was critically hailed by major critics groups an...
Saturday, June 7-------The Troia International Film Festival (Festroia), known as the "Cannes of Portugal" opened last evening with a Gala Screening of the Oscar nominated Polish film KATYN. The film, directed by European screen legend Andrezj Wajda, is a dramatic recreation of the one of the great human crimes of the Second World War.....the mass slaughter of Polish army officers by the Russians in the beginning days of the conflict. Wajda brings his customary sweep mixed with intimac...
Tuesday, May 13------Poland has had an active film industry since the beginning of the 20th century and continues to be one of the most active players on the Eastern European film scene. Having produced such acknowledged film masters as Roman Polanski, Andrzej Wajda, Agnieszka Holland, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Jan Lenica, Lech Majewski and Jerzy Skolimowski, the Polish film scene has flourished, even under the strict demands of 40 years of Communist rule. As the economic dynamo of the “new Eur...
Andrzej Wajda RetrospectiveBFI Southbank, 2 - 31 May 2008http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/bfi_southbank/film_programme/may_seasons/andrzej_wajda Andrzej Wajda has been the Grand Old Man of Polish cinema for so long that it comes as a surprise to discover that he’s still working at the age of 82. Born in Suwalki, north-east Poland in 1926, he was 13 when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded his country. His father was murdered at Katyn the following year, which had an indelible effect on Wajd...
The Academy awards brought a certain "freudenschade" (Joy over other people's misery) to Western Europe and an air of gloom to Warsaw. The German newspapers were practically gloating over the fact that all four acting Oscars went to European rather than American performers (UK, France and Spain), whereas the Poles, placing high hopes on Andrzej Wajda's WW II Massacre epic "Katyn", received a painful letdown when the Best Foreign film award went to a relatively minor Austrian concentration camp s...
The 58th Berlin Film Festival closed out a rather unremarkable ten day run with Andrzej Wajda's massive indictment of Russian war crimes, "Katyn". The political significance of this film, especially in Germany, was underlined by the attendance at the final gala of German Prime Minister Angela Merkel and other top level political dignitaries. Eighty year old director Wajda said that he hopes the film will help build new bridges between Germany and Poland. Considering that Poland suffe...
The 58th Berlin Film Festival closed out a rather unremarkable ten day run with Andrzej Wajda's massive indictment of Russian war crimes, "Katyn". The political significance of this film, especially in Germany, was underlined by the attendance at the final gala of German Prime Minister Angela Merkel and other top level political dignitaries. Eighty year old director Wajda said that he hopes the film will help build new bridges between Germany and Poland. Considering that Poland suffered far mo...
GDYNIA, SEPTEMBER 18, 2007ALEX DELEON FOR www.filmfestivals.com"KATYN FEVER” IN POLAND AS THE WAJDA VERSION OPENS GDYNIA FESTAndrej Wajda’s new film “KATYN” concerning the mass murder of Polish Prisoners of War perpetrated by the Russians in 1940 and for years either hushed up or cynically blamed on the Germans, is more than just another film by a famous director. It has become a “cause celebre” and a national event stirring up the collective Polish memory of this incredible Rus...
ROME: The Corriere de la Sera reports that reclusive, camera-shy American director Terence Malik showed up as scheduled for an audience with the festival press corps during the current second edition of the Rome International Film Festival with his specified precondition in place – No Photographs. During the session he steered clear of any commentary on his personal life, talking only about his film work while simultaneously demonstrating a surprisingly extensive knowledge of Italian film hi...
The 32nd Gdynia Film Review ends on Up-beat Note as 92 Year Old Actress takes the Cake ! by Alex Deleon, PolandThe Annual Review of Polish Feature Films in Gdynia on the Baltic seashore is quite unusual in that it is both a compendium of the entire Polish feature film production for the preceding 12 months, and also a kind of local Oscar competition in which a professional jury votes on the best work of the year in the usual categories. This year there was a total of 22 films in competition, abo...
On Tuesday Andrzej Wajda accompanied by a retinue of actors and others connected with the 'Katyn' production showed up in Gdynia as scheduled for a press conference preceding multiple screenings of the heavily anticipated film. (One screening especially for the foreign press had English subtitles). The 81 year old director sporting a full head of white hair, full cheeks, and a ruddy complexion, seemed to be in good health and spoke with confidence about his latest work before a roomful of journ...
Andrej Wajda’s new film “KATYN” concerning the mass murder of Polish Prisoners of War perpetrated by the Russians in 1940 and for years either hushed up or cynically blamed on the Germans, is more than just another film by a famous director – it has become a “cause celebre”and a national event stirring up the collective Polish memory of this incredible Russian atrocity. “Katyn” is the name of a forest area outside of the city of Smolesk where over a three day period in May, 1940,...
Andrzej Wajda, 81, the dean of Polish filmmakers and generally recognized as one of the all time great film directors -- period -- will open the 32nd Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia on September 17. This long awaited dissertation on the egregious massacre of Polish officers (POW!) in WW II perpetrated by the Russians -- then cynically blamed by them on the Germans-- has been a pet project brewing in the mind of the Polish screen maestro for a number of years. The new Wajda opus will pr...
One of the great assets for a journalist at the Berlin film festival is the very well organized press conference structure and the constant parade of leading figures, directors, stars and others, from film industries around the world. The day here starts out with two matinee press screenings of films in competition in the same giant hall, the Berlinale Palast, where the gala red-carpet screenings are held in the evening. These press screenings are immediately followed by a press conference in th...
