The festival Banjaluka was founded on the basis of the May Festival of Animated Film, the first edition of which was held in 1971 and which was a pioneer festival of this type in former Jugoslavia. The Banjaluka festival, held every year at the end of October, attracts a large audience and guests from abroad. In the festival programme, apart from the competition section, there are many retrospectives, special screenings and workshops addressed both to professionals and amateurs. At this edition of the festival, five Polish animated films were shown in the competition: “Ziegenort” by Tomasz Popakul, “Lost Senses” by Marcin Wasilewski, “Baths” by Tomek Ducki, “Hippos” by Piotr Dumała and “Ab ovo” by Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi.
Last Tuesday, we learnt the names of the festival winners, chosen by the jury made of three people. The first award, which went to a Polish film in the evening of 28 October, was the best 2D animated film award, which the jury gave to the latest film by Piotr Dumała, “Hippos". Several naked women and children bathe in the river, a group of men is looking at them from their hiding place, they decide to come closer, and their meeting takes a dramatic turn, inspired by the events from hippos' lives. The producer of Dumała’s film is the Fumi Studio from Warsaw. This is yet another award for “Hippos.” So far, the film was appreciated, among others, by the juries at the animated film festivals in Ottawa, Cinefiesta in Puerto Rico and Countryside Animafest in Cyprus.
The second Polish film, awarded during the same evening, was “Ab ovo” by Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi. The film, made by the student of Lodz Film School, was given the Best Clay Animation Film Award. So far, “Ab ovo” has been shown at over 40 festivals abroad. The film deals with the subject of pregnancy. The film shows how new existence wakes to life, but at the same time depicts the anxiety inherent in the transformation of female body, which loses its former shape and forms itself under the influence of the power working from the inside. “Ab ovo” is a very artistic animation, which illustrates the power of fertility, dormant in each woman. In 2013, the film was given the best student film award at the prestigious animated film festival in Annecy.
The third recognition of the evening – the Special Mention went to Tomek Ducki and his award-winning “Baths”. Two elderly swimmers meet in the city baths to participate in the common ritual of swimming. However, this time they dive deeper than usual. This is yet another special mention for the film by Ducki, who is known to the festival audience thanks to the film “Life Line,” made seven years earlier. Only this year, the film was given special mentions at the festivals Animafest in Zagreb and Conuntryside Animafet in Cyprus and nine international awards.
You can read more about the Banjaluka festival on its official website.