Ιn collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Athens

 

7287 Jury members, 69 festival venues located between Baltic Sea and Tatra Mountains, 6 competition categories – these numbers briefly outline the specifics of the most unique and completely grassroots biggest Polish celebration of animated film. Now O!PLA is back with a new program entraining viewers from around the world into the newest and the coolest Polish animation from the last 2 years. And traditionally the program is created by "the biggest Jury in the world" - Polish audience.

 

O!PLA - THE FESTIVAL OF POLISH ANIMATION (www.polskaanimacja.pl) is the fully independent cultural project, whom #4 edition was held in 69 Polish cities (21.03 – 15.05.2016).

At O!PLA only audience - from every participated cities – decide about the winners!

O!PLA ACROSS THE BORDERS is a "cross-section program" guiding by the whole contemporary Polish animation for audience in age 16+.

O!PLA ACROSS THE BORDERS include: films with big budget/made in professional studios; fully independent animations; films made in school (graduation films); animated music videos; “animated epigrams” (very short movies) and “Formanima” (experimental and abstract animations). From the very beginning, the main aim of O!PLA is (re)build relations between audience and artists, and reaching out with the art of animation especially to smaller centers in the Poland and all around the world.

Previous edition of O!PLA ACROSS THE BORDERS was presented in 34 cities at 5 continents.

The initiator and main organizer of O!PLA is Animation Across Borders (Piotr Kardas, Director/Artistic Director).

 

 

PROGRAM: 97’

Films with Polish dialogues have English subtitles.

 

 

01. I AM, 00’ 05”

Poland 2014

Directed by Magdalena Pilecka (www.behance.net/magdapilecka)

Screenplay: Magdalena Pilecka

Technique: CGI

Dialogues: Nο

 

Night, seven birds and... The shortest story ever! One-second microfilm sandwiched between a title card and end slate.

- Prize for the Best Supper short animated film at Golden Kuker 2015

- Special Mention at O!PLA 2016

 

 

 

02. MAGIC FOREST / Magiczny Las, 3’ 45”

Poland 2016

Directed by Animation Artur Marcol

Animation: Artur Marcol

Music: Łukasz Ledzki

Production: Panoptiqm Studio (www.panoptiqm.com)

Technique: 3D

Dialogues: English

 

"Magic Forest” is a brief tale about the charms and temptations of an enchanted forest. The film tells a story of two friends and their amazing adventure. One day they embark on a trip to the woods to try out some magic mushrooms. Enthusiastic and curious they finally reach their destination and indulge themselves in the experience. They dance, sing and fly among birds in the clouds... Unfortunately, this perfect idyll ends when the influence of the mushrooms ceases. In fact, Magic Forest serves us a story about a friendship put to the test; fellow feelings, which last only until problems, arise. It is also a reflection on substance abuse, showing how easy it is to cross the fine line to addiction.

- O!PLA’16 AWARD: 3rd Award ("Brown Sack") in the category “film made in professional studio”

 

 

 

03. SEVEN / Siedem, 6’ 23’’

Poland 2015

Directed by Kamila & Mirek Sosnowscy (www.kmsosnowscy.com)

Screenplay: Kamila & Mirek Sosnowscy

Music: Same Suki (www.samesuki.pl)

Technique: Stop motion

Dialogues: Polish with English subtitles

 

Dark music video for Polish band Same Suki.

- Special Mention at O!PLA 2016

 

 

 

04. JEW’S HARP / Drumla, 12’ 29”

Poland 2015

Directed by Tomasz Pawlak

Screenplay: Tomasz Pawlak

Music: Kolakawa, Mariusz Szulc „Manix” (Jew’s harp)

Production: Tomasz Pawlak

Technique: Cut-out 2D

Dialogues: Nο

 

Janko is an amateur of playing on Jew's harp and rapid cycling, lives with his grandmother - veteran of the Warsaw Uprising, and he dreams of inventing a cure for everything. One day the opportunity appear: employs the holiday period in the pharmaceutical laboratory when the epidemic outbreak.

- O!PLA'15 AWARD: 3rd Award ("Brown Sack") in the category “fully independent”

 

 

 

05. I AM THE THIEF /Ja Jestem Złodziej, 5’ 22”

Poland 2015

Directed by Maciej Przemysław Bednarek

Music: Elektronikt (www.elektronikt.bandcamp.com)

Technique: Stop motion

Dialogues: Polish with English subtitles

 

Claymation music video for Polish duo Elektronikt.

