The ONE Country ONE Film International Festival is a unique event held in two French cities since 2010. Each year, Apchat and Issoire host a large audience, allowing them to watch animated films, documentaries, features, and children’s films from around the world.
This year, the jurors of the animation section were enthralled by a Polish film. Love in Times of Coal-Based Economy by Tomasz Siwiński begins with a prehistoric fish taking its first step on dry land. A T. Rex couple cuddle, awaiting death from a meteorite impact. The year is 1963 and it’s the winter of the century in Poland, with chimneys happily spitting out black smoke. Here we meet a young coal loader who loves a beautiful crane operator to bits. The fire of love won’t let him freeze when he struggles with piercing frost and, pushed by desire, wades through snowdrifts. Our heroes, still completely unaware of global warming and excessive carbon dioxide emissions, will play their roles in a human comedy of love and death.
A list of all winning films is available here.