Rebellion becomes us. The 14th edition of the Tofifest International Film Festival starts this Saturday
We shall officially start the 14th edition of the Tofifest International Film Festival on Saturday evening, 15th October 2016. The Opening Ceremony will take place at the modern Cultural and Congress Centre Jordanki located just a few steps away from a pearl Gothic architecture entered in the UNESCO list – the Old Town in Torun. Tofifest has been promoting rebellious cinema that first and foremost openly discusses the condition of modern people and the world they live in, for 14 years. And that is exactly why the festival has been called “a rebellious festival” by the media.
Cinema is a mirror of our reality, as much as it is a never-ending journey to different worlds that you want to re-live again and again, says Kafka Jaworska, director of Tofifest. We see rebelliousness as our love for cinema that gives us courage to accept all its ups and downs, without feeling embarrassed, she adds (in an interview for Wp.pl).
The main thematic axis of Tofifest 2016 is the 25th anniversary of the most rebellious female duo in the history of cinema, who are the protagonists in the monumental “Thelma & Louise”. The film is a manifesto of people’s freedom, in general. This picture by Ridley Scott serves as a pretext to ask questions about the situation and rights of women in the world of today.
150 films and big concerts
The programme of Tofifest feature more than films, more than ten film sections dedicated to various topics, two big concerts, and a number of smaller music events. We will also have a debate, an exhibition of modern art, theatrical plays, and the European première of an artistic project made in cooperation with Facebook. Special Golden Angels of Tofifest will be awarded to Andrzej Seweryn, Marek Kondrat, Allan Starski, Wojtek Smarzowski, and a Norwegian film director Erik Poppe.
The festival will be opened by a concert of Steve Nash & Film Orchestra, with guest appearances of Tomasz Organek and Natalia Nykiel. As for the concert accompanying the Closing Ceremony, it shall be the first European music tribute to David Bowie. During the “Tribute to David Bowie” concert, you will watch performances of Brodka, Skubas, Tymon Tymanski, Natalia Przybysz, and Tomek Makowiecki. Tickets are still available on bilety24.pl.
Competing for Golden Angels
Without any doubt, the most important film section is the On Air Main Competition dedicated to full-length débuts and sophomore films. This year, we have received nearly 1,000 film submissions from several dozen countries, as candidates for the competition. The final selection features 11 films. Among them, let us draw your attention to “Toni Erdmann” by Maren Ade, which is considered to be a favourite for Academy Awards 2017, in the Foreign Language Film category. Other films worthy of your attention during Tofifest are certainly ”Clash” by Mohammed Diab or “The Dancer / La Danseuse” by Stephanie Di Giusto that brings back the memory of Loie Fuller, the originator of modern dance.
The other competition dedicated to international films is SHORTCUT, which is dedicated to short films. This year, we have received nearly 1,800 submissions for this competition. The final selection features 30 films from between ten and twenty countries. The other two competitions are From Poland, dedicated to Polish full-feature films, and Lokalizacje, dedicated to films connected with the region of Kujawsko-Pomorskie.
A retrospective dedicated to an X-man and a chatbot from Facebook
And that is not all, as we have four retrospectives in the programme of Tofifest. Two of them are dedicated to actors and members of the Main Jury, i.e. Danish actress Sonja Richter (“The Keeper of Lost Causes”) and Icelandic actor Tomas Lemarquis (“Noi Albinoi”, „X-Men”). The other two retrospectives are tributes to special guests of Tofifest 2016, both of who are Norwegian film directors, i.e. Erika Poppe (“A Thousand Times Good Night”, “Hawaii, Oslo”) and Bent Hamer (“Factotum”, “Kitchen Stories”).
There are also interesting theatrical plays worthy of your attention: A play by Julian Potrzebny entitled “Egzaminy”, based on actual events in the life of Krzysztof Kieslowski, and Czesław Śpiewa Solo Act.
During the festival, there will also be the European première of an artistic and scientific projest under the name “Evolution of the Stars” that is the result of a cooperation between B61 Institute and Facebook. The project will feature chatbot technology that has been made available for the purpose of this experiment.
Each festival night will end at the Enerde Festival Club (NRD), which is a legendary home to DJ World Champions of the International DJ Association (IDA).
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