On Friday evening, the 44th edition of the AlCine festival, which began on 7th November in the town of Alcalá de Henares, came to an end. In the international competition at this year's edition, three Polish films were screened – "The Island", made in co-production with Chile and Denmark by Katarzyna Klimkiewicz and Dominga Sotomayor and two student diploma films: "Flora and Fauna" by Piotr Litwin and "The Mother" by Łukasz Ostalski. During the award ceremony on Friday, it was the film by Ostalski that won the second award in the international competition, thanks to the decision of the jury. It is already the third award that "The Mother" won at a Spanish festival – before that, the film was awarded at festivals in Huesca and Valencia.
Małgorzata – an important politician – goes to the cottage at the lake. Her son – a drug addict – needs help. Małgorzata asks her daughter for support. On the spot, they find the semi-conscious boy and a massacred body of a young girl. In the face of tragedy, their mutual relationships get complicated, revealing hidden grudges. The mother must take the most difficult decision in her life. Łukasz Ostalski is a graduate of Gdynia Film School.
Two awards of the medium-length film festival La Cabina went to Maciej Marczewski for the film "Games", produced within the frames of the programme "30 Minutes" by Wajda Studio and Munk Studio. The film by Marczewski, based on radio play by Ireneusz Iredyński, called "The Lift", is a story of a woman and a man who are trapped in the lift. This pair begins to play a surprising game. They invent their life together. They tell an imagined story, from the first romantic and funny meeting, to the dramatic ending of their relationship. However, the fictional story beings to interlace with real experiences. Innocent fun turns into a drama, full of extreme emotions. Maciej Marczewski was given in Valencia the Best Director award together with Tanja Golić, who was awarded for directing the film "By chance". Julia Kijowska – the main actress in “Games” – was honoured with the Best Actress Award.
In addition to "Games", four other films were also shown in the competition at the La Cabina festival: "Magma" by Paweł Maślona, "Killing Auntie" by Mateusz Głowacki, "128th Rat" by Jakub Pączek and "Flora and Fauna" by Piotr Litwin. The 7th edition of the festival was held in Valencia from 6 to 16 November.
The promotion of the films "The Mother" by Łukasz Ostalski and "Games" by Maciej Marczewski is supported by Krakow Film Foundation.
You can find more about the festivals on the websites of the festivals Alcine and LaCabina.