This competition has consistently remained one of the most important sections of the entire Tofifest IFF. Kujawy Pomorze Region for many years, focusing on the most interesting film productions from Poland selected by brilliant film critic Łukasz Maciejewski.
Polish Cinema is seeing its new renaissance, no doubt about it, says Kafka Jaworska, director of the festival. Łukasz Maciejewski, the curator of this section, and at the same time a film critic, journalist, and author of books, has chosen a number of original films that deal with important topics of today. The Polish Competition is also a great opportunity for our audience to vote for the best film of this year’s festival to win the Golden Angel Award, she adds.
This year, there are as many as 13 films, some of which are already quite popular cinema hits, including: ‘Kobieta na dachu / Woman on the Roof’, ‘Niebezpieczni dżentelmeni / Dangerous Men’, ‘Prawdziwe życie aniołów / True Life of Angels’, or ‘Tata / Dad’. We will also have a number of hot new films: ‘Braty / Broys’, ‘Jezioro słone / Salt Lake’, ‘Skołowani’, ‘Zadra’, as well as some long-awaited pre-releases that the festival audience will have a chance to see long before their cinema releases, namely: ‘Hela’, ‘Nie zgubiliśmy drogi / We Haven’t Lost Our Way’, ‘Miało cię nie być’, and ‘Strzępy / Shreds’.
One of the traditions our festival has always cherished is the post-screening meetings with artists, which are often attended by the biggest stars of Polish cinema. Anyone can always attend such meetings for free.
This year, Toruń will host such great artists as:
- Katarzyna Rosłaniec, Dorota Kolak, Jacek Poniedziałek, Krzysztof Stelmaszyk, or the film crew responsible for the film ‘Jezioro słone / Salt Lake’, accompanied by actress Katarzyna Butowtt, who plays the main female character in it, marking her screen comeback in a big way, after long years of absence;
- Krzysztof Globisz, who received the Golden Angel Award for Lifetime Achievement, in 2019, will have a meeting with the audience, accompanied by film director Artur ‘Baron’ Więcek, after the screening of the film ‘Prawdziwe życie aniołów / True Life of Angels’ based on his biography;
- Marcin Bortkiewicz, Marianna Ame i Małgorzata Zajączkowska, i.e. the film director and actresses playing in the film ‘Tonia’;
- Grzegorz Przybył and Michał Żurawski, the actors playing in the film ‘Strzępy / Shreds’ directed by Beata Dzianowicz, both of who have been recognised by film critics for performing roles radically different from their acting choices so far;
- Anna Jadowska and Dorota Pomykała, i.e. the film director of ‘Kobieta na dachu / Woman on the Roof’ and the main character in the film, whose acting creation in the film is simply extraordinary. Dorota Pomykała is going to have two meetings with our festival audience - the second meeting will take place after the screening of ‘Moje stare / My Old Gals’, during which she will be accompanied by actress Dorota Stalińska and film director Natasza Parzymies;
- Marta Stalmierska, who is also going to meet her audience twice, after the screening of the films 'Braty / Broys’ by Marcin Filipowicz and ‘Hela’ by Anna Kaperska;
- Michał Czarnecki, Marianna Zydek, Jan Macierewicz, i.e. the actors and film director responsible for the film ‘Skołowani’.
See below for a complete list of the films selected for the From Poland Competition:
- ‘Braty / Broys’ dir. by Marcin Filipowicz, 2022
- ‘Hela’, dir. by Anna Kasperska, 2022
- ‘Jezioro słone / Salt Lake’, dir. by Katarzyna Rosłaniec, 2022
- ‘Kobieta na dachu / Woman on the Roof’, dir. by Anna Jadowska, 2022
- ‘Miało cię nie być’, dir. by Jakub Michalczuk, 2023
- ‘Nie zgubiliśmy drogi / We Haven’t Lost Our Way’, dir. by Anna Sasnal, Wilhelm Sasnal, 2022
- ‘Niebezpieczni dżentelmeni / Dangerous Men’, dir. by Maciej Kawalski, 2022
- ‘Prawdziwe życie aniołów / True Life of Angels’, dir. by Artur ‘Baron’ Więcek, 2022
- ‘Skołowani’, dir. by Jan Macierewicz, 2023
- ‘Strzępy / Shreds’, dir. by Beata Dzianowicz, 2022
- ‘Tata / Dad’, dir. by Anna Maliszewska, 2022
- ‘Tonia’, dir. by Marcin Bortkiewicz, 2022
- ‘Zadra’, dir. by Grzegorz Mołda, 2022
The 21st edition of Tofifest International Film Festival. Kujawy Pomorze Region takes place from 27th June, 2023, to 2nd July, 2023, (as always) in Toruń. Our festival audiences can see festival screenings at various locations, namely the Festival Centre in the Cultural and Congress Centre Jordanki, Cinema City, an open-air cinema in the yard of the Old Town City Hall, and in the Końcówa pub.
We would like to invite you to experience unique cinema, which asks many questions and leaves the task of finding answers to the audience.
The official patron of the Tofifest IFF. Kujawy Pomorze Region is the City of Toruń. The main partner is Kujawsko-Pomorskie, and the main sponsors are TZMO S.A. and the Bella Brand. Among other sponsors, there are ONDE S.A., PGE Toruń S.A., Apator S.A., Studio Podłóg Ablux, Urbitor Sp. z o. o., Finland's Honorary Consulate in Toruń, and the Freixenet Brand. Official Hotel of the Festival: Hotel Bulwar.