O!PLA Across the Borders PPFF 2015

The 5th edition of the Play Poland Film Festival 2015 certainly had an interesting selection for everyone! From drama to a wide variety of short films, from animation for children to an exclusive movie poster art exhibition – the festival which runs parallel in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Belfast and London offers an intriguing insight into what’s new in the world of Polish film.

One particularly interesting event was O!PLA Across the Borders – The Festival of Polish Animation which showcased works by established artists as well as graduation films made by film school students. The techniques (Claymation, puppetry, drawing, mixed media, CGI and 3D) were as different as the budget for each short. That said, each and every short film looked accomplished and to high standards.

Amongst the selection (selected by audience to establish a connection with the artists) featured thoughtful, funny, quirky, poetic, and melancholic ‘visual tales’, plus some animated music videos.
Amongst the highlights (this is of course according to the personal choice of this particular reviewer) was ‘The Deadly Effects of Smoking’, a 3D affair by Maciecj Pestka which demonstrates the hazards of smoking in a deadpan style, and with religious symbolism that emphasizes the pros and cons of the bad habit.

Equally interesting was the whimsical ‘Hedgehog’ by Anna Nowicka, who told (using CGI method) the clever yet amusing effort of a hedgehog mother to rid a tree of its apples in order to feed her baby hedgehog.
Another hedgehog tale was a puppet animation by Ala Nunu Leszynska, which explains the hedgehog’s spines according to a medieval text.

Truly haunting was ‘Hippos-Hipopotamy’ by Piotr Dumala, a b/w drawn study concerning the battle of the sexes but arranged like a ballet of cruelty in a pond. Young mothers and their offspring to one side, and muscular young men to the other. Everyone is naked, but when the men approach the women push them away and a power struggle ensues about independence and submission/domination and fertility. There is no tender interaction between the genders, both male and female seemingly act on animalistic instinct rather then emotion.
Likewise haunting and disturbing was ‘A Blue Room’ (paint on glass technique) by Tomasz Siwinski about a man in a blue room out of which he can’t seem to get out, whilst on the outside his wife waves at him and friends and colleagues greet… until it emerges that shortly beforehand the man has been killed in a car crash and the blue room of the title is the mental bridge between this world and the next one – and the things he experiences as real while in the state of clinical death.

‘Water Lilies’ by Marcin Surma appeared poetic and reflective in contrast. Not much happens except we see the sun revolve a tall building, dipping it not only in different light between sunrise and sunset but also reflecting the opposite harbour in the building’s glass panels. The lot is accompanied by the beautiful music of Pachelbel’s famous ‘Canon in D Major’.

Hysterically funny was the puppet animation ‘Pate’ by Lukasz Jedynasty and Zuzanna Staszewska, it certainly got a lot of applause and laughter. The short is a fictionalized music video for the band Kasia & Wojtek, and is set inside a restaurant in which a group of fluffy animals play songs while the guest heartily tuck into their meals. At the end of the song the band gets shoved through a stage exit which leads directly into the kitchen… where the fluffy animals are promptly chopped up and served up a gourmet meals to waiting guests… while another group of fluffy animals takes to the stage and starts to play… and so the cycle repeats itself.

After O!PlA there was a chance to admire a small exhibition of Polish Film Poster Art in the foyer, over some refreshments. The unique posters were created by key representatives of the Polish School of Posters, and the works fuse traditional elements with more independent and radical ideas (see Kabaret image).

The PPFF Edinburgh runs until 21st of November (www.playpoland.org.uk)