- O!PLA'16 AWARD: 3rd Award ("Brown Sack") in the category “animated music video"

 

 

 

06. MOSAIC, THE WALTZ OF SPLEEN / Mozaika, Walc Śledziony, 4’ 25”

Poland 2015

Directed by Andrea Guizar

Screenplay: Andrea Guizar

Music: Maria Czechowska

Production: National Polish Film School Lodz (PWSFTviT)

Technique: Paint on celluloid and glass

Dialogues: Nο

 

A transatlantic in the high seas. Nine colorful characters are engaged on a mysterious coordinated labor that we can call “the waltz of spleen”. A tragic comedy where visceras and sublime sentiments achieve to encounter in the very same place.

- O!PLA'15 AWARD: 3rd Award ("Brown Sack") in the category “Formanima”

 

 

 

07. WHADDUP FISH!, 1’ 14’’

Poland 2015

Directed by Tomasz Pilarski

Screenplay: Tomasz Pilarski

Music: Mateusz Gudel

Production: Artistic University in Poznan (UAP)

Technique: Drawn 2D

Dialogues: Nο

 

WHADDUP FISH! is a short animation about Scientist who is looking for extraordinary species deep under the ocean surface. When he stumbles upon Dumbo octopus he immediately decide to follow this cute little creature, which leads him to an unexpected underwater event and into DEEP trouble.

- O!PLA’16 AWARD: 3rd Award ("Brown Sack") in the category “animated epigrams”

 

 

 

08. THAT DAMN SUNDAY / Ta Cholerna Niedziela, 16’ 09’’

Poland 2014

Directed by Przemek Kotyński (www.kotynski.com)

Screenplay: Marcin Wroński

Dialogues: Bartek Kędzierski

Animation: Robert Zjawiński (3D), Celina Skiba (2D)

Projects: Przemek Kotyński (www.kotynski.com)

Production: Studio Produkcyjne ORKA (www.orkafilm.pl)

Technique: 3D / 2D

Dialogues: Polish with English subtitles

 

Maintained in the convention of film noir a story about a crime, love and a secret, set in Lublin (Eastern Poland) in the 1930s. An experienced and cynical police commissioner tries to solve the mystery of a murder, which is directly linked with a riddle from the past, never solved. An attractive chansonnière from a local nightclub and a conservator are entangled in the case against their own will.

- O!PLA'16 AWARD: 2nd Award ("Silver Sack") in the category “film made in professional studio”

 

 

 

09. THE ART OF FLYING / Sztuka Latania, 0’ 48’’

Poland 2014

Directed by Anna Nowicka

Screenplay: Anna Nowicka

Production: Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology in Warsaw (PJAIT)

Technique: CGI

Dialogues: Nο

 

A small fly is trying to get recognition of the jury...

- Special Mention at O!PLA 2016

 

 

 

10. COLLECTOR / Koleckjoner, 7’ 09”

Poland 2015

Directed by Kamila & Mirek Sosnowscy (www.kmsosnowscy.com)

Screenplay: Kamila & Mirek Sosnowscy

Music: InFidelis (www.infidelis.pl)

Production: Kamila & Mirek Sosnowscy

Technique: Stop motion

Dialogues: Nο

 

“Clloector” is an animated, symbolic, journey through the magic library… The library of Oskar Kolberg. Kolberg was the first who collected and systematized Polish folk culture by region. The work "The people, its customs, way of life, language, legends, proverbs, rituals, witchcraft, games, songs, music and dances" has 33 volumes published during his lifetime, and the same amount left in the notes.

- O!PLA’15 AWARD: 2nd Award ("Silver Sack") in the category “fully independent”

 

 

 

11. SWEETS / Cukierki, 3’ 26”

Poland 2014

Directed by Mai Tran

Screenplay: Mai Tran

Music: ROBODROM (www.robodrom.pl)

Technique: CGI

Dialogues: Polish with English subtitles

 

Music video for Polish band “Robodrom”

- O!PLA'16 AWARD: 2nd Award ("Silver Sack") in the category “animated music video"

 

 

 

12. YESTERDAY’S RECORD / Zapis Z Wczoraj, 5’

Poland 2015

Directed by Michał Soja

Screenplay: Michał Soja

Production: Academy of Fine Arts in Crakow

Technique: Drawing animation

Dialogues: Polish with English subtitles

 

Hundreds of incentives, multiple roles and responsibilities affect the chaotic picture of reality forming in the mind. The Yesterday’s Record is an analysis of the perception of a disordered reality and attempts to translate the memory into another form. Author compares the mechanical recording of reality with subjective drawings - a personal record of events.

