The “Energy of Film Music” concert added splendour to the ceremony that ended the 16th edition of the Tofifest International Film Festival. The hall was vibrant with the film music classics from 1930s and 1940s, as well as songs taken from contemporary films, but repacked in new and often quite surprising arrangements. The whole music event was managed creatively by Bartek Staszkiewicz , a popular musician and arranger from Torun. That music bomb composed of different genres and styles set off right after awarding the main prizes of the festival.
Among those you could see perform on stage was Gabriella Kulka, who performed “Motylem jestem” (I Am a Butterfly), a song of Irena Jarocka, and “Już nie zapomnisz mnie” (You Will Not Forget Me), a song taken from the film “Zapomniana melodia” (Forgotten Melody). Ten Typ Mes was a singer faced with a particularly tough task, as he tried to combine the energy of hip hop with the classic vibe of Polish hits. His performance was top notch, and he also managed to amuse the audience with many jokes he offered in-between songs.
As for Buslav, you could see him perform “Nights in White Satin” by The Moody Blues, which was one of the songs featured in the soundtrack to “The Last Family”, a film dedicated to the Beksinski family. His performance ended with a distinctive clarinet solo. The concert also included interpretations of the song “Chłopcy” (Boys) by Myslovitz and “Kocham wolność” (I Love Freedom) by Chłopcy z Placu Broni. The song was written back in 1990s and became a protest song for many Poles, at the time. Sometime later, it was used in the soundtrack to the film “Walesa. Man of Hope.”
Justyna Swies offered a particularly memorable performance, which was an interpretation of “Odchodząc zabierz mnie” (Take Me While Leaving), a song originally written by Republika, which was a very touching end of the concert. The song featured in the film “Moja Angelika” by Stanislaw Kuznik was performed in the company of a rich collection of instruments, yet it retained its original fragility, thanks to the delicate timbre of the voice of the singer known from The Dumplings.
Despite coming from completely different genres of music, each of the artists added their own original colour to the well-known hits loved not only by Polish filmmakers, but enthusiasts of cinema. The artistic supervision of the concert was the responsibility of Bartek Staszkiewicz.
Angelika Jasiulewicz