Polish Film Awards have been given since 1999, however, it was only in 2013 that the category appeared that allowed to award the best Polish documentary films. The films honoured with the title of the Best Documentary Film award in last few years are: “Man At War” by Jacek Bławut, “Another World” by Dorota Kędzierzawska, “Warsaw Uprising” by Jan Komasa, “The Actress” by Kinga Dębska and Maria Konwicka, “Communion” by Anna Zamecka, “21 x New York City” by Piotr Stasik and “The Prince and the Dybbuk” by Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosołowski.
This year, the members of the Jury selected, from among several dozen of documentary film productions, as many as nine films which received the nomination for the Award. Among them, there are also “In Touch” by Paweł Ziemilski and “The Wind. A Documentary Thriller” by Michał Bielawski, which are included in the catalogue of our agency.
“In Touch” is a tale about the inhabitants of the village Stare Juchy in Masuria, from which at the beginning of the 1980s over four hundred residents emigrated to Iceland. It is more than half of the whole community. The collective emigration of the part of the population contributed to the emergence of an extraordinary bond between this faraway island and the provincial part of Masuria. Those who left began their new lives. Those who remained – mostly the representatives of the older generation – still hope that their loved ones return to Poland. The long distance between the members of the broken families does not enable them to stay in direct contact. The only alternative which remains in this situation is to meet in the virtual world. The film, through its innovative method using the screenings and recordings of the Skype conversations, tries to capture how freedom, being open to the world, mobility and modern technology influence the re-evaluation of perceiving oneself and one’s loved ones, as well as redefine the importance of the other person’s physical presence.
In turn, the protagonist of the film by Michał Bielawski is the halny wind – one of the most unpredictable forces in the Polish mountains. It appears cyclically every spring and autumn. You can never know if and when it would turn into a destructive windstorm. The halny wind affects particularly the inhabitants of Zakopane and its surrounding area, changing the picturesque mountain trails into the space of uncontrollable nature.
The winners will be announced on the 2nd of March during a festive gala.
The full list of nominees in all categories can be found here.