The Realistic Cinema in the Magic City

For those who know Krakow a little is obvious that the tourists are wandering mainly between the biggest European Market Square, gorgeous garden Planty and the Jewish Quarter. Then add some fabulous cinema theaters, some cult places (restaurants, clubs) and you have got the prescription for the excellent venue for the contemporary international film festival. We have forgotten the camera! Fortunately Czech film director, Adam Sedlak, has given the viewer an enormous independent film work with iPhone (“Banger.”). It is hard to say whether it was the audio-visual experiment made by amateur. Contrary – making tour across night Prague Sedlak’s protagonist looks very intriguing and fully professional.

“Delegation” (Israel/Poland/German) film was very important for me personally. Watching many times in Krakow before the Israeli groups visiting concentration camps in Poland I was curious about their perception of Holocaust by youngsters. I admired the subtle method of film rhetoric between the state of non-speak-able and nowadays collapse of the family (“Do you love me” Ukraine, Sweden). The best movie in competition, made by Toni Noyabrovej, tells the story of impossibility: the collapse of family and the society. Fortunately, one can believe that the good things occurred when you find accidentally good person.

The festival plays an extraordinary role for female voice. Beside the important category “The best actress” there were three more prizes taken by women. “Presumed not being at all” with Sonia Szyc is a really ‘Rising Star’ actress. Daughter trying to establish new relationship with her father. Excellent dialogs as well as ‘intelligent’ movie shows the work of art far from dull and repetitiveness. Watching film in that case seems the most ‘semiotic way.

The festival public prized another women, Anna Jadowska and concluded with category “Female voice”. It was taken by Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska for ambition and creativity. It does not mean that movies were oriented as socially important issue. For instance: “Medusa Deluxe” (comedy plus thriller UK), “The great silence” (Danish – wanted to interpret: look at the bright side of life!). You could find a lot of humour and straightforward rhetoric in works of young generation. One can be assure that ‘independent, means more social stuff than simply  entertainment.

The future of independence lays – paradoxical – in being more independent. I can imagine Off camera coming  year. I can see that the cinema would be less polite then we presume. What does we want is the audience? No – we do have millions images daily  with very different quality.  Inside the internet, of course. And it is partially true. The challenge comes from more complicated issue. I remember from the beginning of the World Wide Web that there is another value orientation in that case. The more you work for the Internet the better you are evaluated by its population. I truly wanted to believe the movie as a highest  quality phenomenon  – whatever it means. After Krakow’s festival I assure my condition: maybe cinema is going down. Maybe. But the independent ones  falling – fortunately for us – slower and slower.

Wieslaw Godzic
©FIPRESCI 2023