TWO POLISH PROJECTS IN SHEFFIELD
Two Polish documentary projects have been invited to the prestigious Sheffield MeetMarket during the Sheffield DocFest, which is scheduled to take place in June.
This year, the Sheffield MeetMarket is going to feature 48 projects from around the world, which will be presented to representatives of the film industry over the course of two days. At the MeetMarket, attendees can meet over 300 invited decision-makers, including editors, distributors, sales agents, representatives of film funds, television stations, and media markets. One-to-one meetings are scheduled in advance through an online platform where guests can view submitted projects and pick the ones that seem interesting.
There are two Polish projects among the selected ones. These are the Polish-Danish Runa by Agnieszka Zwiefka, produced by Zofia Kujawska (Chilli Productions), Sigrid Dyekjær (Real Lava), and the director herself, as well as Las by Lidia Duda, produced by Michał Ostatkiewicz (Lumisenta Film Foundation), Patryk Sielecki (Lumisenta Film Foundation), and Ola Ostatkiewicz.
In Runa, we meet a 16-year-old Kurd girl who, following the tragic death of her mother on the Polish-Belarusian border, must become a mother to her four younger brothers. The family copes with the trauma and tries to build a life in Europe. This partly animated coming-of-age story is set against the backdrop of the global refugee crisis.
The protagonists of Lidia Duda's film are Joasia and Marek, who ran away from the evils of the world into their “paradise” – they bought an old house in the Białowieża Forest, right by Poland's eastern border. There, they had three children – Marysia, Ignacy, and Franek. The children grow up surrounded by nature. They have happy childhoods. A loving mom and a caring father. But one day their forest changes. Strangers show up. Outsiders. Cold, often sick, hungry, lost, unwanted… refugees. And then another word appears in the children's conversations – “war”. Big politics knocks at their door, and they can't handle it. They have to redefine good and evil.
The list of all qualified projects can be found here.