Still from the film "Twist & Blood", dir. Kuba Czekaj, photo courtesy of twistandblood.com
The 59th Film Festival in San Sebastián hosts the 10th edition of the International Film Students Meeting. Kuba Czekaj's graduate project, a film entitled "Twist & Blood", is to be shown as part of the series of student films from around the world
56 schools from 25 countries present their productions, among them the Krzysztof Kieślowski Department of Radio and Television at the University of Silesia in Katowice, which represents Czekaj's film. Other participating nations include: Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, Mexico, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, UK, US and Venezuela.
The short, "Twist & Blood" is a story about an eleven-year-old chubby boy nicknamed Brzucho (Belly), who is the butt of many a joke. The boy's parents want to change the boy and put him on a diet. Brzucho has his own way to relieve his negative emotions; however this is his secret. With time, he reveals his secret to his female friend, with whom he is slowly falling in love.
Participation at the San Sebastián festival is yet another screening of Kuba Czekaj's film on the international circuit. "Twist & Blood" was recently screened in San Francisco at the Short Film Festival SF Shorts (8-10 September), where he was awarded a Special Mention for best direction.
In the autumn of 2011, the film will be screened in competition sections at the Tamecula Valley International Film & Music Festival in the US, the Open Student Film Festival "Beginning" in St. Petersburg and the Raindance Film Festival in London. Furthermore, there are confirmed shows at competitions including the Cinemagic International Film Festival in Belfast, "Up-and-coming" International Film Festival in Hanover, as well as the Kyoto International Student & Video Festival in Japan.
Kuba Czekaj (born 18 June 1984 in Wrocław) is a student at the Andrzej Wajda's Master School of Film Directing in Warsaw. He also completed the directing faculty in the Krzysztof Kieślowski Department of Radio and Television at the University of Silesia in Katowice and was granted a scholarship by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage in 2009. He is among others, the author of the short film "Ciemnego pokoju nie trzeba się bać" / "Don't be afraid of the dark room", 2009, in the "30 minutes Program", as well as the short film "Za Horyzont" / "Beyond the Horizon", 2007.
For more information about "Twist & Blood" directed by Kuba Czekaj see: www.twistandblood.com.
Official San Sebastián Film Festival website: www.sansebastiánfestival.com
Source: www.stopklatka.pl