The Transatlantyk International Film Festival was held from July 14-21, 2017 in Łódź—the city at the heart of the Polish film industry. Founded and directed by Polish Oscar-winning film composer Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, this Festival puts a strong spotlight on the music aspect of film creation, especially in the form of two international film composition competitions: Transatlantyk Film Music Competition ™ (TFMC) and the Transatlantyk Instant Composition Contest ™ (TICC).
On July 21, during the Closing Gala concert performed by the Kwadrofonik ensemble, the laureates of both competitions were announced. The winner of the FMC contest was Ruslan Perezhilo, a Latvian composer. In the ICC competition, the winner was Polish pianist and composer Jakub Czerski. All prizes awarded are listed below:
- Transatlantyk Young Composer Award – First Prize: RUSLAN PEREZHILO (20.000 PLN)
- Transatlantyk Young Composer Award – Second Prize: AKOS LUSTYIK (10.000 PLN)
- Transatlantyk Young Composer Award – Third Prize: JEREMY LEIDHECKER (5.000 PLN)
- Best Polish Composer Award (co-sponsored by ZAIKS & Transatlantyk): ANTONI WOJNAR (20.000 PLN)
- Transatlantyk Instant Composer 2017 – First Prize: JAKUB CZERSKI (15.000 PLN)
- Transatlantyk Instant Composer 2017 – Second Prize: VITALIY KYIANYTSIA (7.500 PLN)
- Transatlantyk Instant Composer 2017 – Third Prize ex-aequo: JONASZ WIEWIÓR& VLASTA TRACZYK (2.500 PLN each)
- Transatlantyk Instant Composer 2017 – Honorable Mention Award: HANNA RANISZEWSKA
TICC jurors were Michael P. Aust (director of the international film festival in Brunswick and the international festival of film music soundtrack Cologne), Matthijs Kieboom (composer, winner of the competition the TICC in 2011), Piotr Metz (famous music journalist) and Jan A. P. Kaczmarek. The FMC jury was comprised of: Anne-Sophie Bion (Editor), Jean-Michel Bernard (film composer), Wiesław Komasa (outstanding Polish film and theater actor), Michael Seresin (cinematographer of Birdy and Harry Potter) and Jan A.P. Kaczmarek.
The entire Festival, which was held this year under the theme of “the Power of Women,” began at the Opening Gala with the Great Reading of Women—a musical and literary spectacle underscored with the music of Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, performed by the Hollyłódzką Film Orchestra, the Vivid Singers choir and soprano Joannę Jakubas, under the direction of maestra Monica Wolińska. The performance featured nine exceptional women—actresses Katarzyna Herman, Justyna Wasilewska, Zofia Wichłacz and Agnieszka Żulewska, director Joanna Kos-Krauze, writers Katarzyna Bonda and Sylvia Chutnik, designer Joanna Klimas, and the director of the entire show, Maria Sadowska (pictured below)—reading excerpts of texts by famous female writers, including Simone Beauvoir, Doris Lessing and Patti Smith.
[Sources: ruslanperezhilo.com, transatlantyk.org, transatlantyk.org, facebook.com]