- O!PLA'16 AWARD: 2nd Award ("Silver Sack") in the category “Formanima”

 

 

 

13. HEY, HO AND THE UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE / Hej, Ho I Niespodziewana Przygoda, 1’ 09’’

Poland 2015

Directed by Maciej Żuk, Kamil Wójcik

Screenplay: Maciej Żuk, Kamil Wójcik

Music: Maciej Żuk

Production: Maciej Żuk, Kamil Wójcik

Technique: Mixed

Dialogues: Polish with English subtitles

 

A short story about two small inhabitants of the mural, bored with the monotony of everyday life of being a part of the big wall painting, decide to go on a Saturday trip through the streets of Wroclaw (Poland) -

European Capital of Culture.

- O!PLA’16 AWARD: 2nd Award ("Silver Sack") in the category “animated epigrams”

 

 

 

14. GLI.TCH, 3’ 34”

Poland 2014

Directed by Mikołaj Sęczawa

Screenplay: Mikołaj Sęczawa

Production: Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz

Technique: Puppet/mixed

Dialogues: No

  

"Short-term disruption" in the world of a corpo-callow bird changes his life forever...

- Special Mention at O!PLA 2016

 

 

 

15. SURVIVE IN THE BIALOWIEZA FOREST / Pretrwać W Puszczy Białowieskiej, 2’ 29’’

Poland 2015

Directed by Michał Rychławski (STREFA 57)

Screenplay: Michał Rychławski (STREFA 57)

Production: Michał Rychławski (STREFA 57)

Technique: Drawn 2D

Dialogues: Polish with English subtitles

 

Two old friends - big fans of art of survival - decided to get lost in the Białowieża Forest (Poland). Without cell phones and no connection with the world decide to have an adventure and survive in the forest.

- O!PLA'15 AWARD: 1st Award ("Golden Sack") in the category “fully independent”

 

 

 

16. SCULPTURE OF THE DAY / Rzeźba Dnia, 3’ 31”

Poland 2015

Directed by Monika Kuczyniecka

Screenplay: Monika Kuczyniecka

Music: Renata Przemyk (www.renataprzemyk.art.pl)

Technique: Stop motion

Dialogues: Polish with English subtitles

 

Claymation music video for Polish artist Renata Przemyk.

- O!PLA'15 AWARD: 1st Award ("Golden Sack") in the category “animated music video"

 

 

 

17. DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD / Nie Trać Głowy, 4’

Poland 2015

Directed by Karolina Specht

Screenplay: Karolina Specht

Sound: Bogdan Klat, Wiesław Nowak

Production: National Polish Film School Lodz (PWSFTviT)

Technique: CGI

Dialogues: No

 

A visual story about how easy it is to lose one’s head.

- O!PLA'16 AWARD: 1st Award ("Golden Sack") in the category “Formanima”

 

 

 

18. LIFE / Życie, 1’ 34”

Poland 2015

Directe by Michał Rychławski (STREFA 57)

Screenplay: Michał Rychławski (STREFA 57)

Production: Michał Rychławski (STREFA 57)

Technique: CGI

Dialogues: No

 

From birth to death in less than 2 minutes.

- O!PLA'16 AWARD: 1st Award ("Golden Sack") in the category “animated epigrams”

 

 

 

19. WOOLEN COGWHEELS / Druciane Oprawki, 14’

Poland 2014

Directed by: Bartosz Kędzierski

Screenplay: Bartosz Kędzierski

Animation: Krzysztof Opieka

Music: Piotr Dziubek

Production: Studio KINESKOP (www.kineskop.com.pl)

Technique: Stop motion

Dialogues: No

 

An ageing couple Aniela and Konstanty lead a quiet life together. She gives herself over to knitting while he eagerly works on some invention. Although their everyday life seems extremely well-organized there is something deeply lacking. The change, brought about by this particular invention will help them discover a totally different perspective. This puppet animation by Bartosz Kędzierski is a moving story of loneliness, longing and human attachment.

- O!PLA’16 AWARD: 1st Award ("Golden Sack") in the category “film made in professional studio”