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A Rebellious Ceremony – Tofifest is on

It was thanks to Torun that I thought of becoming an actress in the first place. The 17th edition of the TOFIFEST International Film Festival is on! The Golden Angel and Flisak Awards went to Joanna Koroniewska, Maja Ostaszewska, and Robert Wichrowski.

I am really grateful for this award. I am still learning what it means to be rebellious, confessed Joanna Koroniewska accepting the award during the opening ceremony. The film and theatre actress who was born in Torun receive the Flisak award, which is a special prize given to artists originating from this region. This is a very special place for me, because I grew up here. It was thanks to Torun that I thought of becoming an actress in the first place, she said.

Another Flisak Award went to Robert Wichrowski, film and TV director and screenwriter, who was born in Bydgoszcz. I hope that I will finally be able to shoot a film here, in Torun, he commented when accepting the award from the hands of the President of Torun.

TOFIFST is the only festival in the world which gives awards for being a rebellious artist, an insolent artist. And that was precisely the Golden Angel that yesterday flew to Maja Ostaszewska, a charismatic actress playing in films and theatres, who is also known for her commitment to social problems. The award was presented by Kafka Jaworska, director of the festival. Being rebellious is not only about being creative but also sensitive to the things happening in the world, and also having the courage to talk about things that hurt us. And Maja is exactly that person, she said about the actress.

With the award in her hand, Maja Ostaszewska gave a short speech, in which she mentioned Oleg Sentsov, a film director from Ukraine, who not a long while ago was still a political prisoner in Russia. He was released in September, after five years of imprisonment. I feel very honoured to join such a respectable group of people. I truly regret that I will not be able to participate in the meeting with Oleg Sentsov. During the Eagle Awards ceremony, all of us stood in line holding sheets of paper calling for his release. The actress also commented on the meaning of artistic work. It is the job of intellectuals to call things by their names, while we, artists, are here to open the hearts and minds of people. The way I understand being a rebellious, insolent artist, is the readiness to put a mirror in front of you, to listen to your heart disregarding the advice that others give you so that you can feel comfortable, to accept mistakes and failures, because they are the doors to finding courage to look for more. But it also means saying “no” to boredom.

A concert dedicated to film music added splendour to the poignant moments of the ceremony. We saw the performance of a unique international project Rebel Babel Film Orchestra, conducted by Łukasz L.U.C. Rostkowski. The music we hears on stage was a collection of true gems of Polish film music, including the pieces composed by Krzysztof Komeda (for example, the leading theme from Prawo i pięść / The Law and the Fist, which was shot in Torun), by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, and also a selection of cult classic pieces from Polish films. The concert started with the song “Ach, jak przyjemnie” (Ah, How Pleasant It is!), composed by Henryk Wars.

The over thirty-strong orchestra was accompanied by a number of great artists: Dorota Miśkiewicz and Maria Sadowska, who enchanted the audience with their interpretations of film themes and stage improvisations. The concert also featured the performance of the saxophone quartet the Whoop Group and the pianist Dominika Czajkowska.

The Rebel Babel Orchestra concert was part of the Energy of Polish Film Music section which has been part of the festival for a number of years now. It is a clear proof that music is also in need of rebelliousness, in order to blend genres in an uncompromising and bold manner, bringing the classics of film music closer to audience, and playing with them beyond any boundaries and conventions. For boredom is by far the worst thing that could happen to art.

Angelika Jasiulewicz

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