Warsaw Film Festival ( pl, Warszawski Festiwal Filmowy, abbreviated as WFF) is an annual

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

held every October in

Warsaw, Poland Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-cen ...

which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries from all around the world. The festival has been held every year since 1985. In 2008, it was recognized by

FIAPF The FIAPF (Fédération Internationale des Associations de Producteurs de Films; en, International Federation of Film Producers Associations), created in 1933, is an organization composed with 36 member associations from 30 of the leading audio ...

as a competitive film festival specialised in first and second features and films from Central and Eastern Europe. The festival is host to the

International Federation of Film Critics The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

awards for enterprising filmmaking in

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...

and beyond (i.e. Denmark and Israel). The 38th edition will take place between 14 October to 23 October 2022.

Festival

Programmes

The programme consists of the following sections: * The International Competition – premiering competition for international features * 1–2 Competition – for 1st and 2nd feature films * Free Spirit Competition – competition for independent, innovative, rebellious feature length fiction and documentary films from all over the world. * Documentary Competition * Shorts Competition – For narrative, documentary and animated shorts (up to 40 minutes) from all over the world. Winners are

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

eligible. * Special Screenings – non competitive section dedicated to acclaimed filmmakers from all over the world * Discoveries * Family Cinema Weekend All the films presented, regardless of the section (competitive or non-competitive), are eligible for the Audience Award.

Juries

*International Competition Jury *The Competition 1–2 Jury *Free Spirit Competition Jury *Documentary Competition Jury *Shorts Competition Jury *Jury

FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

*Jury

NETPAC The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) is a worldwide organization of 29 member countries. It was created as the result of a conference on Asian cinema organized by Cinemaya, the Asian Film Quarterly, in New Delhi in 1990 at the ins ...

*Ecumenical jury - by

SIGNIS SIGNIS (official name: World Catholic Association for Communication) is a Roman Catholic lay ecclesial movement for professionals in the communication media, including press, radio, television, cinema, video, media education, internet, and new ...

History

*1985 – Film Discussion Club "Hybrydy" founds the festival, originally named Warsaw Film Week. Festival's creator Roman Gutek becomes its first director. *1991 – Stefan Laudyn becomes new director of the festival and name Warsaw Film Week changes to Warsaw Film Festival. *1995 – festival is being organised by Warsaw Film Found for the first time *2000 – festival gets accreditation from

and changes its name again into Warsaw International Film Festival *2005 – for the first time

juror gives special awards during Warsaw International Film Festival *2008 –

adds Warsaw International Film Festival to a group of international contest festival (which other members are

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

Locarno , neighboring_municipalities= Ascona, Avegno, Cadenazzo, Cugnasco, Gerra (Verzasca), Gambarogno, Gordola, Lavertezzo, Losone, Minusio, Muralto, Orselina, Tegna, Tenero-Contra , twintowns =* Gagra, Georgia * Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic ...

, San Sebastian,

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a s ...

Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; german: Karlsbad, formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It lies on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá. ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

and

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

)

Award winners

International Competition winners

;Grand Prix } (S luboviu, Lilia) , Larisa Sadilova , , - , 2004 , ''

The Beautiful City ''The Beautiful City'' ( fa, شهر زیبا /Shahr-e Ziba/) is a 2004 Iranian drama film directed by Asghar Farhadi. Plot Akbar celebrates his 18th birthday in the detention centre. He has been held in a rehabilitation centre for committing mur ...

'' , fa, شهر زیبا (Shahr-e Ziba) ,

Asghar Farhadi Asghar Farhadi ( fa, اصغر فرهادی, ; born 7 May 1972)Soureh Movie Database

, , - , 2005 , ''

Sorry for Kung Fu ''Sorry for Kung Fu'' ( hr, Oprosti za kung fu) is a 2004 Croatian drama film directed by Ognjen Sviličić. The plot follows a pregnant unmarried woman played by Daria Lorenci, who returns to her village in Croatia after living in Germany duri ...

'' , Oprosti za kung fu ,

Ognjen Sviličić Ognjen Sviličić (born 1971 in Split) is a screenwriter and film director, based in Berlin noted for his critically acclaimed 2007 films Sorry For Kung Fu, '' Armin and These Are the Rules'' Career Sviličić was born 1971 in Split, in a fami ...

, , - , 2006 , ''

Euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

'' , russian: Эйфория (Eyforia) ,

Ivan Vyrypaev Ivan Aleksandrovich Vyrypaev (russian: Ива́н Алекса́ндрович Вырыпа́ев; pl, Iwan Wyrypajew; born August 3, 1974) is a Polish, Russian-born playwright, screenwriter, film director, actor and art director. He is a leadi ...

