Marcin Krzysztalowicz collects the Krakow Film Award at the 6th Off Plus Camera Festival, Saturday: photo - PAP/Jacek Bednarczyk
Only debut or second films were eligible for the festival's main competition, and Manhunt (Oblawa), trumped works by a painstakingly picked group of promising directors, including film-makers from France to South Korea.
“It's an incredible moment for me, and a great change in my life,” Manhunt director Marcin Krzysztalowicz told Polish Radio's English Section.
His gritty tale of World War II partisans has a deeply personal streak, as his late father had been a corporal in the Polish underground, taking cover in the forests of southern Poland, like the protagonists of Manhunt.
“Earlier I believed in the past, sometimes a black past, but now I believe in the future,” the director said, adding that his next film will be decidedly more optimistic in tone.
Krzysztalowicz was presented with a cheque for 100,000 dollars, and the Polish Film Institute (PISF) will grant him a supplementary sum of 1 million zloty (318,000 dollars), if his next feature film is made in Krakow.
Director Lech Majewski chaired a jury composed of Lord of the Rings star and Royal Shakespeare Company veteran John Rhys-Davies, Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth Myers and celebrated German actor Udo Kier, for the main competition.
“This is a film that will stay in the memory for years,” Majewski said of Manhunt at the press conference following the awards ceremony.
Later, Polish Radio caught up with Agnieszka Odorowicz, director of the Polish Film Institute.
“This is a revolutionary film, because we have had a romantic view of history since the 19th century,” she said.
“Poles used to think of Poland as the Christ of nations, because we were always punished, and so on.
“And Manhunt is completely different,” she reflected, stressing the distinct lack of glamour in the portrayal of Poland's Home Army (AK), the country's official underground force.
“Nobody else has told this history in such a way before,” she said.
Meanwhile, the FIPRESCI international critics award went to French director Stephane Cazes, for Ombline, a tale of a young woman battling to keep her baby while she serves a prison sentence. The movie was also a hit with festival-goers, scooping this year's Public Prize.
The separate Polish Feature Film Competition was won by Katarzyna Roslaniec for Baby Blues, a tale about a misguided teen who decides to have a child as a fashion statement.
The 6th Off Plus Camera ends on Sunday evening. (nh)
Earlier this week, Polish Radio's English Section spoke with director Marcin Krzysztalowicz about Manhunt, and the audio report can be listened to online.