Pomykała, Dziędziel and the Oscars, aka 20 years of Warsaw Film School at the 22nd edition of the Tofifest International Film Festival. Kujawy Pomorze Region!
To celebrate the 20 years of existence of Warsaw Film School, we are going to show the best films created by its students, at the 22nd edition of the Tofifest International Film Festival. Kujawy Pomorze Region. You will have a chance to see the school projects by Dorota Kobiela and Tadeusz Łysiak, both of which were nominated for Academy Awards, and also films made by students featuring such cinema celebrities as Katarzyna Figura or Danuta Stenka. Among the festival guests, who will meet with our audience after each successive screening, you will see Marian Dziędziel, Dorota Pomykała, Aleksander Pietrzak, Maciej Ślesicki, and Cezary Orłowski. Admission to all meetings remains free to our festival audience.
Throughout the 20 years of its existence, Warsaw Film School, founded my Maciej Ślesicki, film director, producer and screenwriter, and actor Bogusław Linda, has produced hundreds of young filmmakers. Many of them have already enjoyed huge successes at Polish and international film festivals, while some have even been nominated for Academy Awards. Students also receive a lot of support from the greatest stars of Polish cinema. Their school projects feature appearances by Katarzyna Figura, Danuta Stenka, Dorota Stalińska, Dorota Pomykała, or Marian Dziędziel.
First, we built a modern film school, brick by brick, and then two of our students got nominations for Academy Awards. One more nomination was also given to our graduate. We were victorious in Gdynia and at tens of other film festivals. Today, our films are included in a special section dedicated specifically to Warsaw Film School, which you will see at the 22nd edition of the Tofifest International Film Festival. Kujawy Pomorze Region. These days, we are making more and more feature films. Not bad for the first twenty years in existence, I guess! I can’t wait to see what is to come, says Maciej Ślesicki, founder of Warsaw Film School.
As part of the Tofifest International Film Festival. Kujawy Pomorze Region, we are going to let the artists who started off their film career in Warsaw Film School speak for themselves. We have divided this section into three groups of topics:
“Passing the baton from generation to generation: film stars working with students of Warsaw Film School”
‘The Strong Coffee Isn't So Bad’ is a story about father and son, whose mutual stubbornness makes it very difficult for them to reconcile after many years of living apart. It comes down to the boy to make the first move, in which he gets help from the father’s new sweetheart.
In ‘Here For You’, you see mother of Bartek, a young man with Down’s Syndrome, who wants to prepare her son for the worst, and yet an inevitable event: her own death.
In ‘Techno’, title music becomes a form of escape for a man taking care of his wife suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
‘Disgrace’ is about a young woman, who gets pregnant. Seeking the support of his brother, the two of them decide that the truth about this pregnancy must remain a secret.
“From Warsaw Film School to film festivals and the Academy Awards ceremony”
‘The Dress’, a film that was applauded all around the world and nominated for Academy Awards, is a story about Julia suffering from dwarfism. Her entire life has been the product of a different look that the rest of society fails to accept.
‘Our Curse’, another nominee for Academy Awards, is a story about a couple struggling to come to terms with a medical condition that befell their recently born son.
‘Serce na dłoni’ is a story about a middle-aged man, who greatest desire is to find a true love.
In ‘The Cracks’, you will see Teresa struggling with postpartum depression. Together with her husband, the couple decides to move back to the family home in a small town.
In ‘Mall Girls’, title group of teenage girls spend most of their time at a local shopping centre, where they offer sexual services to men for money.
“From Warsaw Film School to cinemas”
The film ‘kRAJ / The Land’ made by four different film directors, including Maciej Ślesicki himself, and featuring Marian Dziędziel and Tomasz Włosok, is a story about the issues we struggle with in contemporary Poland, told with a pinch of salt.
Included in the section:
- Sukienka / The Dress, dir. by Tadeusz Łysiak, Poland, 2020, 28’
- Techno, dir. by Tadeusz Łysiak, Poland, 2017, 23’
- Mocna kawa wcale nie jest taka zła / The Strong Coffee Isn't So Bad, dir. by Aleksander Pietrzak, Poland, 2014, 49’
- kRAJ / The Land, dir. by Maciej Ślesicki, Mateusz Motyka, Veronica Andersson, Filip Hillesland, Poland, 2021, 103’
- Nasza Klątwa / Our Curse, dir. by Tomasz Śliwiński, Poland, 2013, 27’
- Szczeliny / The Cracks, dir. by Magdalena Gajewska, Poland, 2021, 30’
- Jestem / Here For You, dir. by Cezary Orłowski, Poland, 2024, 21’
- Hańba / Disgrace, dir. by Tomasz Gąsiorowski, Poland, 2023, 26’
- Serce na dłoni, dir. by Dorota Kobiela (DK Welchman), Poland, 2006, 10’
- Galerianki / Mall Girls, dir. by Katarzyna Rosłaniec, Poland 2006, 30’
