The final gala of the 22nd edition of CINEMAFORUM is already over. The Grand Prix in the Main Competition went to Zoel Aeschbacher for his French-Swiss film “Fairplay”. The winner of the Jan Machulski Award for Best Film is Karolina Węglorz-Zima, the director of “Przepustka” produced by Studio Munka. Who received the other awards and honorable mentions?
On Sunday evening, November 26th, 2023, the space of the Atlantic Cinema in Warsaw was filled with filmmakers, guests, partners and friends of the CINEMAFORUM festival, who gathered for the final ceremony to find out the verdicts of the Jury of the Main Competition, the Jan Machulski Awards Jury and the festival audience. The gala was traditionally an occasion for many emotions of the awarded artists. Who had the greatest reasons for joy? We present the winners of the 22nd edition of CINEMAFORUM and the winners of the Jan Machulski Awards in the 19th edition of the project.
Grand Prix of the 22nd CINEMAFORUM for the film “Fairplay”
The Jury of the International Short Film Competition, composed of the director and screenwriter Janusz Zaorski (chairman), director and screenwriter Anna Jadowska, screenwriter Kaja Krawczyk-Wnuk and actress Maria Sobocińska, decided to award the festival’s main prize to the film “Fairplay”. The Swiss-French film directed by Zoel Aeschbacher was awarded for a brilliant and sarcastic metaphor of social relations in the 21st century.
The Jury also decided to award the honorable mentions to two other titles. “File” by Sonia K. Hadad for a poignant, skin-crawling tale of a hero whose silence speaks louder than a scream and “48 hours”, directed by Azadeh Moussavi, for a simple, precise, and profound story of family relationships under the pressure of a challenging reality in which the characters had to live.
Prizes for the two awarded directors in the form of a subscription to Premium Video+ along with training in the use of the online profile for promotion and international networking were funded by Crew United Poland.
The audience also chose its own winner. The audience award went to the film “Live”, directed by Mara Tamkovich. It was received by the film’s producer, Filip Marczewski.
The 19th Jan Machulski Awards: the triumph of “Przepustka” and “Koniki na biegunach”
The 19th edition of the Jan Machulski Awards brought two statuettes each to the makers of the films “Przepustka” and “Koniki na biegunach”. Karolina Węglorz-Zima’s picture was awarded in the “Best Film” and “Best Actor” categories, while the documentary by Marcin Lesisz won awards for the best documentary and best editing.
The Jury composed of: Magdalena Chowańska (film editor, representative of PSM), Lena Góra (actress and screenwriter), Maciej Makowski (film and theater actor, member of the main board of ZASP), Grzegorz Milczarczyk (film, television and theater actor, director, singer, educator), Maria Ornaf (director and screenwriter) and Andrzej Ślązak (cinematographer, documentary film director, representative of PSC), after watching 32 films, decided to award the creators of 7 titles. The 19th Jan Machulski Awards were given to:
>>> in the “Best Film” category:
Karolina Węglorz-Zima for directing the film “PRZEPUSTKA”
Jerzy Kapuściński, Ewa Jastrzębska, Katarzyna Staszczyk for producing the film “PRZEPUSTKA”
The award for the film’s director was funded by the Polish Filmmakers Association. The award for the film’s producers was funded by the Polish Film Institute.
>>> in the “Best Director” category:
Emi Buchwald for the film “PIĘKNA ŁĄKA KWIETNA”
The award was funded by the Polish Filmmakers Association.
>>> in the “Best Screenplay” category:
Michał Toczek for the film “BYĆ KIMŚ”, dir. Michał Toczek
The award was funded by the FILMFORUM Association.
>>> in the “Best Pictures” category:
Daniel Le Hai for the film “FUNERALIA”, dir. Bartłomiej Błaszczyński
The award was funded by the PSC – Polish Society of Cinematographers.
>>> in the „Best Editing” category:
Marcin Sucharski for the film “KONIKI NA BIEGUNACH”, dir. Marcin Lesisz
The award was funded by the Polish Association of Editors PSM.
>>> in the “Best Actress” category:
Magdalena Prosuł for the film “ALKIBIADES”, dir. Robert Kwilman
The award was funded by the Association of Polish Stage Artists ZASP – Branch in Warsaw.
>>> in the “Best Actor” category:
Rafał Garnecki for the film “PRZEPUSTKA”, dir. Karolina Węglorz-Zima
The award was funded by the FILMFORUM Association.
>>> in the “Best Documentary” category:
“KONIKI NA BIEGUNACH”, dir. Marcin Lesisz
The award was funded by the Polish Filmmakers Association.
>>> in the “Best Animated Film”:
“ZIMA”, dir. Tomasz Popakul
The award was funded by Platige Image S.A.
Information about the winners of the 7th edition of the SCRIPT WARS screenwriting contest, the final of which also took place at the 22nd CINEMAFORUM gala, can be found on the Mazovia Warsaw Film Commission’s fanpage.
Congratulations to all the awarded and honored filmmakers. The gallery of photos from the gala of the 22nd CINEMAFORUM can be found on our website under the media tab.
>>>
The festival is organized by the FILMFORUM Association.
The project was co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund and the funds of the Capital City of Warsaw. The festival is co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.
The main festival venue is the Atlantic Cinema in Warsaw.
The main partner of the event is Andrzej Wajda Film Culture Center.
Program partners of the event are: Mazovia Warsaw Film Commission, Mazovia Institute of Culture, American Film Festival and British Council.
The industry partner of the event is Crew United Poland.
The technology partner of the project is BEIKS Machulski.
>>>
The organizer of the Jan Machulski Awards is the FILMFORUM Association.
The project is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Fund for Promotion of Culture.
The project is co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.
Industry partners of the Jan Machulski Awards are: Polish Filmmakers Association, ZAIKS Authors’ Association, Association of Polish Stage Artists ZASP, Polish Association of Editors PSM, PSC – Polish Society of Cinematographers and Platige Image SA.
Partner festivals:
- National Festival of Amateur and Independent Films OFFELIADA in Gniezno,
- International Film Festival “ZOOM – ZBLIŻENIA” in Jelenia Góra,
- Polish National Animation Festival O!PLA,
- National Independent Film Competition of Professor Henryk Kluba – OKFA in Konin,
- National Film Meetings KAMERALNE LATO in Radom,
- Solanin Film Festival in Nowa Sól,
- WAMA Film Festival in Olsztyn,
- CINEMAFORUM – International Short Film Festival in Warsaw.