Award Ceremony of the 19th FilmAT Festival
7th of February, we have concluded the 19th edition of FilmAT, the International Festival of Tourist Films, Television Documentaries and Corporate Films, with an extraordinary solemn gala. “The Wall of Glory” at the Museum of Sports and Tourism in Warsaw, as in previous years, provided an honorable setting for the ceremony. After all, one has to admit that, in addition to its beautiful image, it symbolizes the efforts of all those who, with talent and hard work, have reached the highest Olympic gold medals.
Our film trophies are also worthy, as there is a sculpture of a tourist owl and sculptures of tourists designed by well-known artist Jacek Podlasinski, and on the diplomas, there are butterflies painted by Ewa Kotus herself. The field of competition is wide, as the films competed in as many as 42 categories.
photo: Michał Ogrodowczyk/Forest Film Studio State Forests
Partners of the Award Ceremony of the 19th FilmAT Festival were the following institutions: Polish Tourism Organization, Museum of Sport and Tourism in Warsaw, Sofitel Warsaw Victoria Hotel and Olczak & Son Confectionery. Accompanying the ceremony, the presentation of Frederic Chopin’s Butterflies, as part of the Butterfly Glade project, received the patronage of the International Tourfilm Academy and the Marshal of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship.
The ceremony was hosted by Ms. Aleksandra Czechowicz Woźniak – Deputy Director of the Museum of Sports and Tourism and Ewa Kotus – Director of the Festival.
Honorary guests of the event were: Nikolay Kostov – Counselor of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria – Jury member of the 19th FilmAT Festival, Petr Maryška – Counselor of the Embassy of the Czech Republic, Alexander V. Kammel – President of the International Tourfilm Academy, the highest authorities of Polish cities and regions, presidents of corporations and companies.
Since the beginning of the Festival, we have been presenting out-of-competition awards to people, companies and institutions that have made a special impact in the world by promoting Poland. One of these is an award that celebrates victories of the highest rank in the field of film. And during the 19th FilmAT Festival, the Board of Directors decided that the TOURIST 2024 Statuette will be awarded to Pawel Pawlikowski – a famous filmmaker with a huge worldwide output. Let’s recall that in previous years the statuettes were awarded to: Roman Polański, Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Zanussi, Studio Se-ma-for, Łódź Film School, Marek Żydowicz, and others.
The second statuette goes to a person or institution in the field of tourism in the wide sense of the word. And here, on the occasion of the beautiful anniversary of the 100th anniversary of the State Forests, the Festival Board decided to strongly emphasize the achievements of this important institution in the protection of natural heritage, handing out the TOURIST 2024 statuette.
A great anniversary was reinforced by the International Tourfilm Academy awarding the “Tourist Owl” statuette to the film “Amphibians. Pioneers of Life on Land” by the Forest Film Studio of the State Forests in Bedoń, recognizing it as a film that should serve scientists in their educational work. The International Jury of the Festival awarded several beautiful documentaries of the Forest Film Studio, and the special prize of the Chairman of the Jury also went to them. Very interesting films prepared by the Krzeszowice Forest District were also appreciated…. CONGRATULATIONS to all those who proudly wear the uniform of the Polish State Forests!
Competition awards were decided by the Board of Directors of the International Tourfilm Academy and the International Jury of the Festival:
Alexander V. Kammel
AUSTRIA – EUROPE
President of International Tourfilm Academy
Zbigniew Żmudzki
POLAND – EUROPE
President of the International and National Jury of 19th FilmAT Festival
And members of the jury (in alphabetical order):
Elizete De Azevedo Kreutz
BRASIL – SOUTH AMERICA
Daghan Celayir
TURKIYE – EUROPE/ASIA
Nikolay Kostov
BULGARIA – EUROPE
Magdalena Krucz
POLAND – EUROPE
Agnieszka Pyla
POLAND – EUROPE
We introduce everyone on the festival’s website.
For the first time, not only the chairman of the jury, but also members of the jury could award their special prizes, as everyone had a different favorite.
The highest prize of the festival is the Grand Prix, which the international jury awarded to the film:
“Discover the Mysterious Lower Silesia”
The film was commissioned by the Marshal’s Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
Among the awarded were productions promoting cities such as “Be smart the Warsaw way”, “Tychy from A to Z”, “Cieszyn makes an impression”, a series of films promoting Toruń, films promoting Głuchołazy, the Copernican heritage of Olsztyn, the Castle Museum in Pszczyna, or the offer of the Rymanow Spa.
The Gezet Group, GTV, Ever Grupa S.A., Wolbrom S.A. and celebrating its 100th anniversary BGK Bank, were awarded in the corporate film category.
Tourist statuettes also went to documentary filmmakers: Martyna Wojciechowska, Ewa Ewart, Teresa Kudyba, Ryszard Kruk, and Wojciech Bojanowski.
We present all the winners along with their films on the Festival’s website and we congratulate all of them wholeheartedly!
from the left: Iga Dziadkowiec, Dawid Nowak, Henryk Czerwiński, Anna Obłoza,
Aleksandra Jadczak/Department of Culture, Promotion & Tourism,
Masovian Voivodeship Self-Government in Warsaw
We are in Mazovia, Fryderyk Chopin’s butterflies from the great collection “Butterflies of the World” by Ewa Kotus accompanied all the winners of the 19th FilmAT Festival, as they decorated their diplomas with their beauty. I was touched by the team of very young representatives of the Marshal’s Office of the Mazovian Voivodeship, who, receiving the award, proudly talked about the series of 25 awarded films, so heartily encouraging to visit Mazovia, to organize trips, various short excursions, to love our Mazovian land….
In conclusion, I would like to highlight two very important awards that symbolically united Poland and the Czech Republic during the ceremony. After almost 4 years of construction, the more than 16-kilometer-long section of the S3 Bolków – Kamienna Góra expressway was opened to traffic, with PORR S.A. as the contractor. Completion of the S3 route connecting the Baltic Sea with the Czech Republic will allow Czechs to reach the Polish seaside by car without hassle.
1st prize City Promotion
„Prague – feel the rhythm of centuries”
Prague City Tourism a.s.
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1st prize Informational Films
“Czechs gaining access to the Sea”
PORR S.A.
The delicious, beautiful cake, traditionally prepared by Olczak & Son Confectionery, presented the beautiful Kaja Bear Moth (Arctia caja) and was worthily shared by Mrs. Aleksandra Czechowicz Wozniak – Deputy Director of the Museum of Sports and Tourism and Alexander V. Kammel – President of the International Tourfilm Academy.
