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KRAKOW 2022 Awards

Denis Dobrovoda’s The Cathedral tops Krakow’s International Documentary Competition

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- Other winners at the Polish gathering included All That Breathes, Fragile Memory, Kapr Code, The Hamlet Syndrome and Boylesque

Denis Dobrovoda’s The Cathedral tops Krakow’s International Documentary Competition
The Cathedral director Denis Dobrovoda (left) and co-writer Matthew Bremner during the Krakow Film Festival awards ceremony (© Agnieszka Cynarska-Taran)

Slovak films and co-productions have been particularly well received at the 62nd edition of the Krakow Film Festival (29 May-12 June 2022). The event screened 11 such pictures, four of which were competing in the International Documentary Competition. Alongside Jan Šikl’s political doc capturing the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, Reconstruction of Occupation [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, and Miro Remo’s portrait of a racing couple, At Full Throttle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Miro Remo
film profile
]
, two documentary feature debuts from the country also locked horns.

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And what’s more, they have both emerged successful. Up-and-coming documentarian Denis Dobrovoda introduced his portrait of a former Spanish monk who spent six decades building a cathedral out of waste and recycled material, The Cathedral [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, which ended up winning the main award – the Golden Horn for the best film. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian-Slovak biopic Fragile Memory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Igor Ivanko
film profile
]
by Igor Ivanko, co-produced by Slovak filmmaker Peter Kerekes, received the jury’s Special Mention.

The Czech-Slovak documentary opera Kapr Code [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lucie Králová
film profile
]
by Lucie Kaprálová, centring on controversial and progressive composer Jan Kapr, came out on top in the International DocFilmMusic Competition. In addition, the autobiographical animated short Love, Dad by Diana Cam Van Nguyen (see the interview), made as a Czech-Slovak co-production, continued on with its award-reaping streak in Krakow, netting three distinctions: the Silver Dragon Award for the director of the best animated film, the Jury Award for Best European Film (which automatically makes it Krakow’s candidate for the 2022 European Film Awards, in the shorts category) and a Special Mention.

Among the Polish titles, the most awards were scooped by two films: Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosołowski’s The Hamlet Syndrome [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elwira Niewiera and Piotr R…
film profile
]
, which opened the festival; and Bogna Kowalczyk’s Boylesque [+see also:
film review
interview: Bogna Kowalczyk
film profile
]
. The former movie, the portrait of a young generation of Ukrainians scarred by war and political turmoil, received the Special Mention in the International Documentary Competition, the Golden Hobby-Horse Award for the best film in the National Competition and the Student Jury Award, while the film’s Polish producers, Magdalena Kamińska and Agata Szymańska, were crowned with the Award for the Best Documentary Film Producer in Poland. Bogna Kowalczyk’s documentary about the oldest Polish drag queen, which was made as a Czech minority co-production, garnered three accolades: the Silver Hobby-Horse for the director of the best documentary film in the National Competition, the Audience Award and the Krakow Film Festival recommendation for the European Film Awards in its respective category.

Here is the complete list of award winners at Krakow:

KFF Recommendation for the European Film Awards in the Documentary Category
Boylesque [+see also:
film review
interview: Bogna Kowalczyk
film profile
]
- Bogna Kowalczyk (Poland/Czech Republic)

International Documentary Competition

Golden Horn
The Cathedral [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Denis Dobrovoda (Slovakia)

Silver Horn (for the director of the film with high artistic values)
All That Breathes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Shaunak Sen
film profile
]
- Shaunak Sen (USA/UK/India)

Silver Horn (for the director of the film on social issues)
Tolyatti Adrift - Laura Sistero (Spain)

Special Mentions
The Hamlet Syndrome [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elwira Niewiera and Piotr R…
film profile
]
- Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosołowski (Poland/Germany)
Fragile Memory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Igor Ivanko
film profile
]
- Igor Ivanko (Ukraine/Slovakia)

International Film Critics’ Prize
Adamiani - Hirotoshi Takeoka (Japan/Netherlands)

International Short Film Competition

Golden Dragon
How Do You Measure a Year? - Jay Rosenblatt (USA)

Silver Dragon (for the director of the best documentary film)
Maldita. A Love Song to Sarajevo - Raúl de la Fuente Calle, Amaia Ramirez (Spain)

Special Mention
Hardcore - Adán Aliaga (Spain)

Silver Dragon (for the director of the best animated film)
Love, Dad - Diana Cam Van Nguyen (Czech Republic/Slovakia)

