19/09/2023 - The 48th Polish Film Festival has opened with a screening of Doppelgänger by Jan Holoubek and has introduced a new artistic director, Joanna Łapińska

The Polish Film Festival (PFF) in Gdynia has been the most important gathering for the local industry since 1974, combining an overview of the latest productions with debates on important issues for professionals. This year’s gathering, unspooling from 18-23 September, is no different: 16 films are being presented in the Main Competition, 25 in the Short Film Competition, four in the Microbudget Film Competition and many more in the other sidebars.

The contenders for the festival’s grand prix, the Golden Lions, are Anxiety by Sławomir Fabicki, Dreams Full of Smoke by Dorota Kędzierzawska, Feast of Fire by Kinga Dębska, Fin del Mundo? by Piotr Dumała, Freestyle by Maciej Bochniak, Horror Story by Adrian Appanel, Imago [+see also:
film review
interview: Olga Chajdas, Lena Góra
film profile] by Olga Chajdas (the FIPRESCI Prize winner at Karlovy Vary), Next to Nothing by Grzegorz Dębowski, One Soul by Łukasz Karwowski, Pilecki’s Report by Krzysztof Łukaszewicz, Saint by Sebastian Buttny, Scarborn by Paweł Maślona, Strawman by Robert Gliński, The Peasants [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by DK Welchman and Hugh Welchman, The Secret of Little Rose by Jan Kidawa-Błoński and Doppelgänger by Jan Holoubek, which was also the opening film.

The PFF has a new artistic director, Joanna Łapińska, who previously worked in a similar position for 15 years at mBank New Horizons and for four years at the Transatlantyk IFF. During the opening night of the festival, as she welcomed the guests, she said that the event was a space of solidarity for filmmakers and that she hopes for in-depth, involved yet well-balanced conversations about cinema.

The 48th edition of the gathering will hand out its awards on Saturday 23 September, although one winner is already known. Legendary Oscar-winning production designer Allan Starski is to receive a lifetime achievement award, the Platinum Lions, which will be presented to him on the closing night.

The industry programme, aptly called Gdynia Industry, includes discussion panels about the distribution of Polish films, which has plummeted since the pandemic; the challenges of making a debut feature; AI; and VoD royalties. Susan Newman-Baudais, the general manager of Eurimages, will visit the event to discuss the fund’s new selection process. There will also be a discussion panel with international sales agent Dirk Schurhoff from Beta Cinema, Katarzyna Siniarska from New Europe Film Sales and Xavier Henry-Rashid from Film Republic, which will cover the distribution of local films in the European market. Creative Europe Desk Poland, the Polish Producers’ Alliance and Netflix are among the industry partners.