THE NEW KFF SALES & PROMOTION DOCUMENTARY CATALOGUE
This year KFF Sales & Promotion started to represent 25 new Polish documentaries: 4 feature-, 10 middle-length and 11 short. KFF Sales & Promotion takes care of their festival promotion and sale of four of them abroad.
Sales Catalogue 2017:
CALL ME TONY BY KLAUDIUSZ CHROSTOWSKI
POLAND / 2017 / 62’ | CATEGORY: PORTRAIT, SPORT, YOUTH
Konrad has two passions: acting and bodybuilding. Someone even made a joke, that if he combined them, he could be like Arnold Schwarzenegger. "Call Me Tony" is a story about believing in your own dreams, when no one believes in you. About the need to prove your worth to yourself and your family. And finding out what to do next, when nothing goes as planned.
Konrad's story can speak for anyone who everyday faces questions like: Am I good enough? What if it doesn't work out? Maybe others were right? "Call Me Tony" is a story about time when the whole world demands answers from us and the only thing we have to offer is a load of burning questions. – Klaudiusz Chrostowski, the director statement
This documentary has been selected to the international competitions at the 60th DOK Leipzig and IDFA.
THE BEKSIŃSKIS. A SOUND AND PICTURE ALBUM BY MARCIN BORCHARDT
POLAND / 2017 / 80’ | CATEGORY: PORTRAIT, ART / CULTURE / MUSIC, DRAMA / TRAGEDY
When Zdzisław Beksiński, out of his fascination with technological innovations, started to record his family's everyday life, he could not have imagined that each of his family members' story will come to such a tragic end. Plane crash, illness, suicide and murder contributed to the Beksińskis family being dubbed "cursed". In his film "THE BEKSIŃSKIS. A Sound and Picture Album" Marcin Borchardt takes the viewer inside this story, revealing its true nature.
A family that you would like to know a little less about. - Łukasz Badula / KulturaOnLine.pl
We get a documentary film which feels like a fictional story. - Anita Piotrowska / Tygodnik Powszechny
The world premiere:
57th Krakow Film Festival – National Competition, international Documentary Competition (Special Mention - for creating a touching story about complex family relations, which has been recreated in the modest form of a family album.)
The international premiere:
27th Film Festival Cottbus
A STRANGER ON MY COUCH BY GRZEGORZ BRZOZOWSKI
POLAND / 2017 / 55’ | CATEGORY: TRAVEL, LIFESTYLE, SOCIAL ISSUES
"A Stranger on My Couch" is an insight into the couchsurfing phenomenon - the way of travelling which revolutionized the face of modern tourism. In the film we watch closely how random travellers enter the intimate world of their hosts. We watch the trace which is left by that accidental, often very peculiar encounters between people who would have never met if not for the popular website.
It is like a role play, like a psychoanalyst's couch. We can tell them everything because we know that they cannot harm us, they cannot use against us what they have heard from us. And we are relieved seeing someone who listens to us carefully. Trusting the stranger makes us trust ourselves a little bit more. - Bożena Janicka / Polish Radio 1
The world premiere:
57th Krakow Film Festival – National Competition (Silver Hobby-Horse for the director of the best documentary film – in appreciation of a colourful and wise story about the encounters on a couch between people from different worlds - encounters that are changing both the characters and the audience.)
FESTIVAL BY TOMASZ WOLSKI & ANNA GAWLITA
POLAND / 2017 / 85’ | CATEGORY: ART / CULTURE / MUSIC
Where does music come from? Tobias Koch, a young pianist's master and mentor, one of the main characters in "Festival", is seeking an answer for this question. The filmmakers also embark on a quest to discover for their audience the real source of music. In order to do that they spy and eavesdrop on the musicians while they are rehearsing, watch their emotions right after the succeeding concerts, silently accompany the artists when they are awaiting to enter the stage and stay backstage until the end of their performance.
