ANIMATED IN POLAND: PITCHING OF UPCOMING POLISH ANIMATIONS

31.05.2016, 14.00 – 16.00 PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS
MOS 2 (access with passes: INDUSTRY, MEDIA, MARKET)

31.05.2016, 16.15 – 17.45 ONE-TO-ONE MEETINGS
MOS 5 (for participants only)

This is the fourth time that KFF Industry Zone programme highlights animation by devoting it a special event. ANIMATED IN POLAND will reveal what’s in store for the upcoming months and let you take a sneak-peak at cutting edge animated shorts. The representatives of projects will present their films before they get finished and submitted to dozens of festivals worldwide.
 

SELECTED PROJECTS:

MUD, dir. Alicja Błaszczyńska, prod. FUMI Studio

Self‑sufficient housing estate, same‑looking flats and nearby marshes are the world that Klara and her Boyfriend live in. When bored girl ends their relationship because of a silly thing, blocks of flats and marshes start to mix. Tormented by remorse and bitterness Klara has to find her place in the new reality, where the border between the concrete and the mud does not exist.

Director: Alicja Błaszczyńska – She was born in 1991, in Lodz, Poland. In 2011 she started her studies in Animated Film and Special Effects at the Polish National Film School in Łódź. She is currently 5th‑year student.

Producer: FUMI Studio – it started out by producing short animated auteur films by young and talented animation debutants. Currently, FUMI studio produces films also by renowned animation creators. FUMI Studio has produced 15 short, artistic auteur films, which have won a total of 80 prizes and honours at Polish and international film festivals (we are currently working on two more productions).In 2011, FUMI decided to take on a new challenge and produce animated series for children and teenagers, as well as feature films. To this end, FUMI has approached partners both in Poland and abroad – the studio has produced 39 episodes of a children’s series and is currently working on two more series.

Contact: Mateusz Michalak, FUMI Studio, [email protected]

AUTO TERROR, dir. Wojciech A. Hoffman, prod: Munk Studio – Polish Filmmakers Association, Fifne Studio, Poznań Film Commission

The film talks about growing number of cars in the world. It shows how we terrorize ourselves packing our lives into metal boxes that are stuck in traffic jams most of the time. The animation shows the development of the situation through symbols. Auto terror is inspired by visual art of independent, dark French comic books. The main characters live along the road. They are surrounded by exhaust fumes and live their life in constant noise. Cars terrorize them. At some point, they can’t even cross the street. As this problem is growing, a cow grows to enormous size. At one point, cars suddenly disappear from the local road. It turns out that the whole village is enclosed by a tangle of bypasses and highways.

Director: Wojciech A. Hoffmann Ph.D - He lives and works in Poznan, Poland. He is author of animated and experimental films, music videos, audiovisual performance, audio art projects and interactive installations. In 2002 he graduated from the Poznan Academy of Fine Arts. Then, he continued his education at the Academie Minerva in Groningen, Netherlands. Currently he works in the animated film studio at the University of Arts in Poznań. His film works, in which soundtrack is always an important element, use various technical experiments finding new aspects of reality, intriguing analogies, rhythms and repetitions

Producers:
Munk Studio, which operates within the structure of the Polish Filmmakers Association, produces short and full‑length debut films. Young artists who are seeking to make their first film can depend on Munk Studio for support and guidance during the entire process, from the development of their project, throughout its production under fully professional conditions, to the widest possible promotion of the finished product. Debut shorts can be made with the Munk Studio under the auspices of three programmes: 30 MINUTES, FIRST DOCUMENTARY and YOUNG ANIMATION.

Fifne Studio specializes in animation, creating music videos, graphics, illustration and 3D visualization.

Contact: Munk Studio, [email protected]; Wojciech A. Hoffmann, [email protected]

BERNARD, dir. Anna Oparkowska, prod: Grupa Smacznego

A short story about loneliness, maladjustment and the desperate need of closeness, set in a severe winter landscape. Bernard faces the stereotype of an animal predator, one you wouldn’t cross paths with. Feeling resigned, he tries to express the truth about his isolation, and suppress the call of nature in him.

Director: Anna Oparkowska – Graduated from Academy of Art in Gdansk with a diploma in animation. Experienced illustrator and graphic designer. She’s been working with Grupa Smacznego for 5 years on such projects as Mami Fatale, Bear Me, Basia and others, in storyboarding, 2D animation, visual development. Bernard is her original short and her directorial debut.

