Two Shores Film and Arts Festival is an interdisciplinary cultural event dedicated to the presentation of both Polish and foreign films significant from the artistic rather than commercial point of view as well as theatre performances, art exhibitions and concerts
The festival focuses on the idea of contact - between various genres of art, different from each other, yet in some way or other related to the world of cinema and between the artists and the spectators, offering numerous opportunities to meet the featured artists and discuss their art with them. The catch phrase of this year's 5th edition of the festival is "Viaggio in Italia - Journey to Italy".
The festival kicks off on the 30th of July 2011 with the Polish premiere of "The Kid With a Bike" by the Dardenne Brothers, winners of this year's Cannes Festival Grand Prix. Later the same day the inauguration continues with the concert of Argentine singer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Melingo. "Melingo is the legend of Melingo, the main protagonist in a life sometimes too intense, which had, inevitably, to lead to the tango. To be Melingo, one must walk the streets sniffing out poetry like a bloodhound. One must dance like a whip and sing like a scar" - the statement on his webpage is probably the best description of the singer who thanks to his raspy vocals is called by some the Latin American Tom Waits.
The extremely rich and diverse festival programme that follows is divided into the numerous thematic blocks.
Viaggio in Italia
The title of the cycle originates from the title of a film by Roberto Rossellini, the father of Neorealism. The nonconventional artist experimented with new forms and techniques becoming an inspiration for subsequent generations of film-makers. The programme features films by Roberto Rossellini with a special screening of a restored version of the little-known Rossellini film "La Macchina Ammazzacattivi" (1952), Liliana Cavani, Francesco Rosi, Damiano Damiani, Elio Petri and Luigi Zampa as well as a concert of the Italian pianist, composer and lawyer - Paolo Conte, registered in 1976 in Verona. "Viaggio in Italia" is also the watchword of this year's edition of the festival.
The World Under the Tent presents a special selection of films representing the genres of auteur, artistic and independent cinema, chosen during Polish and foreign film festivals in Venice, San Sebastian, Rotterdam, Berlin, Cannes, Transilvania, Riga, Portoroz, Ljubljana, Tallinn, Bratislava, Gdynia, Cracow and Koszalin. Authors of the selected films, both titled artists and debutants, are the festival’s guests and will discuss their art with the public.
Mockumentaries
Mockumentary (mock documentary) is a film which uses the form of a documentary to tell stories which aren’t necessarily real. The film-makers use this form to joke, travest, parody, criticize or even deconstruct the basic principles behind the art of documentary. The block features five subjectively chosen documentaries made in the years 1995-2011 in Poland and overseas.
Music, My Love
Natural relationship between music and film will be explored thanks to presentations of musical films and films about music as well as registered concerts.
In The Short Term
A selection of the newest professional short films, including premieres, both Polish and foreign, all shorter than 60 minutes. Many of the presented movies have been awarded prizes at international film festivals.
Independent Short Film Competition
This year, for the first time, the students and amateurs have an opportunity to compete with professionals and graduates of film schools. The subject of the competition are feature films, documentaries, animations and experimental films produced in 2010 or 2011 (the older ones may qualify if it's the first time they are presented in Poland). The main prize is 3000 PLN, there are also two 1000 PLN prizes.
And God made the actor
In the previous years the retrospective cycle has been dedicated to actors such as Janusz Gajos, Krystyna Janda or Jerzy Stuhr. This summer it features Zbigniew Zamachowski, the distinguished Polish film and theatre actor, talented song interpreter, poet and composer turning fifty this year. The 1985 graduate of the famed Łódź Film and Theatre School appeared in films of the most significant Polish film directors including Krzysztof Kieślowski, Kazimierz Kutz, Wojciech Marczewski and Andrzej Wajda and was awarded numerous prizes, both Polish and foreign. Since 1997 he is the actor of the National Theatre in Warsaw. The retrospective offers a chance to view a selection of films by both titled and rising-star directors as well as TV Theatre performances.
