POLISH DOCUMENTARY FILMS AT VISIONS DU REÉL
The organisers of the Swiss festival Visions du Reél announced the full programme of the event. It includes two Polish short documentary films: "The Great Theater" by Sławomir Batyra and "Patriotic Lesson" by Filip Jacobson. Two Polish projects will be shown in the section Docs in Progress.
The Visions du Reél festival has been organised in the Swiss city of Nyon since 1969. At the beginning of its existence, the festival in Nyon used to show mainly Swiss films and productions from the Eastern bloc countries, which were very difficult to see for the audience from the Western Europe. Currently Visions du Reél is one of largest documentary film festivals in Europe. This year's edition of the Hot Docs festival takes part from 15 to 23 April.
This year, there are two Polish documentary films in the programme of the festival. The first one is the documentary film "The Great Theater," directed by Sławomir Batyra that will participate in the International Short Film Competition.
The film presents the Grand Theatre in Warsaw, which has the largest opera stage in the world. Thanks to the patient observation by Sławomir Batyra, we have the chance to see what happens behind the scenes during the preparations for the performance of "Madame Butterfly," directed by Mariusz Treliński. The film journey to the other side allows us to discover a totally unfamiliar, unusual world, no less fascinating than what one can see on the stage. The film is visually and dramatically sophisticated symphony of images, sounds and lights which in a metaphoric way allows us to understand how the truly great art is created.
Cinematography for the film was made by Krzysztof Gromek, Daniel Sokołowski dealt with editing, and the film's producer is Adam Sokołowski/DeLord.
However, "Patriotic Lesson" by Filip Jacobson is a Polish-German co-production, and at the Swiss festival it went to the section "Premiers Pas," in which the first short films by the directors from film schools are presented.
The film shows the Patriotic Song Contest for children from primary schools, which is held every year on the occasion of the celebration of November 11.
Both films will have their international premieres at Visions du Reél.
Simultaneously with the festival screenings, industry events Visions de Reél are held in Nyon. One of them is Docs in Progress, that is, presentation of documentary film projects at the last stage of film-making. The presentation takes place before a group of invited festival selectors, distributors, producers, marketing specialists etc.
This year, seven projects have been selected for this event and as many as two of them are Polish co-productions. The first one is "13 summers under water," directed by Wiktoria Szymańska, the second one is the Spanish-Polish production "Penelope" by Eva Vila.
You can find more information about Visions de Reél on the website of the Festival.