Warsaw Film Festival

Warsaw International Film Festival logo
Location	Warsaw, Poland
Founded	1985
Most recent	2023
Festival date	6–15 October
Language	Polish English
Website	wff.pl

Warsaw Film Festival (Polish: Warszawski Festiwal Filmowy; WFF), also known as Warsaw International Film Festival, is an annual international film festival held every October in Warsaw, Poland.^[1][2]

History

The festival has been held every year since 1985.^[3]

In 2008, it was recognised by FIAPF as an international competitive film festival.^[4]

Timeline

• 1985 – Film Discussion Club "Hybrydy" founds the festival, originally named Warsaw Film Week.^[5] 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 – organised by Warsaw Film Foundation for the first time
• 2000 – festival gets accreditation from FIAPF and changes its name to Warsaw International Film Festival.^[6]
• 2005 – for the first time, FIAPF jury gives special awards during Warsaw International Film Festival
• 2008 – FIAPF adds Warsaw Film Festival to its list of international festivals, accredited as a competitive film festival specialised in first and second features and films from Central and Eastern Europe^[4][7]

Description

The festival is host to the International Federation of Film Critics awards for enterprising filmmaking in Central Europe and beyond.^[8]

Programmes

The programme consists of the following sections:^{[citation needed]}

• 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 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.^{[citation needed]}

Juries

• International Competition Jury
• The Competition 1–2 Jury
• Free Spirit Competition Jury
• Documentary Competition Jury
• Shorts Competition Jury
• Jury FIPRESCI
• Jury NETPAC
• Ecumenical jury – by SIGNIS

Award winners

International Competition winners

Grand Prix

Year	Film	Original Title	Director	Country
2002	Edi[9]	Edi	Piotr Trzaskalski	Poland
2003	With Love, Lilly[10]	Russian: С любовью, Лиля (S luboviu, Lilia)	Larisa Sadilova	Russia
2004	The Beautiful City[11]	Persian: شهر زیبا (Shahr-e Ziba)	Asghar Farhadi	Iran
2005	Sorry for Kung Fu[12]	Oprosti za kung fu	Ognjen Sviličić	Croatia
2006	Euphoria[13]	Russian: Эйфория (Eyforia)	Ivan Vyrypaev	Russia
2007	Night Train	Chinese: 夜行列车; Chinese: 夜行列车; pinyin: Yè háng lièchē	Yi'nan Diao	China /  Hong Kong /  France
2008	Yuri's Day	Russian: Юрьев день (Yurev Den)	Kirill Serebrennikov	Russia /  Germany
2009	Lourdes[14]	Lourdes	Jessica Hausner	Austria /  France /  Germany
2010	Incendies[15]	Incendies	Denis Villeneuve ≈	Canada
2011	Rose[16]	Róża	Wojciech Smarzowski	Poland
2012	Tango Libre[17]	Tango Libre	Frédéric Fonteyne	Belgium /  France /  Luxembourg
2013	Ida[18]	Ida	Paweł Pawlikowski	Poland
2014	The Coffin In the Mountain[19]	Chinese: 心迷宫; pinyin: Xīn mígōng	Xin Yukun	China
2015	Neon Bull[20]	Boi Neon	Gabriel Mascaro	Brazil
2016	Malaria[21]	Persian: مالاریا (Malaria)	Parviz Shahbazi	Iran
2017	To Kill a Watermelon[22]	Chinese: 杀瓜; pinyin: Shā guā	Zehao Gao	China
2018	The Delegation[23]	Delegacioni	Bujar Alimani	Albania
2019	Shindisi[24]	Shindisi	Dito Tsintsadze	Georgia[25]
2020	18 Kilohertz[26]	18 килогерц	Farkhat Sharipov	Kazakhstan
2021	Miracle[27]	Miracol	Bogdan George Apetri	Romania /  Czech Republic /  Latvia
2022	May Labour Day	Praznik rada	Pjer Žalica	Bosnia and Herzegovina
2023	The Shadow of Catire[28]	La sombra del Catire	Jorge Hernandez Aldana	Venezuela /  Mexico