Here are three films of the Directors' Debuts Competition under patronage of Polish Filmmakers Association! The rest of the competition's line-up will be announced shortly.



Combat Girls

George Orwell warned in his “Animal Farm" against division into “equal and more equal" but not everybody wanted to listen. These are the kinds of people which David Wnendt tells about, setting the plot of his “Combat Girls" in the environment of young Nazis who burn with hatred for everybody with a different skin colour. In the centre of narration Wnendt put two teenagers; one of them is starting to lose faith in once fervently professed ideology, the other is standing on the threshold of initiation to loathing doctrine. By means of their interweaving lots Wnendt tells with great power both about contamination of subsequent innocent generations with irrational aggression, and about the fact that responsibility lies not only on the side of the fighting ones but also on the side of those who remain quiet.

Still from "Combat Girls", courtesy of Spectator
To underline sufficiently the hatred lurking in flimsy bodies of the main characters, supported by inane muscles of their tattooed male friends, the cinematographer Jonas Schmager dozes the tempo of subsequent scenes of “Combat Girls"Schmager actuates the camera movements, adjusting the rhythm of aggressive music and introducing on the screen shots recorded on a mobile phone. In more peaceful moments, however, he saturates the shots of “Combat Girls" with faded colours, often relying on long shots which create apparent impression of calmness.

Original title: Kriegerin
Directed by: David Wnendt
Cinematography: Jonas Schmager
Polish distributor: Spectator
Polish premiere: 13th January 2012

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Hell

The annihilation of humankind doesn't have to be the resultant of any alien invasion, it doesn't have to be triggered by our actions either. Tim Fehlbaum in “Hell" spins the vision of the planet terrorized by the power of the sun which within the space of just a few years has raised the temperature on the Earth by 10 Celsius degrees, rendering normal functioning impossible for the majority of living forms. In the centre of this post-apocalyptic, yet horrifyingly credible prophecy, Fehlbaum places four people looking for an asylum in which they could try to lead more or less normal life. Unfortunately, homo homini lupus so the characters have to face not only growing indifference but also the germ of cannibalism. Thus the horror in “Hell" follows from the dark side of human nature.

Still from "Hell", courtesy of Against Gravity
For the sake of “Hell"Markus Förderer has created a very minimalistic, yet unusually conspicuous cinematography which underlines the apocalyptic overtone of Fehlbaum's film. Intensely lit film-sets comprise an overall surrealistic reality, in which nothing is what it seems to be; still, the cinematographer's artistry is best seen in the scenes shot in limited spaces, such as the inside of car wrapped in newspapers or stuffy deserted petrol station. Förderer alternately portions out claustrophobia and agoraphobia, filming in the meantime some visual gems (the tunnel lit up by a torch) and creating the vision of the world which shifted from being domesticated to ominous.

Original title: Hell
Directed by: Tim Fehlbaum
Cinematography: Markus Förderer
Polish distributor: Against Gravity
Polish premiere: 17th February 2012

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Suicide Room

"Suicide Room" turned out to be a landmark for Polish cinema in terms of films discussing joys and sorrows of the modern youth. Not the youth harnessed with the poverty of Silesian housing estates or restrained by the lack of bright future, but the one more or less consciously getting rid of life's limitations by connecting to the abstract virtual reality. In there, nothing is what it seems, nevertheless the illusion is stronger than common sense. Jan Komasa was brave enough to enter the area of Polish cinema rarely explored before. He merged together the classic literature's universal themes of youthful quandaries with the latest computer animation techniques that not only symbolize the technological shift, but also the changing ways of perceiving reality. The film is important, but it is also a real visual treat, and - what is perhaps essential to great cinema - it leaves more questions than answers.

Still from "Suicide Room", courtesy of ITI Cinema
One of the main elements of “Suicide Room" is the adjustment of cinematography to the protagonist's, named Dominik, vision of the world. For the most part of the film we observe reality from his distorted perspective, hence Radosław Ładczuk's strongly stylized visuals fit perfectly the overall picture. The energetic cinematography and the colors used to present Dominik's inner world stem from the character's mental state; slow-motion scenes are part of his separation from reality; and the fragments in virtual Second Life are arising from his still-being shaped view of this brave new world. Together with the fact of Dominik losing himself in the digital illusion, the visual mood of “Suicide Room" also shifts - the fine line between what is real and what can never be real starts to blur.

Polish title: Sala samobójców
Directed by: Jan Komasa
Cinematography: Radosław Ładczuk
Polish distributor: ITI Cinema
Polish premiere: 4 th March 2011

Fear of Falling

Son's love and bitter hatred borne out of anxiety - those are the strongest emotions marking the relations between Tomek (Marcin Dorociński) and his father Wojciech (Krzysztof Stroiński). Divided by the inability to understand each other, disheartened by the impotence in overcoming psychological barriers, the heroes of Bartosz Konopka's feature debut desperately try to live outside the boxes of their minds. “Fear of Falling" is not only a drama analyzing the ups and downs of a father-son toxic relationship, but above all a poignant and yet hopeful statement of the director - that with a great deal of support human being is able to win against any obstacles, including one's own demons.

Still from "Fear of Falling", courtesy of Kino Świat
Piotr Niemyjski's cinematography plays an essential role in creating the film's reality and emphasizing protagonists' emotional looseness. The cinematographer manipulates the framing to herald the upcoming visceral quarrels. To stress Tomek's constant anxieties, Niemyjski often follows the character with the camera closing from behind, and when the protagonists turns back, looking all nervous, it is as if he was expecting an invisible enemy. Niemyjski's artistry can also be seen in fine lensing of film's subsequent expressive locations. And in flashback scenes that are stylized through the use of bluish filters, or looking like they were shot with some old, long forgotten film camera.

Polish title: Lęk wysokości
Directed by: Bartosz Konopka
Cinematography: Piotr Niemyjski
Polish distributor: Kino Świat



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Directors' Debuts Competition (together with Cinematographers' Debuts Competition) was initiated in 2010 due to the Festival's increasing openness to the noteworthy artists and the new film phenomena they create. The idea of creating additional competition section was a natural consequence of our previous activities. For years we have been promoting innovative projects that combine intellectual freedom, remarkable insight into world affairs and a desire to inspire other artists of the screen.

Directors' Debuts Competition brings new discoveries: great movies of high artistic value and great filmmakers whose new ventures surprise not only the Jury members but all audiences around the world as well.


Competition organized under the patronage of Polish Filmmakers Association