Special Mention
A Goat’s Spell - Gerhard Funk (Germany)

Silver Dragon (for the director of the best short fiction film)
Victoria - Karolina Porcari (Poland)

Special Mention
The Swarmers - Alison Kuhn (Germany)

Jury Award for Best European Film
Love, Dad - Diana Cam Van Nguyen

Don Quixote Award
Parizad - Mehdi Imani Shahmiri (Iran)

Special Mention
Love, Dad - Diana Cam Van Nguyen

International DocFilmMusic Competition

Golden Heynal
Kapr Code [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lucie Králová
film profile
]
- Lucie Králová (Czech Republic/Slovakia)

Special Mention
Cesária Évora - Ana Sofia Fonseca (Portugal)

National Competition

Golden Hobby-Horse
The Hamlet Syndrome - Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosołowski

Silver Hobby-Horse (for the director of the best documentary film over 30 minutes)
Boylesque - Bogna Kowalczyk

Silver Hobby-Horse (for the director of the best documentary film under 30 minutes)
The Rocking Horses - Marcin Lesisz (Poland)

Silver Hobby-Horse (for the director of the best animated film)
Impossible Figures and Other Stories I - Marta Pajek (Poland/Canada)

Silver Hobby-Horse (for the director of the best short fiction film)
A Dead Marriage - Michał Toczek (Poland)

Award of the President of the Polish Filmmakers Association (for the best film editing)
The Voice - Milenia Fiedler (Poland)

Maciej Szumowski Award
God and Lunaparks' Warriors - Bartłomiej Żmuda (Poland)

Award for Best Short and Documentary Film Producer in Poland
Magdalena Kamińska, Agata Szymańska (Balapolis) - The Hamlet Syndrome

Best Cinematography Award
Wojciech Staroń - The Voice

Audience Award
Boylesque - Bogna Kowalczyk

Award of the Student Jury
The Hamlet Syndrome - Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosołowski

Dragon of Dragons Award for Contribution to the Development of World Animated Film
Jarmo Jääskeläinen (Finland)

KFF Industry – Animated in Poland and Doc Lab Poland Awards

Animated in Poland Awards

Sound Mind Studio Award
Magda – Adela Kaczmarek-Siwińska
Producer: Letko

Fixafilm Award
The Miracle – Ewa Borysewicz
Producer: Letko

Crew United Special Mention
Conjunction - Marta Magnuska
Producer: Animoon

Doc Lab Poland Awards

Awards for the Best Projects Presented at Docs to Start

HBO Max Award
Insurance Against Meteorites - Natalia Śliwowska, Jorik Amit Galama
Producers: Natalia Śliwowska, Jorik Amit Galama

ORKA Award
The Perfect Date – Małgorzata Goliszewska
Producers: Agnieszka Skalska, ZPR Media, Koi Studio

Fixafilm Award
Tenderness of Transience – Mateusz Mularski
Producers: Joanna Zielińska, Big Wave Films

MX35 Award
A Hole in the Wall – Arjun Talwar
Producers: Karolina Śmigiel, Uni-Solo Studio

DOK Leipzig Special Mention
A Hole in the Wall – Arjun Talwar
Producers: Karolina Śmigiel, Uni-Solo Studio

Institute of Documentary Film Special Mention
Towards the Sun – Agnieszka Kokowska
Producers: Justyna Ziemkiewicz, Sławomir Richert, Warsaw Production Team

Polish Docs Pro Special Mention
GO&SEE – Julia Kuzka
Producers: Małgorzata Małysa, Furia Film

Awards for the Best Projects Presented in Docs to Go

SMAKJAM Award
The Coal Daughter – Aneta Nowicka
Producers: Jacek Kucharski, Trafik

ORKA Award
Sings of Mr. Plum – Urszula Morga, Bartosz Mikołajczyk
Producers: Stanisław Zaborowski, Jan Borowiec, Silver Frame

ORKA Award
Fear Out of Head – Grzegorz Brzozowski
Producers: Natalia Grzegorzek, Koskino

CAFE OLE Award
Hasan’s Joy – Natalia Pietsch, Grzegorz Piekarski
Producers: Katarzyna Kostecka, Larmo

Institute of Documentary Film Special Mention
Hasan’s Joy – Natalia Pietsch, Grzegorz Piekarski
Producers: Katarzyna Kostecka, Larmo

Władysław Ślesicki Film Foundation Special Mention
Faces of Agata – Małgorzata Kozera
Producers: Maria Krauss, Plesnar & Krauss Films

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