, , - , 2007 , '' Night Train'' , , Yi'nan Diao , / / , - , 2008 , '' Yuri's Day'' , russian: Юрьев день (Yurev Den) ,

Kirill Serebrennikov Kirill Semyonovich Serebrennikov (russian: Кирилл Семёнович Серебренников; born 7 September 1969) is a Russian stage and film director and theatre designer. Since 2012, he has been the artistic director of the Gogol ...

, / , - , 2009 , ''

Lourdes Lourdes (, also , ; oc, Lorda ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for the Château ...

'' , Lourdes ,

Jessica Hausner Jessica Hausner (born 6 October 1972) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. She received international attention in 2001 when her film ''Lovely Rita'', a portrait of a young girl who feels confined by family constraints, was screened in ...

, / / , - , 2010 , ''

Incendies ''Incendies'' (; "Fires") is a 2010 Canadian drama film directed by Denis Villeneuve, who co-wrote the screenplay with Valérie Beaugrand-Champagne. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad's play of the same name, ''Incendies'' stars Lubna Azabal, Mélis ...

'' , Incendies ,

Denis Villeneuve Denis Villeneuve (; born October 3, 1967) is a Canadian filmmaker. He is a four-time recipient of the Canadian Screen Award (formerly Genie Award) for Best Direction, winning for '' Maelström'' in 2001, '' Polytechnique'' in 2009, ''Incendies ...

≈ , , - , 2011 , ''

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

'' , Róża ,

Wojciech Smarzowski Wojciech Smarzowski (born 18 January 1963 in Korczyna, Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Korczyna near Krosno) is a Polish screenwriter and director. He studied filmmaking at the Jagiellonian University and the National Film School in Łódź (1990). His ...

, , - , 2012 , ''

Tango Libre ''Tango libre'' is a 2012 comedy film directed by Frédéric Fonteyne. In January 2014 the film received ten nominations at the 4th Magritte Awards. The film centers on complicated personal relations between some prisoners in a French prison, t ...

'' , Tango Libre ,

Frédéric Fonteyne Frédéric Fonteyne (; born 9 January 1968) is a Belgian film director. He studied film at the Institut des arts de diffusion in Louvain-la-Neuve. His 2020 film ''Working Girls (2020 film), Working Girls'' was selected as the Belgian entry for th ...

, / / , - , 2013 , ''

Ida Ida or IDA may refer to: Astronomy * Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter *243 Ida, an asteroid *International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station Computing *Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...

'' , Ida ,

Paweł Pawlikowski Paweł Aleksander Pawlikowski (; born 15 September 1957) is a Polish filmmaker. He garnered early praise for a string of documentaries in the 1990s and for his award-winning feature films of the 2000s, '' Last Resort'' (2000) and ''My Summer of ...

≠ , , - , 2014 , '' The Coffin In the Mountain'' , , Xin Yukun , , - , 2015 , ''

Neon Bull ''Neon Bull'' ( pt, Boi neon) is a 2015 Brazilian drama film directed by Gabriel Mascaro. The film premiered at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival and won the Horizons (Orizzonti) - Special Jury Prize. It was also shown in the Platform ...

'' , Boi Neon ,

Gabriel Mascaro Gabriel Mascaro (born September 24, 1983) is a Brazilian visual artist and film director. Biography Gabriel Mascaro is a Brazilian filmmaker and visual artist. He started his career as a documentary-maker in 2008, with KFZ-1348 (co-directed by ...

, , - , 2016 , ''

Malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

'' , fa, مالاریا (Malaria) ,

Parviz Shahbazi Parviz Shahbazi is an Iranian filmmaker. Biography Shahbazi is a graduate of filmmaking in Iran. During the early 80's he began writing short stories and directing short films. He edited several films and directed 12 short films before making h ...

, , - , 2017 , ''To Kill a Watermelon'' , , Zehao Gao , , - , 2018 , ''

The Delegation ''The Delegation'' ( sq, Delegacioni) is a 2018 Albanian drama film directed by Bujar Alimani. It was selected as the Albanian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. Plot In October 1 ...

'' , Delegacioni , Bujar Alimani , , - , 2019 , '' Shindisi'' , Shindisi ,

Dito Tsintsadze Dito Tsintsadze ( ka, დიტო ცინცაძე; born 2 March 1957) is a Georgian film director and screenwriter. He has directed thirteen films since 1988. His film '' Lost Killers'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the ...

, , - , 2020 , '' 18 Kilohertz'' , 18 килогерц , Farkhat Sharipov , , - , 2021 , ''Miracle'' , Miracol , Bogdan George Apetri , , ,

Notes

*≈ Oscar nomination *≠ Oscar winner

Audience award

- Fiction Feature Films category

Notes

*≈ Oscar nomination *≠ Oscar winner

References

External links

* * {{Warsaw Film Festival Audience Award Film festivals in Poland Recurring events established in 1985 Events in Warsaw 1985 establishments in Poland Film festivals established in 1985 Autumn events in Poland