The winners of the 9th Spektrum Film Festival are known

On Saturday, October 28, during the awards gala, we learned the winners of the 9th Spektrum Film Festival. Which films gained the greatest recognition in The Youth Perspective and Spektrum competitions?

On the penultimate day of the festival, awards were presented in the Okiem Młodych short film competitions for young creators, where in each of the competition sections (Feature, Documentary, Animation, Amateur), a three-person jury, composed of representatives of the world of film and art, chose their favorite. Additionally, viewers also choose their favorite among all the short films in four competitions (and this year there were as many as 41 of them!) and award the Audience Award.

In addition to the main jury, the films were also assessed by a local jury: the competition fiction films were watched by occupational therapy participants in Mokrzeszów, the documentary section local jury was composed of inmates from the Świdnica Remand Center, the amateur competition was watched by representatives of the Youth Council of the City of Świdnica – and in the Spektrum Competition, the only jury was the festival audience!

In total, nearly 20 awards and distinctions were awarded. The statuettes were made by the Zakwas Studio from Wrocław – this year, once again, they were created from original ceramic mass made from local raw materials and enriched with recycled building bricks from the remains of the former buildings of Lower Silesia.

Get to know this year’s winners and the jury’s justifications!

Spektrum Award

Backwards, dir. Jacek Lusiński (Poland, 2022)

This year, the festival audience did not disappoint with the turnout and after counting the votes, the favorite films of Świdnica viewers were selected. In the Spektrum Competition, Backwards (Poland, 2022), directed by Jacek Lusiński, gained the greatest recognition. Second place went to the painting animation The Peasants (Poland, 2023) directed by DK Welchman and Hugh Welchman, which is this year’s Polish candidate for the Oscar. Viewers also appreciated the Japanese Monster (2023) directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu, which received third place.
 

The Youth Perspective — Short Fiction

Main Award

Censor of dreams, dir. Leo Berne, Raphaëla Rodriguez (France, 2021)

visual virtuosity, inter-genre balance, unpredictability of the form, a convincingly presented world that, daringly created, refers to the traumatic reality.
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The jury also decided to award a special mention to the film Warmth (Poland, 2023) by Klaudia Fortuniak, which, through a simple story, touches the cosmos of a mother’s relationship with her daughter, with a sophisticated acting by Ewa Skibińska.

A distinction also went to the film Piss on Patriarchy (Germany, 2023) by Lena Fakler for the efficient, as the title of the film says, “pissing on patriarchy”.

Niepełny kadr Award

Warmth dir. Klaudia Fortuniak (Poland, 2023)

The jury composed of people with disabilities from occupational therapy workshops in Mokrzeszów also awarded a distinction to the short film Things unheard of (Turkey, 2023) directed by Ramazan Kiliç.

The Youth Perspective — Documentary

Main Award

Ramboy, dir. Matthias Joulaud, Lucien Roux (Switzerland, 2022)

creating a film full of intimacy, modern film language, beautiful photos, refined editing and soundtrack. “Ramboy” is also an amazing portrait of “Generation Z”, a record of family relationships and dilemmas related to entering adulthood.
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The jury also awarded a distinction for the short film entitled The Rocking Horses (Poland, 2022) directed by Marcin Lesisz, explaining theirs decision in this way: we were touched by the sensitivity in the presentation of the relationship between mother and daughter – an empathetic observation that shows that love can be stronger than harm. We were also delighted by the artistic skill of the heroine and her perspective, which makes us hope that one day we will all meet in MZtów.

Kinematografek Award

Matka/Polka, dir. Joanna Suchomska (Poland, 2022)

The local jury composed of inmates from the Świdnica detention Center also decided to award the 2nd and 3rd prizes to titles from Sudan and Poland, respectively: Suddenly TV (Sudan, 2023) directed by Roopa Gogigeni and Matka/Polka (Poland, 2022) directed by Marcin Lesisz.

The Youth Perspective — Animation

Main Award

Letter to a Pig, dir. Tal Kantor (France 2022)

a film that deals with an extremely difficult topic, without succumbing to the temptation to make unambiguous judgments, and at the same time leaves us with hope.
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The jury awarded honorable mention to the MISALIGNED (Poland, 2022) by Marta Magnuska for a hypnotic and minimalist drama for two actors.

Amateurs competition The Youth Perspective

Main Award

Grand Adventures of Space Cowboy, dir. Franciszek Przanowski (Poland, 2022)

individual film language and non-obvious, full of surprises, skillful use of an original form to present a simple story. The director used the universe to talk about the loneliness of a young man. This is original cinema at an international level that has enormous potential.
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The jury also awarded an honorable mention to the Indian production To Ankur (India, 2023) directed by Nitya Sathian for its characteristic style, which in a short film form is a beautiful love letter to brutal imagination and a charming story of heart and mind.
 

Youth City Council of Świdnica Award

Escaping from the town, dir. Hubert Górski (Poland, 2023)

a comedy film that is engaging from the very beginning and keeps you in suspense until the end. Full of twists and turns, with extremely eye-pleasing graphics.
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The jury composed of representatives of the Youth City Council also awarded two distinctions: the first to Franciszek Przanowski for the film Grand Adventures of Space Cowboy (Poland, 2022), the second to Jakub Iglewski, Paweł Sopinka and Filip Doroszuk for the film Messed Up (Poland, 2023).

Audiance Award in The Youth Perspective competitions

Warmth dir. Klaudia Fortuniak (Poland, 2023)

Among all the short films in the competition from The Youth Perspective section (Feature, Documentary, Animation, Amateur), the film Warmth (Poland, 2023) directed by Klaudia Fortuniak.

Congratulations to all winners!