The 16th edition of International Film Festival Bratislava was celebrated this year from 7th to 14 th November. One of the films appreciated by the festival jury is “15 corners of the world” by Zuzanna Solakiewicz. The film received Special Mention in first and second documentary features category. The jury, consisting of: George Ovashvili (Georgia), Jana Dudkova (Slovakia), André Gil Mata (Portugal) and Veton Nurkollari (Kosovo) awarded the film “for the wonderfully intelligent mixture of experimental, observational, dance and abstract cinema in delivering a portrait of an exceptional artist.” They appreciated “the film’s vocal tribute to disappearing analogous sound and image media, its sense of transcendence.”
The main character is Eugeniusz Rudnik – the son of a sub Warsaw village peasant. He graduates from electronics at the University of Technology. He finds a job by chance. While passing the Polish Radio he sees a doorman in boots typical for peasants in his homeland. Encouraged by the shoes he asks the right questions and joins the Radio for the next 50 years. His first tasks include keying tape recorders. He will end up as a great artist. But never as a star. Throughout all his life spend over the console with scissors in hand he designed new music pieces in between doing hundreds of tasks for fellow radio workers and composers. One day he copies a French lesson program. He will soon feel that the funny French ‘r’ can become a sound mystery. The engineer becomes the composer of electronic music. Rudnik tells stories using cuts, sound rubbish, generated tones, modified human voices and a mathematical precision. He cuts analogue tape, edits, mixes, searches, plays, and looks at sounds from all perspectives. His work is marked with sensuality and requires tangible sounds.
It’s worth adding that a short fiction film “Rollercoaster” by Marek Marlikowski also received Special Mention in Bratislava.
A full list of the films awarded in Bratislava and more information about the festival can be found at its website.