The Directors' Retrospectives
This year's block is dedicated to Father of Neorealism, Roberto Rossellini and one of the most original Polish director and script writers, Andrzej Kondratiuk who may be called the forerunner of neorealism in Poland. Kondratiuk, turning 75 this year, graduated from Łódź Film and Theatre School. The independent artist is known for his versatility, being not only the director but also cameraman, author of music and set-design for his eccentric films. The artist was awarded numerous prizes, both in Poland and overseas.
Roberto Rossellini made his breakthrough with the film "Rome, Open City" in 1945.The masterpiece is regarded as the flagship of Italian neorealism and was the first film to introduce paradocumentary form and non-linear narration. He was awarded most important prizes in Cannes, Venice and in San Francisco.
Mini-Retrospectives is a cycle analysing phenomena of the world of cinema. This year's edition features the 1933-born non-compromising, scandalous director and screenwriter fascinated by the the obscurities of the human soul - Liliana Cavani, Chilean director of the young generation, Pablo Larrain whose film "Tony Manero" not only premiered in Cannes but also was Chile's candidate for the Academy Award and Polish director and screen-writer Grzegorz Królikiewicz. Relationship between cinema and literature will be examined during a session dedicated to the art of one of the most prominent writers and poets of the 20th century, Leonardo Sciascia (1921-1989) - a Sicilian, an Italian and a European. The debate with the participation of Polish poets and writers will be accompanied by films based on Sciascia's prose.
Great Movies on the Small Market Square is a subjective selection of masterpieces produced in the years 2009-2011. It will be screened in the open-air, at the Small Market Square in Kazimierz Dolny and features, among others, films by Lech Majewski, Jan Komasa, Terrence Malick and Banksy.
I Love Movies is the name of a cyclical TVP2 programme by Two Shores Festival's Creative Director, Grażyna Torbicka. It is also the motto for the screenings of highbrow, non-mainstream films in Janowiec on Vistula and Puławy during the festival. The featured films are to appear in the TVP2 cycle later on.
A Movies Lesson
The cycle has been conceived as a form of confession of the invited artists in front of an audience. The artists not only discuss secrets of craftsmanship but also talk about their fascinations, teachers, inspirations and sins they committed as artists. Since 2009 the Movies Lessons are being registered. This year the participants are the distinguished artists documentary film maker Andrzej Fidyk and director-screenwriter Grzegorz Królikiewicz. Both are also academic teachers.
The organisers of the festival, dedicated to the idea of creative fusion of arts, also present artists from Poland and overseas performing various genres of music from classical through jazz, electroacoustic and alternative to film music. The festival offers an opportunity to promote young and lesser known artists. Thanks to the featured art exhibitions, there will be the a chance to get acquainted with the works of the local artists. The partners of the cycle aiming at animation and promotion of the local art are Kazimierz Dolny Art College, Nadwiślańskie Museum and The Climates Gallery from Mięćmierz. A selection of theatre performances which originated as a part of the famous Theatre TV series will also be presented to the festival public.
The public is the most important and only jury of Two Shores Film and Arts Festival. They will have an opportunity to choose their favourites from amongst the movies making up the blocks "World Under the Tent" and "Documentaries" as well full-feature films produced in the years 2010-2011.
The festival closes on the 7th of August 2011 with the Polish premiere of Peter Mullan's "NEDs" , the winner of the Grand Prix of San Sebastian Film Festival and the Silver Shell in the category Best Actor (Connor McCarron).
For detailed programme please visit www.dwabrzegi.pl
Source: www.dwabrzegi.pl, www.artistage.pl
Two Riversides Festival
Various locations in Kazimierz Dolny and in Janowiec on the Vistula river
tel: +48 604 123 124
fax: +48 22 617 67 00
e-mail: biuro@dwabrzegi.p
www.dwabrzegi.pl
Source: press materials