CHOPIN IN FILM

Fifth Film, Art & Tourism Festival - 28-29 May in Płock
and the Third Meeting of the Polish Tourfilm Academy - 26-19 May in Warsaw and Płock

The fifth Film, Art & Tourism Festival has enjoyed a great success. Under its new name, the event was traditionally held in Płock, Poland. The high quality of festival entries made the jury grand a Grand Prix Statuette to three different movies.

Traditionally Festival and III Conference Polish Tourfilm Academy was organized under patronage of the highest state authorities including the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Ministry Sport & Tourism, Polish Film Institute, Polish Tourist Organization.

The audience had an opportunity to "visit" in the auditorium of the City Hall in Płock such countries as Portugal, Austria, Brazil, The Republic of South Africa, and Greece. The visitors could travel to Sesimbra, Tyrol, Brazilian beaches in the Santa Katarina region or to the coasts of the Indian Ocean. Over 40 productions of 200 entries have been selected.

The films and presentations about Frederick Chopin, his life and the places connected with the composer, were especially popular at the event. The presentation by Andrzej Danowski, Director of the PTTK Center for Natural Photography, called "Chopin's Places in Old Photographs", put everyone into a very nostalgic mood. The festival emphasizes the latest achievements in moviemaking and advertising but the audience and the organizers were captured by the collection of old photographs accompanied by Chopin music and the poems written by the composer. A presentation by well-known producer David Cooper, "Chopin in Majorca", was the best testimony of how important the places connected with the composer truly are. Everyone was impressed with the amount of details concerning Chopin's life and works in that difficult time for the artist.

Besides the festival's regular program the audience could see accompanying events such as an Andrzej Łojko's photo exhibition called "Traditions and Inspirations" (Multi-format images that resemble the works of Dutch painters rather than creatures of modern photography), or "Chopin's Masovia", a photo exhibition by eight photographers connected with LOT and Płock Photography Association.

The audience and guests of the festival could enjoy a multimedia exhibition called "Chopin The Traveler", which was held outside the City Hall. The exhibition featured the places connected with Frederick Chopin as well as the collection of the banknotes and coins with the image of the composer, displayed by the Polish National Bank.

The people of Płock were entertained by folk music & dance groups performing at Old Town Square on Saturday, 29 May, 2010. The show started with the performance of Wisła group from Płock. Podlasie Province was represented by a whole array of artists, such as a folk music band, folk artists, and weavers, who gave the local people a foretaste of the Podlasie folklore. These presentations were to show the diversity of our folk culture, which was so beloved by Chopin. They were watched diligently by the guests from abroad. Visitors from Greece could not resist and started to dance. The Greek delegation composed of Anita Grispou, Anna Deligianni and Manolis Lignos danced traditional Greek dances for the citizens of Płock.

The show ended with the performance of the Ballet School of Bytom. The presence of the citizens of Bytom wasn't accidental, because the film "Bytom - Energy of Culture" was one of the most interesting productions, which won Best Promotional Film and Audience awards. The Audience Award is granted by the ONET.PL users.

Among many presentations at the event was the one by Zbigniew Żmudzki, President of Se-Ma-For Studios, who, apart from his speech, also presented the company's latest release "Danny Boy".

The most interesting of all the accompanying events was the concert in the auditorium of the National Music School in Płock called "CHILDREN OF THE WORLD LOVE CHOPIN". Maria Pomianowska, a composer, musician, multi-instrumentalist, and a scholar, is not new to the CIFFT festival. She can always surprise everyone with something new. Her knowledge of different cultures and of a wide range of musical instruments (often very unique ones) allows her to have successful concerts around the world. We were wondering what a wonderful performance she would produce this year. We knew that she had released her new album entitled Chopin in Five Continents, which is climbing up the charts, but her concert with children was a great unknown to everyone. And it turned out to be yet another splendid event. There was piano music and the classic Chopin performed by talented children from Russia. The audience could listen to the Chopin music played on the domra, a Ukrainian folk instrument. A group of young boys from Kazakhstan played the Kazakh dombra, a two-string instrument. Their fantastic performance, full of talent, authenticity and rhythmical music received a standing ovation from the audience, which seemed to adore especially one of the boys, who wasn't older than five. His playing wasn't any worse than that of his ten- or twelve-year-old friends. Poland was represented by a group of children from the south. Their colorful costumes, dancing, and songs were a real treat to everyone present. There was a group from Burkina Faso, Africa. Dancing, they possessed temperament and skills for playing very exotic instruments, which most of the audience had never seen before. In the end the entire children orchestra played together conducted by Maria Pomianowska. Words cannot describe the quality of that performance. The audience looked at the children's faces that seemed extremely focused on the conductor's every move. It was obvious that they loved Chopin's music.

