OFF PLUS CAMERA'09
OFF PLUS CAMERA 2009 (17-26 IV 2009)
The second edition of OFF Plus CAMERA once again made 12 films from all over the world compete for the Krakow Film Award (among them productions that won awards at Sundance or Berlinnale). The jury members, apart from Zbigniew Preisner, were: Oscar-winner Fernando Trueba, Golden Bear-nominee Allison Anders, Golden Lion-winner Andriej Zwiagincew and German director Max Faberbock as well as Sundance Film Festival Programming Director – Trevor Groth. Sebastian Silva won the Krakow Film Award ($100,000) with his film “La Nana”. Except for the prize, the winner was promised to get financial support from the Polish Film Institute for his new project. The Audience Award went to the director of “Snow White, Russian Red” – based on a famous novel by Dorota Maslowska – Xawery Żulawski. And the critics’ favorite feature turned out to be “The Messenger” – a shocking movie from Oren Moverman.
One of the most important aspects of the festival’s 2009 program was a section called “Cultural Bridge”, which was the European version of the project presented at Dubai International Film Festival. Within this section the festival presented films that speak of cultural differences and fight against racial, rleigious and ethnic prejudices. The screenings were accompanied by the panel discussion, led by Hannah Fisher, on the role of the cinema when it comes to building an intercultural dialogue. Outstanding international guests participated in this event, among them Riz Kahn (director of Al Jazeera English TV channel), Kim Dong Ho (the founder and director of Pusan film festival) and Ketan Mehta (one of the Bollywood leading directors and producers).
The festival invited a number of acclaimed actresses and actors, among them: Anna Karina, the icon of the French New Wave and Godard's ex-wife, a tru Hollywood legend Seymour Cassel as well as Lea Thompson and Chris McDonald.
The second edition of OFF PLUS CAMERA sealed the festival’s collaboration with Sundance Film Festival – the world’s most important festival of independent cinema. The American festival, founded by Robert Redford, presented in Krakow its anniversary program called “25 Years of Sundance”, including such unforgettable films – Sundance-winners – like John Cameron Mitchell’s “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “The Grace of My Heart” by Allison Anders.
Moreover, within the second edition of the festival, the “Catching Up” was continued, that is a section which presents films, which, in spite of the fact they had been acclaimed world-wide, were never distributed across Polish movie theaters. The screenings were accompanied by a panel discussion with Jerzy Płażewski, Piotr Kobus, Piotr Reisch and Artur Majer from the Polish Film Institute. Such famous films were shown to the Cracow audience as Michel Blanc’s “Summer things” and Terry Zwigoff’s “Ghost world”. OFF PLUS CAMERA took part in popularizing queer cinema in Poland, as one of its sections – called, of course “Queer Cinema” - was devoted to films telling stories about gays and lesbians, against sexual norms and stereotypes. The special guest of the section was the outstanding American director – Tom Kalin, whose “Swoon” was one of the first new queer cinema pictures. Among the films presented within this section, there were “The Living End” directed by Gregg Araki and Gus van Sant’s “Mala noche”.
The artistic value of the second edition of OFF Plus CAMERA was enriched by Nigel Kennedy’s concert at the Opening Gala (that followed the screening of a heart-breaking movie from Jean Stephane Sauvaire – “Johnny Mad Dog”) and Leszek Możdżer’s recital, who did the accompanying improvisation to Luis Bunuel’s “Andalusian Dog” at the Closing Gala of the festival.
The second edition of OFF Plus CAMERA once again made 12 films from all over the world compete for the Krakow Film Award (among them productions that won awards at Sundance or Berlinnale). The jury members, apart from Zbigniew Preisner, were: Oscar-winner Fernando Trueba, Golden Bear-nominee Allison Anders, Golden Lion-winner Andriej Zwiagincew and German director Max Faberbock as well as Sundance Film Festival Programming Director – Trevor Groth. Sebastian Silva won the Krakow Film Award ($100,000) with his film “La Nana”. Except for the prize, the winner was promised to get financial support from the Polish Film Institute for his new project. The Audience Award went to the director of “Snow White, Russian Red” – based on a famous novel by Dorota Maslowska – Xawery Żulawski. And the critics’ favorite feature turned out to be “The Messenger” – a shocking movie from Oren Moverman.
One of the most important aspects of the festival’s 2009 program was a section called “Cultural Bridge”, which was the European version of the project presented at Dubai International Film Festival. Within this section the festival presented films that speak of cultural differences and fight against racial, rleigious and ethnic prejudices. The screenings were accompanied by the panel discussion, led by Hannah Fisher, on the role of the cinema when it comes to building an intercultural dialogue. Outstanding international guests participated in this event, among them Riz Kahn (director of Al Jazeera English TV channel), Kim Dong Ho (the founder and director of Pusan film festival) and Ketan Mehta (one of the Bollywood leading directors and producers).
The festival invited a number of acclaimed actresses and actors, among them: Anna Karina, the icon of the French New Wave and Godard's ex-wife, a tru Hollywood legend Seymour Cassel as well as Lea Thompson and Chris McDonald.The second edition of OFF PLUS CAMERA sealed the festival’s collaboration with Sundance Film Festival – the world’s most important festival of independent cinema. The American festival, founded by Robert Redford, presented in Krakow its anniversary program called “25 Years of Sundance”, including such unforgettable films – Sundance-winners – like John Cameron Mitchell’s “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “The Grace of My Heart” by Allison Anders.
Moreover, within the second edition of the festival, the “Catching Up” was continued, that is a section which presents films, which, in spite of the fact they had been acclaimed world-wide, were never distributed across Polish movie theaters. The screenings were accompanied by a panel discussion with Jerzy Płażewski, Piotr Kobus, Piotr Reisch and Artur Majer from the Polish Film Institute. Such famous films were shown to the Cracow audience as Michel Blanc’s “Summer things” and Terry Zwigoff’s “Ghost world”. OFF PLUS CAMERA took part in popularizing queer cinema in Poland, as one of its sections – called, of course “Queer Cinema” - was devoted to films telling stories about gays and lesbians, against sexual norms and stereotypes. The special guest of the section was the outstanding American director – Tom Kalin, whose “Swoon” was one of the first new queer cinema pictures. Among the films presented within this section, there were “The Living End” directed by Gregg Araki and Gus van Sant’s “Mala noche”.
The artistic value of the second edition of OFF Plus CAMERA was enriched by Nigel Kennedy’s concert at the Opening Gala (that followed the screening of a heart-breaking movie from Jean Stephane Sauvaire – “Johnny Mad Dog”) and Leszek Możdżer’s recital, who did the accompanying improvisation to Luis Bunuel’s “Andalusian Dog” at the Closing Gala of the festival.
