POLISH FILMS TRIUMPH AT THE UKRAINIAN MOLODIST

Last night in Kiev ended the 43rd edition of the MOLODIST International Film Festival, one of the oldest and the best known in this part of Europe. The authors of two Polish short films - “The Mother” and “The Whistle” - were named among the laureates.

This year no less than five Polish films were shown in Kiev. The films: “The Whistle” by Grzegorz Zariczny, Tomek Popakul’s “Ziegenort” and “The 128th Rat” by Jakub Pączek took part in the short film competition. Łukasz Ostalski’s film “The Mother” was shown in the student film competition. Apart from that, the animation “Paperbox” directed by Zbyszek Czapla was presented in a non-competitive section dedicated to the subject of memory.

The films in the international competitions were evaluated by a jury consisting of: a Belgian producer and director Marion Hänsel, a Greek director Babis Makridis,  a Russian actress Dinara Drukarova, a Russian film critic Viktor Matizen and the director of the Film Festival in Odessa Victoria Tigipko.

The main prize in the student film category was given to the Polish film „The Mother” directed by Łukasz Ostalski, a Gdynia Film School graduate. Since its’ premiere in March at the Finnish Tampere Festival, the film has already been awarded five times. The sixth award, given at the Molodist festival, is the first statuette received by this film in a student film category. “The Mother” is a story of difficult choices, the protagonist of which is Małgorzata, an important politician, who  goes to a house by the lake. Her son, a drug addict, needs help. Małgorzata asks her daughter for support. At the scene they find the semiconscious boy and a mutilated body of a young girl. In the face of a tragedy their relationship gets complicated, revealing their hidden grudges.

The second of the awarded films, this time in the short film category, was “The Whistle” by Grzegorz Zariczny (prod. Polish Filmmakers Association, Munk Studio, Full Film Service). The documentary received an honorary mention for ‘a subtle and poetic description of the everyday life’. It’s another award for this most popular short documentary film this year. Since January, when the film received the main prize in the short film category at the Sundance Festival, “The Whistle” has been programmed for almost 30 film festivals abroad. 

During this year’s edition of the Molodist festival, taking place between 19 and 27 October, 300 films produced in 60 countries were shown. Every year, the festival presents the best first and second films of young filmmakers in two main categories: feature and short films. Last year the international jury gave a special mention to the etude “Without Snow” by Magnus von Horn (prod. Polish National Film School in Łódź, Lava Films).

It’s worth mentioning, that the 43rd edition of the festival was special to short films as the Grand Prix went this year to an English short film “Mass of Men” directed by Gabriel Gauchet.

You can find the full list of winners and more information about the festival at the Molodist official website