Till the 10th February 2017 you can submit films to the 15. edition of the Gdańsk DocFilm Festival on the platform filmfestivallife.com. We look forward to interesting artistic propositions. Details you can find in our Regulations.
Read moreThis year's the fifteenth edition of the Gdańsk DocFilm Festival will last from Wednesday, May 31 till June 3, 2017 year. Program and 15th Gdańsk DocFilm Festival tickets
Read moreThe first weekend of the summer holidays was a real documentary feast for the Tricity. The 14th edition of Gdańsk DocFilm Festival was held on 23th-26th June, at the European Solidarity Centre. The event with the Dignity and work motto is focused on the themes of widely understood issues of a dignified life of workers as well as human rights. 26 competition films were presented during this year's edition of the festival. The awarding ceremony of this year's edition of Gdańsk Docfilm Festival was held on Sunday, 26th June. This year's awards and special mentions were granted by three members of jury. Paweł Woldan, a director and a script writer, was its president. He was accompanied by a film journalist, Magdalena Sendecka and Klaus Schmutzer, a German TV and film producer. A German-Colombian-Swiss co-production, "Good Life" by Jens Schanze was the winner of the main award. The authors of the winning film received the Gate of Freedom as well as a monetary award of PLN 20,000 funded by the mayor of Gdańsk, Paweł Adamowicz. The award was given: for a tale of a struggle for dignity and identity which moves the European consciences. The film shows the greediness, cynicism and pride of those who try to shape the world according to their recipe for happiness. The winning documentary depicts a small town of Tamaquito situated in the forest area of Colombia and its inhabitants, the Wayuu community. Its members have lived on what nature gives them for centuries. The rapid expansion of coal industry, which supplies the power plants around the world changes their life diametrically. Wayuu start struggling for survival. The jury also awarded 4 films with special mentions. The first one went to "Piano" by Vita Maria Drygas: for showing the power and helplessness of art in a subtle artistic form and for reaching the non-obvious truth about war and revolution through showing a unique character - a music instrument. The Austrian-Bolivian "Cerro Rico - The Silver Mountain" by Armin Thalhammer was awarded for a respectful tale of excruciating and dangerous work, which becomes the theme of the characters' lives and the source of their dignity. Aleksandra-Maciuszek received a special mention for a Polish-Cuban-Mexican co-production, "Casa Blanca": for showing a close, intimate relationship of a mother and her son, through touching images. The last special mention went to "Body Team 12", a Liberian documentary by David Darg: for a reportage-like, but exceptionally emotional tale of silent heroism without pathos. "Call Me Marianna" by Karolina Bielawska won the audience award. Apart from that, the festival jury chose the candidates for the Jan Machulski Young Cinema Award from among the Polish competition films. There were the following categories of the nominations: Best Documentary - "Piano" by Vita Maria Drygas Best Direction - "Call Me Marianna" by Karolina Bielawska Best Cinematography - "Football Brothers" by Marcin Filipowicz Best Editing – "End of the World" by Monika Pawluczuk The awarding ceremony of the 14th Gdańsk Docfilm Festival ended with a screening of the film, which won the main award, "Good Life".
