still frame from "A Piece of Summer", ©PWSFTviT
Marta Minorowicz's documentary "A piece of Summer" has won the Grand Prix at the main competition of the 33rd International Short Film Festival in Clermont-Ferrand
Produced at the Munka Studio within the programme "First Documentary" and co-produced by the TVP television station, Kawałek lata" / "A Piece of Summer is the sole Polish film selected among 80 films from around the world considered in the main competition of the 2011 edition of the ISFF in Clermont-Ferrand.
The film follows a boy visiting his grandfather who lives and works in the mountainous forests. It is the end of summer, the end of holidays. Surrounded by wild nature and severe world they try to rebuild their bond. They live in a trailer and their only connection with civilization is a radio. They spend their days in solitude wandering in the woods, fishing in the stream, and observing nature. The grandfather teaches the boy the respect for nature and all living things. The time spent together in the wilderness strengthens their relationship and deepens the boy's bond with nature.
Minorowicz's documentary film has already won acclaim, winning the Golden Dove for Best Short-length Documentary competition in Germany at the 2010 International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film - DOK Leipzig,. The film also won the Biała Kobra Grand Prix at the 2010 Człowiek w zagrożeniu Media Festival in Łodz, and the Special Jury Prize for Documentary Short Film at the 29th Youth and Film Film Debut Festival in Koszalin. It is also on the competition programme at the 7th International Documentary Film Festival - ZagrebDox 2011 in Croatia, held between February 27 - March 6, 2011 in Zagreb.
Born in 1979, Marta Minorowicz graduated from the Theatre Studies department at the Jagielonski University and the Documentary Course of the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing. Her earlier productions include: Anioł śmierci" / "Angel of Death (2008) dedicated to Josef Mengel and his "medical experiments" at the KL Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Kawałek lata" / "A piece of Summer":"Kawałek lata: Written and directed by: Marta Minorowicz; cinematography: Paweł Chorzępa; editing: Przemysław Chruścielewski; sound: Tomasz Kochan, Dominika Czakon; production manager: Sławomir Pańszczyk. Producer: Stowarzyszenie Filmowców Polskich - Studio Munka; co-producer: TVP; co-financed by the Polish Film Institute; co-producer and executive producer: Kronika Film Studio.
The Andrzej Munk Studio operates within the Polish Filmmakers Association. It is an exclusive producer of debut films, created with the co-operation of the Polish Film Institute, the Ministry of Culture and National Television TVP.
Other Polish films screened at the festival in Clermont Ferrand included Kolberger's Tomorrow I'll Be Gone with cinematography by Jakub Giza and six new films from the recently-published DVD Polish Shorts 2010: Twist&Blood by Kuba Czekaj, Millhaven by Bartek Kulas, Talk to him by Agata Prętka, The End of The World by Mateusz Skalski, Sing Me to Sleep by Magnus Arnesen, Heroic Parrot With The Dog by Marcin Sławek. Two Polish projects - by Wojciech Kasperski and by Rafał Kapeliński - were presented during the Euro Connection Forum, along with a number of films at the market library.
For more information on the winning films, see: www.clermont-filmfest.com.
For all Polish films registered for this year's competition, see: International Competition.
The 2011 International Short Films Festival of Clermont-Ferrand took place February 4 - 12, 2011.
Source: www.institutpolonais.fr, www.polishdocs.pl