The Silver Eye is a special prize awarded to the producer, not the director of a film. It is designed to support promotion and distribution of films abroad. The films taking part in the Market are divided into three categories – short, medium-length and full-length documentaries. Apart from a statuette, the winners receive a cash prize and a yearly representation of the film in the East Silver Caravan, which equals with the its promotion at over 100 most important film festivals worldwide.
This year, the Silver Eye nomination was granted to eight Polish documentaries:
in the feature-length category:
„THE BEKSIŃSKIS. A Sound and Picture Album” by Marcin Borchardt
„The Trial – The State of Russia vs. Oleg Sentsov” by Askold Kurov
in the mid-length category:
"Opera about Poland” by Piotr Stasik
in the short length catagory:
„Between us” by Maciej Miller
„Polonaise” by Agnieszka Elbanowska
„Volte” by Monika Kotecka, Karolina Poryzała
Apart from the nominated films, over fifty other Polish films will participate in the East Silver Market.
Previously, Polish films were equally well-represented at the East Silver Market, and what is more, many got the Silver Eye awards. In 2009 "Six Weeks" by Marcin Janos Krawczyk won in the short film category, and "Rabbit a la Berlin" by Bartosz Konopka – in the medium-length category. Special mention in the feature-length category went to the film "Side-Track" by Anna Kazejak. A year later, the film "That's Life" by Daniel Zieliński was chosen the best short film, and "At the Edge of Russia" by Michał Marczak – the best full-length film. Special mentions went to the films "The Work of Machines" by Michał and Maciej Mądracki and Gilles Lepore and"Plain Landscape with Cradle" by Arkadiusz Biedrzycki. In 2012, among the award-winners of the Silver Eye award, there were "Cut-Paste" by Rafał Samusik in the short documentary category and"We will be happy one day" by Paweł Wysoczański in the medium-length film category. Last year, Polish-Cuban co-production "Previous Scenes" by Aleksandra Maciuszek was chosen the best short film of the East Silver Market, and "Joanna" by Aneta Kopacz – the best medium-length film. The special mention went to "The Art of Disappearing" by Bartek Konopka and Piotr Rosołowski. In 2014, the Silver Eye Award in the short film category went to "A Visit" by Matej Bobrik, and the special mention in the feature-length section went to the Polish-Czech-Slovakian co-production "Gottland" and in 2015 "Casa Blanca" by Aleksandra Maciuszek and "Snails" by Grzegorz Szczepaniak. Last year the award went to "Communion" by Anna Zamecka
You can find the full list of the films nominated for the Silver Eye awards on the East Silver's website.