"Festival" is a non obvious, contemplative cinema that poses questions about the core of the creative process and its elusiveness. - Małgorzata Steciak / Onet Film
A magical show where camera takes us on a tour of the festival's backstage. It looks into the dressing room, watches rehearsals and exercises, follows technicians, the pianist and the soloist. This documentary will cast a spell on you! - Dagmara Romanowska / Onet Film
57th Krakow Film Festival – international DocFilmMusic Competition, National Competition (Best Cinematography Award under the patronage of The Polish Society of Cinematographers funded by Coloroffon Film for Tomasz Wolski, The Award for the best short and documentary films producer in Poland for Anna Gawlita)
Promotion Catalogue 2017:
XXXLOVE BY JOANNA FRYDRYCH
POLAND / 2017 / 60’ | CATEGORY: PORTRAIT, SOCIAL ISSUES, HEALTH
Adrian Lukoszek, without the help of specialists and without any miraculous diet, lost 120 kg in one year. He became a media hero and began his mission of helping others. He noticed that the lack of love, closeness and acceptance is the main problem among the XXXL sized people. For some of them Adrian is not only a role model, but also a friend, who can need their help. Adrian achieved the success but he still, just like the other characters, makes mistakes and can’t fix his personal and intimate life.
The world premiere:
Krakow Film Festival
THE MINE BY MARIA ZMARZ-KACZANOWICZ
POLAND / 2017 / 59’ | CATEGORY: SOCIAL ISSUES
A portrait of three women of different ages who work in the same place. Coal sorting in the Hard Coal Mine, is a tough way to earn a living, yet the protagonists show a lot of spirit. Unfortunately, their everyday struggle is not limited only to coal sorting but involves the most down-to-earth matters too. Sometimes, their only weapon is a sense of dignity and a sense of humour.
The world premiere:
Krakow Film Festival – National Competition
THREE SISTERS BY DARIUSZ KOWALSKI
POLAND / 2017 / 56’ | CATEGORY: FAMILY, CHILDREN
A film about three sisters living in a Roma settlement in Polish mountains. Cassandra, Soraja and Clara are typical teenagers who are interested in cosmetics, talk about jewellery and fashion and listen to simple Polish pop music. They go to school but Cassandra, the oldest, has individual tuition. They have additional classes organized by the Polish authorities to help them integrate into Polish society.
The world premiere:
Krakow Film Festival
ARABIC SECRET BY JULIA GROSZEK
POLAND / 2017 / 52’ | CATEGORY: FAMILY, DRAMA / TRAGEDY
Kamil wants to meet his father Ilham Al Madfai, who is a renowned star of the Arabic folk music in the Middle East. The two have never met. The director invites viewers to join Kamil’s journey and, at the same time, to reflect on the meaning of life and searching for one’s roots. Can the meeting with his father shed some light on the inner secret - who he really is?
The world premiere:
Krakow Film Festival – National Competition
DOS ISLAS BY ADRIANA F. CASTELLANOS
POLAND / 2017 / 40’ | CATEGORY: PORTRAIT, OLDNESS, FAMILY
"Dos Islas" is a poetic story about old age, family and the bond between a granddaughter and a grandmother. The woman, who just turned 102, tells stories about her past and childhood. In a literary and visual way she describes the most minute details. The film dazzles the viewer with love and optimism, the time passes slowly between the two islands, which might be real people, real places or the products of the main character’s imagination.
This documentary has been selected to the competitions at Krakow Film Festival and RIDM Montreal International Documentary Festival.
DESERT COFFEE BY MIKAEL LYPINSKI
POLAND / 2017 / 53’ | CATEGORY: PORTRAIT, SOCIAL ISSUES, NATURE / ENVIRONMENT
In the Californian part of the Sonoran desert, in the close vicinity of military bases, there is a “wild” town called Slab City inhabited by the refugees from the American Dream. Of different age, they brought with them various stories, but all chose freedom, even for the price of the most basic comforts. The only place equipped with electricity is a makeshift Internet café run by Rob which serves “the best coffee in the neighbourhood”.
The world premiere:
Krakow Film Festival – National Competition, international Documentary Competition
ZHALANASH – EMPTY SHORE BY MARCIN SAUTER
POLAND / 2017 / 40’ | CATEGORY: PERSONAL POINT OF VIEW, SOCIAL ISSUES, NATURE / ENVIRONMENT
Eponymous Zhalanash is a port city over the Aral Sea. This place between a great water and a vast desert which used to be a prosperous link of the Soviet economy is just a shadow of its former glory today. "Zhalanash…" is not only about evocative landscape, but, above all, about the fates of people who invested their hopes and expectations into the place which became a sad, sandy solitude.
