POLISH FILMS WIN IN URUGUAY
"You Are Overreacting" by Karina Paciorkowska and "Sisters" by Michał Hytroś turned out to be unrivalled in their categories and were chosen the best films of the 19th edition of the International Film Schools Festival Awards in Uruguay.
The International Film Schools Festival Awards is entirely dedicated to the films made by the students of film schools. 70 short films from as many as 53 schools located in 29 countries were invited to the competition programme of this year's edition. During the festival, you could not only watch the most interesting films by talented students but also participate in masterclasses or audiovisual workshops.
This year, only two Polish productions were invited to the competition, but both of them won awards. "You Are Overreacting," directed by Karina Paciorkowska was chosen the best animated film of the festival, whereas the title of the best documentary film went to "Sisters" by Michał Hytroś.
The award-winning "You Are Overreacting" is a hand-drawn animated film, trying to ask questions about women's place in contemporary reality. The film is inspired by everyday life, statements of public figures and by the way the media talk about women.
The awarded film "Sisters" is set behind a huge, 800-year-old wall, in the oldest enclosed nunnery in Poland - the Benedictine nunnery in Staniątki near Krakow. This is where 12 sisters live, the average age of whom is 70. Despite their old age and the world outside the wall, changing at a mad pace, every day they try to subordinate their lives to the rule "ORA et LABORA," invented over 10 centuries ago. Our protagonists, the sisters Anuncjata and Benedykta (40 years in the nunnery), with their characteristic charm, introduce us to the world behind the wall, telling us about their lives and the decisions which they made. They show us the world of the convent with all its shades, totally devoid of stereotypes, often touching and amusing at the same time. This is a film about silence told in a particularly loud way.
You can find more information about the festival here.