THE BEST OF O!PLA - Focus on Poland

Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2020
Programme
Shorts Panorama

THE BEST OF O!PLA – Focus on Poland is a unique program presenting the winners of the 8th O!PLA Animation Festival (2020). As always, the only jury at O!PLA was the audience; partly in traditional voting and partly in online voting (during the COVID-19 quarantine). This program is an amazing mix of techniques, styles, and emotions showing the best in modern Polish animation (O!PLA means „Oh! Polish Animation” but also “Oh! People Love Animation”). It contains classical narrations, as well as extremely experimental approaches. Diversity was and is a Polish brand in animation.

Starting off 2013, O!PLA consequently grows in strength, but one thing remains the same –independence and passion, which are standing behind the O!PLA.

Piotr Kardas

Films

Baltic premiere

ODDS AND EVENS

Local title
Paaris ja paaritud
Director
Michal Czyz
Year
2019

Somewhere between here and there ...

Director
Michal Czyz
Runtime

Baltic premiere

ALBERT & JOSEPHINE

Local title
Albert ja Josephine
Director
Tomasz Welna
Year
2019

Albert is a teddy bear. Josephine is a white owl. They live together in a small house deep in the woods. One day Albert decides to set off on a journey into the unknown ... Josephine decides to find him.

Director
Tomasz Welna
Runtime

Baltic premiere

COUNTER-STRIKE

Local title
Vasturünnak
Director
Lukasz Partyka
Year
2018

When someone leaves, only memories remain...

Director
Lukasz Partyka
Runtime
Language
Polish

Baltic premiere

THE PORTAL

Local title
Portaal
Director
Jerzy Gorski
Year
2018

Animated epigram about excessive curiosity...

Director
Jerzy Gorski
Runtime

Baltic premiere

THE NIGHT OF TIME

Local title
Aegade öö
Director
Magdalena Lazarczyk
Year
2018

The Night Of Time is a large - format animation – a collage. All its components make up the unity. Individual forms are not separate, alienated beings, but they rather seem to be made of the same substance. The Night of Time is a gap, a crevice leading to a world covered under the surface of matter, a place existing in accordance with the invariable rules, manifesting on the border of phantasy and materialism, of fable and science. This is a vision of existence outside time.

Director
Magdalena Lazarczyk
Runtime

Baltic premiere

FAUST

Local title
Faust
Director
Marianna Atlas
Year
2019

This is the author’s interpretation of the legend of Faust, based on the drama of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe from 1833, in which an alchemist struggling to find the meaning of life makes a deal with the devil.

Director
Marianna Atlas
Runtime

Baltic premiere

HERRINGOLOGY, OR WHAT DOES A WHISPERER WHISPER IN YOUR EAR?

Local title
Heeringateadus või mida posija sulle kõrva sosistab?
Director
Agnieszka Waszczeniuk
Year
2019

A funny animated documentary about whisperers from East Poland...

Director
Agnieszka Waszczeniuk
Runtime
Language
Polish

Baltic premiere

TOYS – „AN UNHEAVENLY CHRISTMAS CAROL

Local title
Mänguasjad – üks patune jõululugu
Director
Alek Wasilewski
Year
2019

Someone was very rude here...

Director
Alek Wasilewski
Runtime
Language
English

Baltic premiere

THE FRUIT

Local title
Puuvili
Director
Jakub Baniak
Year
2018

An animated epigram about how an idea is born ...

Director
Jakub Baniak
Runtime

Baltic premiere

SEVENTH PRESSINGS

Local title
Seitsmes väljalase
Director
Wiesława Ruta
Year
2019

Pieces of paper, strings, guitar pick and experimental guitar music...

Director
Wiesława Ruta
Runtime

Baltic premiere

The Night

Local title
Öö (2020)
Director
Alisa Temchenko
Year
2019

The starting point for creating the animation was the beautiful Ukrainian song „Quiet is on the river”, which the author of the film with her husband sings for goodnight to their daughter every day.

Director
Alisa Temchenko
Runtime
Language
Polish

Baltic premiere

THE RAIN

Local title
Vihm
Director
Piotr Milczarek
Year
2019

The Rain’ is a simple animated film on the collective consciousness. It talks about how no accountability for our actions pushes us to thoughtlessly follow the crowd, which may lead to a tragedy. The film also depicts a struggle of an individual with collective hypnosis and its consequences for both the individual and the crowd.

Director
Piotr Milczarek
Runtime

Baltic premiere

THE LAST CINEMA

Local title
Viimane kino
Director
Kajetan Pochylski
Year
2019

The personal story about the last educational cinema in Poland, run by the director’s grandfather. This information was intentionally not checked. Director decided to follow his grandma’s word, who is the narrator of the movie. The film was created with the author’s method combining digital and analogue techniques. The image is the effect of layers. It was made using a digital and analog camera as well as typical drawing, painting and graphic tools. During the filming, around 8,200 hand-made frames were created.

Director
Kajetan Pochylski
Runtime
Language
Polish

Baltic premiere

THE BACKYARD

Local title
Tagahoov
Director
Aneta Siurnicka
Year
2019

The endless cycle of violence ...

Director
Aneta Siurnicka
Runtime

Baltic premiere

TROUBLES

Local title
Hädad
Director
Maciej Bednarek
Year
2019

Always and everywhere are some troubles..

Director
Maciej Bednarek
Runtime
Language
Polish