MAY AT DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVALS

May is a busy month for documentaries – a big number of festivals means that every day Polish films can be seen in various places around the world. Where exactly? Take a look at our list of Polish documentaries at film festivals in May.

The month began with the Addis International Film Festival in Ethiopia where we could see "21 x New York" by Piotr Stasik and "Ethiopiques – Revolt of the Soul" by Maciej Bochniak. Bochniak's documentary can be seen in May also at DOXA Documentary Film Festival in Canada and DOK Fest Munchen in Germany. That is also where "Over The Limit" by Marta Prus will be presented.

On May 2nd IMAGINE Euro Tolerance Festival began in Azerbaijan where for the second time this month "21 x New York" was presented, together with "Close Ties" by Zofia Kowalewska and "Call Me Tony" by Klaudiusz Chrostowski. "Call Me Tony" will be also present at Beldocs in Serbia, and with it "Festival" by Anna Gawlita and Tomasz Wolski which will have there its premiere. Chrostowski's documentary will be also presented at Doc Aviv in Israel. The audience in Tel Aviv will have a chance to see "The Prince and the Dybbuk" by Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosołowski, "Over The Limit" and "Volte" by Karolina Poryzała and Monika Kotecka. This short documentary will be also presented in May on three other occasions: at the BCN Sports Film Festival in Spain, at Rooftop Films in the USA and at Vis Vienna Independent Shorts in Austria. Both in the USA and in Austria we will be also able to see "Polonaise" by Agnieszka Elbanowska.

In the first half of May at the European Film Festival in Trinidad and Tobago we will see the films "Walking Spark" by Marcin Kopeć and "Close Ties". In Denmark the Copenhagen Architecture Film Festival will show "Super Unit" by Teresa Czepiec, in the USA the New York City Independent Film Festival "Have No Fear" by Beata Calińska and Sarah Jacobson, in France the Doc Cevennes Film Festival "Piano" by Vita Maria Drygas and the Crimean Open Documentary Film Festival Crimea Doc will show "Two Worlds" by Maciej Adamek. On May 11th Millennium Docs Against Gravity started, where six Polish documentaries will have their Polish premieres.

Also this month Three Polish films will compete for the TRT Documentary Award in Turkey: "Their Voices" by Eri Mizutani, "Hugo" by Wojciecha Klimala and "Zhalanash – Empty Shore" by Marcin Sauter. These two latter films will be also presented at Neisse Film Festival. Apart from them, three other Polish films will be shown in the border triangle: "The Ugliest Car" by Grzegorz Szczepaniak, "Over The Limit" and „Pasdar” by Grzegorz Piekarski. Marcina Sauter’s documentary was also included in the programme of Cinemambiente Festival in Italy.

In the second half of May the audience in Ireland will see "Last Season" by Sławomir Witek at the Fastnet Film Festival, Ukrainian filmgoers will watch "Close Ties" and the audience of Al Este Del Lima in Peru "XXXLove" by Joanna Frydrych and "The Mine" by Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz.

On May 27th the 58th Krakow Film Festival will begin. The festival will show almost 40 Polish documentary films. More information about the Polish presence at the Krakow Film Festival can be found here.

The full list of the festival screenings in May is available here.