Lady in white, lady in black
Wednesday at Tofifest was one big spectrum of events. The first was a drastic and stormy discussion that followed the screening of Women’s Day by Maria Sadowska, then came the shocking story told by Sergei Loznitsa in his In the Fog, and the grand finale was “La Grande Bouffe of Tofifest” or a “Toffi” perspective on the role of cooking in cinema.
The title lady in white was Katarzyna Kwiatkowska and the lady in black – Maria Sadowska. Such names were given to the ladies by an elderly gentleman, who was particularly enraged by Women’s Day, during the discussion that followed after the screening of the film. He was too furious with the feminist significance of the film to remember then names and surnames of the guests, leading actress and director. It is beyond any doubt that the film has enraged many people in the country. The debut feature film by Maria Sadowska takes part in the FROM POLAND National Competition. It tells a story about women, who work in discounter chains and decide to fight for their workers’ rights. These are often great dramas that take place in the tranquillity of small flats, in housing projects. Katarzyna Kwiatkowska’s daring portrayal of checkout assistant Halina is one of the strongest elements of the film, as she presents the climbing to the top ranks of the shop hierarchy, only to fall down to the very bottom and start the fight for her own dignity.
Anca Damian, one of the jurors of the On Air Competition Jury met with the audience after the screening of Crulic – The Path to Beyond, which won awards in Locarno, Gdynia and Annecy. The film is a shocking story about Claudio Crulic, a 33-year-old Romanian citizen, who starved himself to death in a jail in Krakow, protesting against an unfair charge of stealing… a wallet. The whole affair was witnessed by all Polish authorities, but they chose not to react and remain idle. Damian emphasized the fact that her film has been the first animated full-length film, in 20 years. “When making it, I made use of all existing animation techniques. It only took the work of 5 people to make it happen”, she explained. She was also very blatant about the fact that Claudio Crulic did not intend to commit suicide: “He was not crazy. He starved himself, as he was fighting for the truth. Alas, those who were supposed to take care of him did not do anything to prevent him from reaching the point at which a starved human organism cannot return from the path to death”, said the director and juror at Tofifest.
Loznitsa’s In the Fog evoked a very enthusiastic response from the audience. The film is on of the competition films in the On Air Competition and it was directed by Sergei Loznitsa (born in Belarus), who is now a permanent citizen of Germany. It is a story from WWII, but it does not present any spectacular shooting, as it is a minimal story about the limits of guilt and heroism. It presents two adversaries – a village informer and a guerrilla fighter, who was ordered to kill the collaborator – who are lost in a forest, somewhere in Belarus, in the middle of winter. Let us quote the director himself: “Deep in a primordial forest, where there are no friends or foes and the borderline between treason and heroism no longer exists, the protagonist is made to make a moral choice in immoral circumstances.”
Those, who decided to take part in the SzaZaZe plays Themersons concert, at Centrum Cinema, were in for an extraordinary experience. Szamburski, Zakrocki, Zemler trio is connected with the Lado ABC, an independent music label from Warsaw. The trio has prepared an original soundtrack to the unique films by Stefan and Franciszka Themersons, as part of interdisciplinary artistic meetings. The sounds of drums, clarinets, mandolin, violin and mbira supplement, add and actively comment the film work by the “Polish Mellies”. In 1930s, the Themersons made a number of experimental films, using simple equipment and a technical base set in their own flat. The films are still an important part of the history of European avant-garde cinema, next to the work by such authors as: Hans Richter, Man Ray, Fernand Léger or Luis Buñuel. During Tofifest in Torun, the audience will have an opportunity to see the most important ones, i.e. Pharmacy, Europa, Musical Moment, Short Circuit and Adventure of a Good Citizen.
The last item of the Wednesday programme was a true feast. The La Grande Bouffe of Tofifest or the Kitchen Perspective on Cinema event took the audience to the world of Old Polish Cuisine, regional dishes and their connections with cinema. The lecture was given by professor Jaroslaw Dumanowski of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun and author of the Encyclopaedia of Old Polish Cuisine. The final point of the meeting was the tasting of the original dishes of Old Polish and regional cuisines.
The programme for Thursday (25thOctober) shall be dominated by the brightest stars of the Polish cinema – Krystyna Janda. She is going to have a meeting with the audience (at 4:00 p.m.) and then present her most famous monodrama, i.e. Shirley Valentine. After the performance, Krystyna Janda is going to receive a Special Golden Angel of Tofifest for Artistic Insolence.
In addition to the performance by Janda, Thursday is the last day for film blocks of the SHORTCUT Competition and Kujawsko-Pomorskie Localisations section. The audience will have an opportunity to see two more films of the On Air Competition. The Dutch-Spanish Hemel was directed by Sacha Polak. The title Hemel is a young woman, who fights a guerrilla war with every man in town, looking for the difference between sex and love. She sees the love for her father as the most emotionally involving relationship. One day, Hemel discovers that another young woman has stolen the heart of her father. The French Crawl is a debut film by Hervé Lasgouttes. The film is set in the landscapes of Brittany and tells a story about the romance between a young petty thief and a girl, who wants to become a famous swimmer. Their life together changes completely, when she becomes pregnant and he is unexpectedly accused of murder…
There will also be three more meetings. The screening of In the Bedroom (From Poland Competition) will be followed by a meeting with its director Tomasz Wasilewski; the screening of Courage is followed by a meeting with Greg Zglinski and Being Like Deyna (From Poland Competition) by a meeting with Anna Wieczur-Bluszcz and Gabriela Muskala.
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