The FINANCIAL — “Sometimes watching National Geographic is even more comfortable than travelling… The camera is exactly where it has to be”, says Zbigniew Rybczynski, one of the prominent figures of experimental film production.
The FINANCIAL — “Sometimes watching National Geographic is even more comfortable than travelling… The camera is exactly where it has to be”, says Zbigniew Rybczynski, one of the prominent figures of experimental film production.
Rybczynski chaired the Batumi Cinema Festival jury this year.
The fifth Batumi International Auteur Film Festival was held at Batumi Drama Theatre.
The façade of the Theatre was covered by a Festival playbill and a black and white photo of Zbigniew Rybczynski next to it.
“I already knew something about Georgia, I had seen Pharajanov’s movies which at that time affected my decision to continue work in cinematography. I even remember a song about Batumi from my childhood. It was performed by a Polish girls’ company. Therefore, I didn’t think much when I received an invitation, I just accepted it”. Mr. Rybczynski was referring to Filipinki, a famous Polish girls’ musical team performing the song about Batumi, a famous hit of the 1960s.
Zbigniew Rybczynski, 61, came to the opening of the Batumi International Festival with his wife (Dorotha Zglobitska). The couple immediately attracted the attention of the media and photo cameras. Most topical was the retrospective of Rybczynski’s short films which filled the theatre halls in the evening sessions.
Applause seemed endless at the end of the sessions.
“Soup”, “Steps”, “Tango”, “I can’t stop here”, “Orchestra” – this is an incomplete list of Rybczynski’s films shown during the film retrospective at the Batumi Festival.
Zbigniew Rybczynski started directorial work in the animation sphere in the 1970s. He is known for introducing an innovative method to which he owns the author’s rights. Experimental film production became the major subject of a two-hour master class conducted by Rybczynski. The master class was held in the hall of the Intourist Hotel of Batumi. The film director seemed to be very enthusiastic in giving full and exhaustive answers to participants’ questions.
“We often want to express what we feel, however sometimes traditional forms of expression seem to be insufficient and we start looking for new forms. This is the reason why experimental cinematography was created. On the other hand, experimental film can be compared to medicine, which has developed extremely far, yet there are still diseases which remain incurable. It is the same in the world of cinema. I am honestly very surprised not to find more directors involved in experimental film-making, especially today, when we have state-of-the-art technologies in the sphere of film-making and visuals. Technology is developing so rapidly these days and the technological side is one of the most major and important parts of experimental cinema. For example I don’t understand why they still make black and white films when so many efforts have been taken to develop technologies. To me, black and white film is simply a very ugly creature.”
Besides cinematography, Rybczynski’s name was also quite popular in political circles.
In the 1980s, he was one of the most active members of the famous Polish political movement Solidarnost, demonstrating against the Communist regime.
“At that time I was in Austria, I had a good job offer, but I left everything and went to work in Lozi. This was the period when the Solidarnost movement was just taking start. I was offered to be leader in the movement, but nothing mattered to me as much as film-making so I refused… The regime was not disrupting me too much, even though I was making experimental films. Obviously, cinematography, as in any other sphere of art, can be political or apolitical, although being apolitical is also a position, since it means being politically neutral.”
When Poland was announced a military state, Rybczynski received shelter in Austria where he became popular for his short film Tango after being awarded an Oscar for Best Animation. Very shortly, Rybczynski and his family immigrated to the USA and resided in New York. In 1990, he became owner of one of the most prestigious awards, an Emmy – for the film Orchestra. He had to film some footage at the Louvre Museum in Paris, “It was not easy,” says Rybczynski, “to get permission for the footage. I had to agree it with the President of Pompidou. We had only three nights and I didn’t even know what I would shoot. We spent the first night setting up the equipment, the next night I wanted to shoot the monument of Nike, but the technical car was 500 metres away. It turned out that the cables didn’t work, but the sound system did. So we opened all the doors, turned on the sound and let the Louvre’s halls be filled with the brilliant music of Shubert. We didn’t take a single shot that night, we just let the masterpieces of art enjoy music.”
In recent years, the film director has been working on visual expression composition and movable photography and even owns some innovative patents in this sphere.
Rybczynski has worked on the videos of some very popular musical teams (the Rolling Stones, Pet Shop Boys, Lou Reed, Yoko Ono, Supertramp).
“They are completely different from their public image. They are good, says the director ironically. They have given up drugs, try to live a healthy lifestyle and have even been developed into some kind of institutions.”
Rybczynski has been working on a new film with Jewish writer and photographer, Ely Barbour since 2007, although he doesn’t want to talk about the ongoing work.
Currently Rybczynski is working on the development of oriented film studio equipped with state-of-the-art, innovative digital technologies in the city of Wrotslav. The studio will be opened in a few months and as the director says, it will be one of the most unique studios of experimental film production. The latest digital and audio-visual technologies will enable the film directors to use modern special effects, unique digital technologies and software.
It is also planned to offer a training centre of modern digital/experimental technologies on the studio base.
At the Batumi International Auteur Film Festival, Rybczynski was awarded for his contribution to world cinematography.
At BIAFF 2010 the International Jury awarded the following prizes:
Main International Competition Section prizes:
Grand Prix – Another Sky by Dimitri Mamulia, Russia, 2010
Best Feature Film – Nothing Personal by Urszula Antoniak, Ireland/Netherlands, 2009
Best Documentary Film – Enemies of the People by Rob Lemkin, Cambodia/UK, 2009
Best Film Director – Agusti Vila for Mosqitou’s Net, Spain, 2010
Best Male Actor – Eduard Fernandez in Mosqitou’s Net, Spain, 2010
Best Female Actor – Monique Imes in Precious by Lee Daniels, USA, 2009
Jury Special Prize – Rabbit a La Berlin by Bartosz Konopka, Poland/Germany 2009
Jury Special mention – Insight by Gia Diasamidze, Georgia, 2010
Jury Special mention – There are things you don’t know by Fardin Zamani, Iran, 2010
Young Filmmakers Competition Section:
Grand Prix – Mother by Jakub Piatek, Poland, 2009
Best Film – Hanoi-Waszawa by Katarzyna Klimkiewicz, Poland, 2009
Best Film Director – April Chill by Tornike Bziava, Georgia, 2009
Jury Special Prize – No Song in Autumn by Karsten Pruehl, Germany, 2010
Jury Special mention – Stained by Eti Tsicko, Isarel, 2009
Jury Special mention – Girl Like Me by Rowland Jobson, UK, 2009
Jury Special mention – The Dead End by Ivan Tymshin, Ukraine, 2010
The FINANCIAL is General Media Sponsor of Batumi International Auteur Film Festival.
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