Read moreOn the third day of the festival, the competition screenings will begin at 12:00, with "Sick" by Hrvoje Mabic, whom we will talk to after the screening. The film is a story of a sixteen year old Ana, whose parents are not able to accept the fact that the girl is a lesbian. At 4:10PM, we will listen to Łódź inhabitants' night conversations about the end of the world in Monika Pawluczuk's film under the same title. After the screening, there will be a video conference with the author. After the screening of "Drifter", a story of a rebellious teenager from a small village who dreams of a car racing career, we will also talk to its director, Gábor Hörcher. The screening starts at 8:15PM. The other competition screenings are: "A passion of Gold and Fire" by Sebastien Pins, "K2. Touching the Sky" by Eliza Kubarska, the Oscar nominee "Body Team 12" by David Darg, "Eye for an Eye" by Steve Bach, "Chau. Beyond the Lines" by Courtney Marsh and "Family Affair" by Tom Fassaert. We will simultaneously screen three Krzysztof Kieślowski's documentaries in the historic Sala BHP: "Workers '71: Nothing About Us Without Us", "Curriculum Vitae" and "Talking Heads". The three titles are connected by Jacek Petrycki, the DoP who worked on many films by the master of Polish cinema. After the screenings, there will be a meeting with the outstanding DoP. At 2:15PM, we will start a retrospective of Paweł Woldan's documentaries. Woldan is the head of our festival's jury this year. We will show images from the late 80s: "Education", "Group", "Mr. Szperlik" and "Opportunity for Girls". After the last film, there will be a meeting with the director. We have also planned a masterclass by a member of our jury, Klaus Schmutzer, a TV and film producer. He will talk about the interpretation of history in documentary for Saturday. It will be held in the Temporary Exhibition Room at the European Solidarity Centre at 5:00PM.
Read moreWe have planned most festival events for Saturday and Sunday. However, there will also be many film attractions on the second day of the 14th edition Gdańsk DocFilm Festival. On the Friday afternoon we will meet three directors between the screenings of the competition films. At 5:15PM, we will screen "Airport Donetsk" about the fight, which went on at the title airport for several months during the Ukrainian-Russian conflict. It attempts to show the situation from the perspectives of both sides. After the screening we will have a Skype video conference with the director, Andrei Erastov. At 6:30PM, we will see "Casa Blanca". It is a story of the difficult life of two inhabitants of a tiny fishing village in Cuba - a young man with Down syndrome and his elderly, senile mother, Nelsa. Later, we will talk to Aleksandra Maciuszek, a director who is visiting our Festival. The day will end with an experimental documentary "A Strange Love Affair with Ego", which was awarded at last years IDFA festival. and a video conference with its author, Ester Gould. Apart from that, we will screen two coproductions: Polish-Swedish-Ukrainian "The Dybuk. A Tale of Wandering Souls directed by Krzysztof Kopczyński and German-Swiss-Colombian "Good Life" by Kens Schanze.
Read moreWe have prepared many attractions for you, even on the very first day of the 14th edition of Gdańsk DocFilm Festival. Though the official opening is at 7:00PM, the first screenings of competition films will start at 2:00PM. At 2:30PM, we will screen "K2 and the Invisible Footmen" about the Nepalese Sherpa by Iara Lee. After the screening you are welcome to a video conference with the director. Apart from the first competition screenings, we will see the opening film - "Cartel Land"by Matthew Heineman. The Oscar nominee documentary shows the Autodefnsas organisation, which was founded to defend the inhabitants of Mexico against drug cartels, which control ever larger areas, to no reaction of the corrupt authorities. Apart from that, on the first day of the Festival we will see: "Katanka" dir. Maja Turek, "Football Brothers" dir. Marcin Filipowicz, "Balaton Method" dir. Balint Szimler, "Daniel" dir. Anastazja Dąbrowska "Last Day of Freedom" dir. Dee Hibbert-Jones, Nomi Talisman.
Read moreThe opening of the 14th edition of Gdańsk DocFilm Festival will take place on Thursday, June 23 at 19:00. After an opening gala the Oscar nominee, winning film "Cartel Land", will be shown. Screenings of films selected for this year's competition will begin earlier, at 14:00 the same day.
Read moreSelection committee 14th Gdańsk DocFilm Festival chose 26 films from more than 320 submissions. In the main competition we will see: 1. "SICK" dir. Hrvoje Mabic (Croatia) 2015 95' 2. "CERRO RICO - THE SILVER MOUNTAIN" dir. Armin Thalhammer (Austria) 2015 30' (more…)
Read moreOur pre-selection jury has began its difficult task. We will soon know the titles of the films which will compete for the Gate of Freedom. This year we have received 330 entries from 53 countries, like USA, Ecuador, Cuba, Brazil, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Iran or New Zealand. There is also a strong representation of Europe. We have been sent documentaries from Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Scandinavia and many more.
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