The world premiere:
Krakow Film Festival – National Competition
The international premiere:
IDFA – Competition for Short Documentary
HOW TO DESTROY TIME MACHINES BY JACEK PIOTR BŁAWUT
POLAND / 2017 / 39’ | CATEGORY: PORTRAIT, PERSONAL POINT OF VIEW, ART / CULTURE / MUSIC
This is the film for your ears. It focuses on Jeph Jerman, an Arizona-based experimental musician, his passion for sounds that we tend to ignore, and his unique perception of the world in which nature is also a composer. Jeph doesn’t want to get into time machines, where most people are stuck, worrying about the future or dwelling on the past. Limited by such restrictions, we rarely enjoy the current moment. This is a story about being here and now.
The world premiere:
Krakow Film Festival
The international premiere:
DOK Leipzig
LAND OF THE HOMELESS BY MARCIN JANOS KRAWCZYK
POLAND / 2017 / 55’ | CATEGORY: SOCIAL ISSUES, HUMAN RIGHTS
Since 2007 homeless under the leadership of Father Paleczny has been building a huge yacht that would take them on the cruise around the world. Despite the monk's death his friends are doing their best to go ahead with the plan. They are facing an ambitious project, which requires from them being consistent and, what’s most important, sober. Will they be able to overcome their alcohol addiction and finish the job?
The world premiere:
Krakow Film Festival – National Competition
OPERA ABOUT POLAND BY PIOTR STASIK
POLAND / 2017 / 41’ | CATEGORY: PERSONAL POINT OF VIEW, SOCIAL ISSUES
Pole, who are you? This film collage that combines archival and contemporary materials, documentary and staged pictures, press reports, social announcements, sale offers and speech excerpts is an attempt to answer this question. The film presents various manifestations of Polishness: patriotic and religious rituals, everyday traditions as well as characteristic landscapes or intimate memories from childhood.
The world premiere:
Krakow Film Festival – National Competition, international Documentary Competition (Special Mention - for an interesting artistic marriage of genres which produced a film rebel child. The Award for the best short and documentary films producer in Poland for Anna Gawlita)
The international premiere:
Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival – Between the Seas competition
THE SISTERS BY MICHAŁ HYTROŚ
POLAND / 2017 / 20’ | CATEGORY: RELIGION, COMEDY, OLDNESS
Behind the mighty eighteenth-century wall of the oldest enclosed convent in Poland - Benedictine convent nearby Krakow - the life of twelve nuns in their 70s goes on. Nuns Anuncjata and Benedykta (40 years in convent) – introduce us to the world behind the wall telling us about their lives and decisions in their own way. They show us the world of convent in true colours, without stereotypes, often touching and amusing at the same time.
LEOCADIA’S DREAM BY KRZYSZTOF NOWICKI
POLAND / 2017 / 22’ | CATEGORY: PORTRAIT, DRAMA / TRAGEDY
Leocadia, the main character, has been running a small family music shop in the centre of Barcelona for many decades. She sells vinyl records with classical music but also gives her visitors a chance to listen to charming stories from the past. Unfortunately her shop, after more than one hundred years of existence, will be closed down. Along with the shop and vinyls, the old lady disappears herself.
DUST BY JAKUB RADEJ
POLAND / 2017 / 25’ | CATEGORY: SOCIAL ISSUES, DEATH
"Dust" is a study of the way that every human body must go through from the moment of death to the funeral. The consecutive stages of this way are juxtaposed with a bureaucratic approach to the property of the deceased. A detached account of the fate of material objects that belonged to the deceased is presented in an open form, which may also include a question about the meaning of life and a reflection on the loneliness of people who have no one to bid them farewell.
The world premiere:
Krakow Film Festival – international Short Film Competition, National Competition (Special Mention - in appreciation of an analytical portrait of passing, which, under mundane activities, hides a profound secret of the loneliness of those facing life’s end. In the overwhelming emptiness left after a man, we can see the reflection of our own face.)
