"LOVE 404" AND "IN TOUCH" AT THE FESTIVAL IN VALLADOLID
On the 19th of October starts one of the oldest European film festivals: the Valladolid International Film Festival. Among the films invited to the programme, there are two Polish productions.
The Valladolid International Film Festival (also known as Seminci or Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid) was established in 1956 in the Spanish city Valladolid. The festival has been enjoying enormous popularity among the audience, film-makers and critics. The organisers focus on bold and independent productions, and often present amateur films.
As many as two Polish documentray films are invited to the competition at the Spanish festival. The Studio Munk's short film "Love 404" directed by Agata Baumgart goes to the competition section Time of History. The documentary tells the story of the adolescent Rena and her mum. For these women, the Internet is the only way to escape everyday life. In the world of talent shows, Facebook and YouTube, love and fame seem to be within the reach of your keyboard, but the boundary between imagination and reality blurs rather quickly.
In turn, in the feature-length section Time of History, "In Touch" by Paweł Ziemilski has a chance to win the award. The film is a tale about the inhabitants of the village Stare Juchy in Masuria, from which at the beginning of the 1980s over four hundred residents emigrated to Iceland. It is more than half of the whole community. The collective emigration of the part of the population contributed to the emergence of an extraordinary bond between this faraway island and the provincial part of Masuria. Those who left began their new lives. Those who remained - mostly the representatives of the older generation - still hope that their loved ones return to Poland. The long distance between the members of the broken families does not enable them to stay in direct contact. The only alternative which remains in this situation is to meet in the virtual world. Film was produced by TVP SA, NUR, Join Motion Pictures.
This year, the festival is held from the 19th to the 26th of October.
The full programme of the festival can be found on the website.