"III" AND "BLESS YOU!" AWARDED AT ANIMAFEST ZAGREB

"III" by Marta Pajek and "Bless You!" by Paulina Ziółkowska were awarded at the 28th Festival of Animated Film in Zagreb.

Animafest Zagreb World Festival of Animated Film is, after Annecy, the second oldest film festival devoted entirely to animation and one of the world's most important animated film festivals. This year 1800 films from 76 countries were submitted and 44 animations were selected to the main competition, including "III"  by Marta Pajek. 46 films took part in the student competition, including 3 Polish ones: "Bless You!" by Paulina Ziółkowska, "Comfort" by Weronika Banasińska and "Oh God!" by Betina Bożek.

Marta Pajek's short film which was selected to the main competition made a particular impression on Sanja Borčić "because it says so much with so little and manages to express emotions in a strong and powerful way". Produced by Animoon, the film is the third part of the "Impossible Figures and Other Stories" triptych. "III" is a portrait of a woman in an uneasy and exhausting relation with a man, which equally strongly pulls closer and pushes away.

Animation made by Paulina Ziółkowska from the Łódź Film School received the special mention in the student competition for "outstanding visuals and a sense of humour". "Bless You!" tells a story of people waiting at the bus stop on a sunny day. Suddenly more and more of them start to sneeze. The epidemic breaks out. However, in the midst of the sneezing chaos, it turns out that the worst thing you can do is to get sick of yourself.   

Animafest Zagreb took place June 4th - 9th. More information is available on the festival website.