PRISONER OF SOCIETY – dir. Rati Tsiteladze, 1st Prize | EXCUSE ME, I’M LOOKING FOR THE PING-PONG ROOM AND MY GIRLFRIEND (Entschuldigung, ich suche den Tischtennisraum und meine Freundin) – dir. Bernhard Wegner, 2nd Prize | RAIN (Deszcz)– dir. Piotr Milczarek, 3th Prize

PRISONER OF SOCIETY | dir. Rati Tsiteladze | GR | 2018 | 15 min

prod|pro Artway Film Rodnyansky zdj|ph Rati Tsiteladze mon|ed Rati Tsiteladze

What does it mean to be a stranger in your own home and country? “Prisoner of Society” is an intimate journey into the world and mind of a young transgender woman, who has been locked away from the outside world for the past decade. It is the first Georgian documentary nominated for European Film Academy Awards.

RATI TSITELADZE
Born in post-Soviet Georgia. He studied filmmaking in Los Angeles. He is an alumnus of Locarno Academy, TIFF Filmmaker Lab, Film Independent and Berlinale Talents. His shorts have won over 50 awards and have been screened at more than 300 festivals, including Melbourne, Hong Kong and Locarno. His recent work “Prisoner of Society” (2018) won numerous Oscar qualifying awards; it is also the first Georgian short documentary nominated for European Film Academy. He was selected for Cannes Cinéfondation Residence and won the first HFPA Film Independent Award.

AWARDS
2019 FAF TWO RIVERSIDES Kazimierz Dolny, Janowiec nad Wisłą – 1st Prize, International Short Films Competition

EXCUSE ME, I’M LOOKING FOR THE PING-PONG ROOM AND MY GIRLFRIEND | Entschuldigung, ich suche den Tischtennisraum und meine Freundin | dir. Bernhard Wegner | AU, DE, SE | 2018 | 24 min

prod|pro Florian Bayer, Clara König, Bernhard Wenger scen|wr Bernhard Wenger zdj|ph Albin Wildner muz|mus Mario Fartacek mon|ed Rupert Höller ob|cast Rasmus Luthander, Anna Åström, Carl Achleitner, Elli Tringou

A Swedish couple is on a wellness trip in the Austrian mountains, but after an argument, Aron’s girlfriend leaves, and slams the door behind her. Now, Aron is looking for his girlfriend but can’t find her anywhere. He dives into the bizarre world of the alpine wellness resort and drifts along until the question arises if Aron is looking for his girlfriend or really himself.

BERNHARD WENGER (1992)
He was born in Salzburg, Austria. After graduating high school, he moved to Vienna, where he studied film theory and gained professional set experience. He was accepted to the Vienna Film Academy in 2014 and is currently pursuing degrees in both directing and production. Bernhard’s last short films have been screened and won awards at prestigious film festivals like Nashville Film Festival, Palm Springs Film Festival, Chicago Film Festival, Uppsala Film Festival, Odense Film Festival, St. Louis Film Festival, and Max Ophüls Prize Film Festival. He has won over 70 international awards and in 2015, received the Award for Art and Culture in his hometown. His short “Keeping Balance” was released online as a Vimeo Staff Pick in November 2017.

AWARDS
2019 FAF TWO RIVERSIDES Kazimierz Dolny, Janowiec nad Wisłą – 2nd Prize, International Short Films Competition

RAIN | Deszcz | reż. Piotr Milczarek | PL | 2019 | 5 min

prod|pro Fumi Studio scen|wr Piotr Milczarek mon|ed Mariusz Kuś

A simple animated film on collective consciousness. It talks about how no accountability for our actions pushes us to thoughtlessly follow the crowd, which may lead to a tragedy. The film also depicts a struggle of an individual with collective hypnosis and its consequences for both the individual and the crowd.

PIOTR MILCZAREK (1977) 
He was born and lives in Lodz. He studied animation and special effects at the Film School in Lodz, where he is currently working as an assistant. He has directed short films such as „The Comic Book,” „The War of the Worlds,” „Mr Mister and The Cockroach.” He has also cowritten the script for „Moonshine” by Michał Poniedzielski, cooperated on the award-winning „Switez” by Kamil Pola (storyboard, artwork), as well as worked as an animator of Balbina Bruszewska’s „The City is Flowing” and Magdalena Osińska’s „Little Joys.” On a daily basis, he creates storyboards for commercials.

AWARDS
2019 FAF TWO RIVERSIDES Kazimierz Dolny, Janowiec nad Wisłą – 3th Prize, International Short Films Competition