Producer: Grupa Smacznego is an animation studio and production company founded in 2004 by producer Robert Jaszczurowski and directors Łukasz Kacprowicz and Marcin Wasilewski. Together they are responsible for numerous animated projects, both commercial and artistic, including Paul Shuttleworth’s Harry and Toto (2008), a TV series for BBC Worldwide; Mami Fatale (2012), an original TV series syndicated in multiple territories; and award‑winning 3D short Lost Senses (2013).

Contact: Malgorzata Treselj, Grupa Smacznego, mtreselj@g‑s.pl

LONELINESS, dir. Igor Kawecki, Betina Bożek, prod: Animated Studio of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow

Loneliness, based on a short story by Brunon Schultz, is a compilation of literary world and authors’ own emotions and experiences. The work of this famous Polish writer has inspired the directors, becoming a starting point for a psychological character study. Loneliness is an attempt of reflecting the tangles of undescribed emotions and internal feelings of a human being in the metaphysical experience of life.

Directors:
Igor Kawecki – Born in 1992 in Krakow. He is a graduate of high school of fine arts in Krakow. Currently he studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow at the Graphic Arts faculty. He deals with collage, stop motion animation, photography and intaglio. He had three individual exhibitions and participated in several group exhibitions.

Betina Bożek – Born in 1993 in Krakow. She is a graduate of high school of fine arts in Krakow and a student of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. The winner of open‑air painting (Jeżów, Dłużew), international competitions (Biennale in Radom, Bydgoszcz, Szymbark) and artistic scholarships (Józef Czapski, Sapere Auso). She works with illustration, painting and animation.\

Producer: Animated Film Studio was established at the Academy Of Fine Arts In Krakow in 1957. It was the first initiative among Polish artistic schools to provide education in animated film making. Over the successive years, the studio has evolved from its initial role of expanding the experience of painters, graphic artists and sculptors to the present‑day highly specialized institution providing diploma‑certified education in animated film making. Animated Film Studio is now one of the leading studios in education and animation film production.

Contact: Igor Kawecki, [email protected]; Betina Bożek, [email protected]; Robert Sowa - Animated Studio of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, [email protected]

KLINGERT’S DIVING SUIT, dir. Artur Wyrzykowski, prod: Artcore

Six year old Bi lost her little brother who was taken by a flood. After losing his son, her father Karl Klingert devoted himself completely to constructing the world’s first semi‑atmospheric diving suit. If the show of the suit goes well, Klingert will win a grant and move with his family to England. Bi thinks that her brother is still alive. She believes the diving suit is a monster who has possessed her father. She tries to destroy it before her family leaves city of Wroclaw forever.

Director: Artur Wyrzykowski – Born in 1985. He directed and produced short fiction film Everything that was in cinematic release in Poland in 2009. He studied directing, production management and screenwriting. He participated in Midpoint Training The Trainers program and Ekran development program. Currently he’s developing two short animations.

Production: Artcore is a Warsaw based production and post‑production company established in 2007. The studio creates, produces and post‑produces commercials, shorts and full‑feature films. It constantly gains experience in 2D animation and rotoscoping as well as try puppet animation. Artcore’s goal is to tell great stories.

Contact: Artur Wyrzykowski - Artcore, [email protected]

WITH WIND (working title), dir. Agnieszka Waszczeniuk, prod: Univeristy of Arts in Poznań

The film is a story of man and his relationship with nature; nature that we are part of and that has the ability to renew itself, continuously dying and returning to life. Unreal atmosphere and constantly blowing wind that can destroy but also gives hope for the birth of something new raise the question – do we watch the moment just before the awakening of the main character, or maybe the one before collapsing in the deepest sleep with no return?

Director: Agnieszka Waszczeniuk – Born in 1989 in Białystok, Poland. She studied at the University of Arts in Poznań, in the Department of Animation. Occasionally, she works with Wierszalin Theatre (Plastynaci, Złoty Deszcz). She has been granted with several scholarships. She presented her animated films at about 30 festivals in Poland and abroad; where she received several awards.

Producer: Film Department Of The University Of Arts In Poznań – The Poznan University of Arts has been in existence for over 90 years. It was established in 1919 as the School of Decorative Arts and was later transformed into the State Institute of Art. In 1946 it was renamed the State Higher School of Fine Arts. In September 1996 the school was approved to become the Academy and was once again renamed. The Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań finally after 14 years became the University of Arts in Poznań.

Contact: Agnieszka Waszczeniuk, [email protected]

Please note that this is an English spoken event.