O!PLA- (Cert15)
O!PLA means “Oh! Polish Animation”, but also: “Oh! People Love Animation”, a fitting dual meaning for this collection of short films- it is an amazing mix of techniques, styles, and emotions showing what in modern Polish animation is the best.
O!PLA FOCUS ON POLAND 2022 is a unique program presenting the winners of the 10th O!PLA Animation Festival (2022). As always the only Jury at O!PLA was the audience. O!PLA FOCUS ON POLAND 2022 is an amazing mix of techniques, styles, and emotions showing what in modern Polish animation (O!PLA means „Oh! Polish Animation”, but also: “Oh! People Love Animation”) is the best. Starting off 2013 O!PLA consequently grows in strength, but one thing remains the same – independence and passion, which stand behind the O!PLA.
AIRBORNE (2021, 07:36), Andrzej Jobczyk, Letko
Airborne is a surreal animation that connects the world of flying machines with the kingdom of flora and fauna. Engrossed in the fight, pilot loses his target which leads to tragedy. The plane crashes into the crown of a tree. The tragedy that seems to be the end opens a new stage in history. In the place of the accident, a new life is awakened and now it has to solve the mystery of its origin. Airborne is a story about passion, its roots and tells us what we have to lose to be born again.
BREATH (2019, 01:20), Aneta Siurnicka, University of the Arts in Poznan
The moment of `respite or agitation? Letting mind free or fighting with thoughts? The animation film was created in a traditional way by painting under the camera.
ALL AT SEA (2021, 09:23), Kasia Nalewajka, Animapol
Cornelius is a happy-go-lucky crab bachelor. A night spent drinking with his friends turns awry when the parasitic barnacle, Sacculina, spikes his drink and has his wicked way with him. In the days that follow, Cornelius experiences physiological and mental changes that transform his life.
THREE LITTLE STORIES (2021, 04:47), Zuzanna Michalska, University of the Arts i
Poznan Saxophone, Double Bass, Drums. Three little stories told through the medium of movement. A painterly visualization of the music of the band KWAŚNY DESZCZ (sour rain).
C’EST LA VIE (2021, 12:51), Ferajna Filmowa KaPoK
How do you keep your life upright and level when things turn upside down? What option should you choose when there are no good views? What role to play in the most difficult of arts – the Art of Life? Some of our daily resolutions seem to be meaningless, while others – while apparently innocent – later echo deeply for many years, turning our entire world upside down in an instant. The latest film by KaPoK Film Ferajna is a short story about a man who has found himself in the most peculiar moment of this art of balancing, the art of choice, and the art of living. C’est la vie!
PURE – Virtual Agony (2021, 04:21), Olga Przytuła, Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology in Warsaw
PURE is a story that each of us knows from our dreams. The mysterious land changes as soon as we try to get a closer look at it, inviting us to go deeper. It is a nod to our sensitivities.
DESPERA (2021, 01:55), Alicja Liss, University of the Arts in Poznan
The film is a reflection on loneliness, isolation and powerlessness. The author began working on it during the lockdown, during the subsequent strikes of women in Poland, at the beginning of 2021.
DISTANCE (2021, 03:17), Katarzyna Orłowska, University of the Arts in Poznan
Two people are staring at the flashing lights outside their windows, thinking about walking the distance between themselves. The calm of the empty station and the passing views from the train deepen their loneliness.
THE MIDNIGHT MEATLESS TRAIN (2021, 01:35), Kamil Wójcik
Few things make people as happy as an empty compartment on an overnight train. Then you know that you can spend all night only with your own thoughts in the transient neon light that pierces the darkness violently. A rhythmic clatter helps to enter a trance. Time melts away. The darkness of the night floods the compartment. Let no one sit down.
ON TIME (2021, 05:30), Zbigniew Czapla
An intense travel experience that has become almost impossible. Japanese trains. Random meetings. From Matsuo Basho’s haiku to the pictures of the dying world created by Hokusai in the Manga catalogs.
I DREAMED OF (2021, 07:38), Piotr Tokarz, The Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław
Since the dawn of time, dreams are an inspiration for reflections on the subconscious and work as a gateway to the world of abstract images created based on our thoughts, feelings and experiences. In ‘I DREAMED OF’ author decided to interpret the dreams of people dear to him and present them in the form of an animated short.
SHOW(er) (2021, 01:46), Julia Hazuka, University of the Arts in Poznan
A real star awakens in the shower!
THE RIVER (2021, 05:11), Robert Kuźniewski, University of the Arts in Poznan
“This is not the river, the portico is swollen with wet shadow and sand. It is a leafy memory that stands against all the remains, everything that gives meaning to our massacred constructions ”… An abstract pixilative etude based on the poem by TJ DEMA“ Lethe ”.
UNDONE (2021, 04:42), Konrad Kulczyński & Grażyna Rigall
“Undone” is a short animation made in the cut-out technique. The film tells the story of a dream that allows you to break free from life in captivity. A surreal journey into the mind of the main character is a utopian vision of a world in which all organisms are interconnected. Inspired by the Gaia Hypothesis, the film combines original visuals with music and sound created by jazz musicians Olo Walicki and Jacek Prościński.
WALL UNIT (2021, 09:47), Joanna Polak
A ramshackle wall unit is a symbol of the monotonous life of a certain 40-year-old man living in a grey, dirty post-communist block of flats district. Right after his birthday, suffering from the midlife crisis, the man decides to change his dull and routine-based existence. Alas, his wife stands in the way.