AWARDS FOR THE BEST

Like in previous years, the organizers have honored everyone who would positively impact the image of Poland abroad. The 2010 TOURIST Statuettes went to the following artists: pianist Rafał Blechacz and Małgorzata Błoch-Wiśniewska, director of Chopin's Year Celebration Office and coordinator of all events connected with the composer.

In this special year the jury composed of producers, directors, and cinematographers has decided to present GRAND PRIX CHOPIN 2010, which went to a Jerzy Szkamruk & Piotr Sławiński FRYDERYK 2010.

The international jury was composed of the following members (alphabetical order):
Irene Giannakopoulos (Greece)
Tomasz Ogrodowczyk (Poland)
Ekke Overbeek (Holland)
Jack Soifer (Portugal)
Jacek Wan (Poland)
Zbigniew Żmudzki (Poland)

The jury have awarded the following productions:
GRAND PRIX ART - Barbara Koniecka, the maker of "TAKIE MIASTO" ("SUCH A CITY", Poland)

GRAND PRIX TOURISM - Andreas Meschuh, the author of "STYRIA - THE GREEN HEART OF AUSTRIA" (Austria)

The films about Chopin entered into the Festival enjoyed a great success. An Agnieszka Holland & Magdalena Łazarkiewicz film entitled "WARSAW - ECC 2016" received a CHOPIN 2010 statuette ex aequo with a Jerzy Szkamruk & Piotr Sławiński film in the category Chopin in Film. In the same category the jury awarded "Szafarnia Chopina" ("Chopin's Szafarnia") by Ryszard Kruk, "Mazowsze Chopina" ("Chopin's Masovia") by Zbigniew Szumera, and "Warszawa Chopina" ("Chopin's Warsaw") by Kordian Piwowarski. Besides, the directors of the Festivals decided to present a special award for Best Director to Agnieszka Holland and Magdalena Łazarkiewicz. Special award for Best Picture and Soundtrack went to Jerzy Szkamruk & Piotr Sławiński for "FRYDERYK 2010". A separate award was presented to Maria Pomianowska for music in that film. "Chopin's Warsaw" received an award for Best Historical Film; "Chopin's Szafarnia" received a Best Film for Youth award; and "Chopin's Masovia" was awarded a Best Educational Film statuette. One of the main prizes at the Festival in Płock is a Bolesław Krzywousty Statuette, which went to the Council of the City of Warsaw for their film "Chopin's Warsaw".

This year's special award was a Frederick Chopin Statuette, which was dedicated to the companies and individuals that have greatly contributed to the creation of various exhibitions and movie productions about Chopin. In this respect we should emphasize the great efforts of Katarzyna Ratajczyk, director of Warsaw Promotional Office, and Barbara Tekiela, director of Tourist Information Office, who received Frederick Chopin Statuettes. We congratulate them, believing that the great composer will permanently remain the symbol of the capital city.

At the Grand Prix award ceremony hosted by Ewa Kotus, Director of the Festival, everyone received a copy of the tenth issue of our quarterly FILM, ART& TOURISM. We were honored to present Dariusz Bógdał with a Frederick Chopin Statuette. Our colleague, the sky vagabond, has been extremely successful at winning the 2010 Grand Press Photo (despite a very solid competition). One of his photoreports of the Fleeting Landscapes series has won in the category Nature. We congratulate him.

CHOPIN'S HEART

The fifth Film, Art & Tourism Festival and the Third Meeting of the Polish Tourfilm Academy entitled Chopin in Film were the best evidence for the great affection of the Polish people for Frederick Chopin, and a tremendous interest of international public in the composer's life and creative work. All the invited guests and the audience of the festival have religiously visited the places connected with Frederick Chopin in Warsaw, Żelazowa Wola, and Brochów. They had a chance to taste a local cuisine at the famous Honoratka restaurant and Chopin Hotel in Sochaczewo. But most importantly, they had an opportunity to talk about the patriotic dimension of the composer's works. A 2005 documentary called Chopin's Heart is a heart capturing production for every Pole, because it deals with matters of the utmost importance: the Polish identity and troublesome history of the nation that has won its freedom in the end. The film was also well received by journalists and filmmakers from abroad, because it provoked a long discussion about freedom, patriotism, and the power of Chopin's music.

Prof. Francisco Dias from Portugal spoke about the importance of large anniversary events in promoting tourism in a region or country. Our two countries might differ in this respect. In Portugal, the most prominent are sports events, whereas in Poland we celebrate cultural anniversaries. It was good to have a discussion with a representative of the country that has made so many geographical discoveries and been present in the history of every nation.

I can summarize this entire event of film screenings, presentations, and discussions with the words by Francisco Dias, which he spoke before his visit to Poland, 'I must invite the maker of Chopin's Heart to the festival in Portugal. I'd like to show this movie to my countrymen, so that they could understand the Polish identity that is present in the composer's works'.


Andrzej Kotus