THEIR VOICES BY ERI MIZUTANI
POLAND / 2017 / 26’ | CATEGORY: CHILDREN, DISABILITY
The director invites us to experience mysterious world, carefully hidden from us behind the walls of the Polish boarding school. The young students have their own magic world, hardly accessible for the others. By a subtle observation and without a spoken word we access their everyday life throughout the year. Getting to know their habits, gestures and facial expressions we access the environment full of acceptance - so different from the world outside.
ONE TWO ZERO BY ANNA PAWLUCZUK
POLAND / 2017 / 15’ | CATEGORY: SPORT, CHILDREN
Justyna is a nine year old girl who is training professionally rhythmic gymnastics. Her life is filled with trainings and competitions, where she often has to exceed her own limits and weaknesses. Every day she needs to be stronger and more determined if she wants to beat her colleagues in the championships. When she loses her hopes for wining, she decides to start training the five-year old gymnasts by herself.
The world premiere:
Krakow Film Festival
The international premiere:
Minsk International Film Festival “Listapad”
COLLECTION BY MARCIN POLAR
POLAND / 2017 / 19’ | CATEGORY: PORTRAIT, ART / CULTURE / MUSIC, OLDNESS
Somewhere in Eastern Poland, there is a small village where an elder couple, Władysława and Mieczysław, lives. The woman is disabled and requires permanent help, even with the simplest activities. The elderly man takes care not only of his wife, but also of unwanted objects that someone else consigned to oblivion or threw away upon a heap of useless scrap.
This short documentary took part in competitions at the Krakow Film Festival and “Cinema Verite” Iran IDFF.
AMERICAN DREAM BY MAREK SKRZECZ
POLAND / 2017 / 26’ | CATEGORY: SPORT, PORTRAIT
Głuchołazy - a small town, which was full of life in the nineties, nowadays dies out. The flood has destroyed local health resorts and factories. The city is struggling with high unemployment and lots of citizens decided to leave. In this place of no opportunities, Szymon decides to achieve his biggest dream. He wants to become an American wrestler. Will his American dream come true?
The world premiere:
Warsaw Film Festival
VOLTE BY MONIKA KOTECKA & KAROLINA PORYZAŁA
POLAND / 2017 / 14’ | CATEGORY: SPORT, CHILDREN
Zuzia, the 12-year-old acrobat, has been training equestrian vaulting for two years and has an extraordinary role being the top of the acrobatic pyramid. She is a “flyer” lifted by the stronger and more experienced vaulters - the “base”. During next training sessions it becomes apparent that the girl has lost some of her grace and lightness. At first the coach blames the “base” but it becomes clear that Zuzia is “just growing” and her role is given over to a younger girl.
The world premiere:
Hot Docs – Canadian International Documentary Festival – Short Documentary Film Competition (Honourable Mention - the jury was delighted with the way how the moment of transformation of a young track and field athlete from a girl into a woman was captured, both in the terms of the plot and in the visual sense.)
FACE-OFF BY ŁUKASZ OSTALSKI
POLAND / 2017 / 16’ | CATEGORY: SPORT, FAMILY
"Face-Off" is a short documentary about Rafal: player, coach and founder of an amateur lacrosse team – The Corsairs. The protagonist has to divide his time between the sport passion and his daughter, Tosia. Rafal stands at a crossroad. On one hand, he knows that Tosia is the most important person in his life. On the other, he’s just incapable of giving up The Corsairs even though his colleagues are immature and don’t put their hearts into this sport.
HOW TO BECOME A POPE? BY JUSTYNA MYTNIK
POLAND / 2017 / 16’ | CATEGORY: PORTRAIT, CHILDREN, RELIGION
A warm-hearted comedy about a ten year old boy who wants to become a Pope. The protagonist is an altar boy, who finds out about an audition for a part of John Paul II in a musical. The boy approaches this task as if it was a holy mission, but his parents do not treat him seriously. What is he going to learn?
GRANDPA BY ANDRZEJ ŚWIĘCH
POLAND / 2017 / 18’ | CATEGORY: PORTRAIT, FAMILY, OLDNESS
"Grandpa" is an intimate portrait of a man who faces the challenges of old age with devotion and in high spirits. Focusing on the ordinary life the film offers inspiration, humour, and some insight into one man’s determination to never give up.