The beginning of the year is rather quiet, but some major international film festivals are still taking place. Check out which Polish animated films are likely to win the hearts of audiences and jury awards and where.

Film Maudit 2.0 launches on 12 January in the US, with Crumbs of Life by Katarzyna Miechowicz in its competition. The famous Slamdance Film Festival begins a week later. Maria Nitek's Hierophany has been included in its competition.

The Flickerfest International Short Film Festival will be taking place on the other side of the globe. Julia Orlik will be competing for the audience and jurors' attention with her new documentary This Will Not Be a Festival Film.

Several French-language film events will also be held in the second half of the month. First, it's time for the Premiers Plans Film Festival in France with two Polish animated films – Crab by Piotr Chmielewski and Five Minutes Older by Sara Szymańska. Then comes the Courts Mais Trash Brussels Independent Short Film Festival in Belgium with Julia Siuda's Fury making an in-competition appearance. The extremely prestigious Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival will be the cherry on top. The program of the French event includes the animated films Slow Light by the Kijek/Adamski duo and Crab by Piotr Chmielewski.

You can find the complete list of festival screenings here.v

JANUARY 2023