The screening of the documentary film “Polanski, Horowitz. Hometown,” featuring Richard Horowitz and its creators, opened the 61st Krakow Film Festival on Sunday (30 May). The program features 170 films from around the world, including over 100 world and Polish premieres.
The festival takes place simultaneously in cinemas and online.
“Festivals bring the world back, sometimes they contest it, sometimes they undermine it, sometimes they make a big deal about what’s at those festivals” – said Robert Piaskowski, the Krakow Mayor’s Representative for Culture, during the festival’s opening ceremony.
He reminded the audience that during that weekend there had been many events that both the audience and artists had been waiting for: theatre premieres, Photomonth, Krakow Film Festival with the live audience.
“This is the energy that allows us to recover after all these months,” stressed Piaskowski.
“Enjoy the festival, discover cinema, travel with the filmmakers, directors, fates and human stories that director Krzysztof Gierat and the Krakow Film Festival team have offered us,” he encouraged.
On Sunday, there was the world premiere of the film “Polanski, Horowitz. Hometown” by Mateusz Kudła and Anna Kokoszka-Romer. It is a story about childhood, friendship, the common Jewish fate of the characters and Krakow.
This year’s Dragon of Dragons Award for his contribution to the development of the world’s animated film will go to Piotr Dumała – master of animation and creator of original film techniques.
This year’s special guest of the festival is Norwegian cinematography. The series “Focus on Norway” will present the latest documentaries and short films, as well as a program for children and young people from this country.
Krakow Film Festival is one of the oldest events in the world dedicated to documentary, animated and short feature films. Its core consists of three competitions of equal rank: documentary film competition, short film competition and national competition. During the eight festival days, the viewers have a chance to watch films from Poland and from around the world. They are shown in competition sections and special screenings. The festival is accompanied by exhibitions, concerts, open-air shows and meetings with artists. Every year, the festival is visited by approximately 900 Polish and international guests: directors, producers, festival programmers and numerous Krakow audience – is written on the Festival’s website.