The 56th edition of Krakow Film Festival, one of the oldest and the most recognisable events dedicated to documentary, animated and short films, has started on 29^th May. During 8 days of the festival, the viewers will have a chance to watch, in 4 competitions and 12 non-competing sections, over 250 films from Poland and around the world, the majority of which will be shown in Poland for the first time.

In four competitions, 114 films will vie for the recognition of the jury and the audience. The best productions from all corners of the globe will participate in the International Documentary Film Competition, International Short Film Competition, Music Documentary Film Competition DocFilmMusic and in the National Competition.

The opening ceremony of the Festival was honoured with the world première of the documentary film "21 x New York City" by Piotr Stasik. It is an intimate portrait of the city and its inhabitants, a remarkable story about loneliness accompanying people living in the Western society of the 21st century. The film takes part in the international documentary film competition and national competition.

This year, the special guest at the Festival is Swedish cinematography - within the section "Focus on Sweden," the latest documentary and short films will be shown. The section was inaugurated on Monday, May 30 by the screening of the film "The Swedish Theory of Love" with the participation of the author - the well-known, uncompromising director Erik Gandini. The documentary film is an attempt to confront the stereotypical, extremely idealistic perception of Sweden (and the Nordic countries in general) as the land of happiness.

One of the most interesting events of the first days of the Festival is undoubtedly the screening of the monumental work by Sergey Miroshnichenko "Rings of the World," opening this year's series "Olympic Games in the eyes of the masters". The Olympic Games in Sochi are the most expensive Olympic event in history, which was meant to show the power of Putin's Russia by their scale. Splendour also flows from the film, showing the meticulous preparations, beautiful landscapes and spectacular, breath-taking shots of sport disciplines. However, the Olympic athletes shine brighter against this background - dreaming about medals, overcoming their fears and weaknesses, raising the spirit of sports above social and political divisions.

This year's Dragon of Dragons award, for the contribution to the international documentary cinema, goes to Marcel Łoziński, an eminent director, documentary filmmaker and educator, one of the best known Polish filmmakers, the winner of countless film festivals and many prestigious awards. The official presentation of the award is held on May 31, Tuesday. The ceremony will be accompanied by the screening of three unique films by the artist: the 1994 Academy Award nominee "89 mm from Europe," 2009 award-winner at Krakow Film Festival "Poste Restante," and "Anything Can Happen," which was chosen the best Polish documentary film of the century this year.

Traditionally, there are also screenings of films awarded at the partner festivals ("Festival Award Winners"), Polish documentary, animated and short films, directed both by young filmmakers and by acclaimed directors ("Panorama of the Polish Film"), the review of short films nominated for the European Film Award in 2015 ("Short Matters!"), screenings for children and teenagers (Kids & Youth), the most famous documentary films of the last year from the most diverse corners of the world ("World Stories"), films made in European countries ("Somewhere in Europe") and documentary dedicated to science and scientists (“Docs+Science”). In the open-air cinema Kino pod Wawelem, five documentary and feature films under the banner of "Beatlemania" will be shown. The other highlights of the programme are Krzysztof Kieślowski retrospective, held to honour the 20th anniversary of the artist's death, and a review of films dedicated to Andrzej Wajda, on the occasion of the master's 90th birthday.

Film professionals are invited to participate in the Industry Zone, a series of events dedicated to filmmakers. The pillar of the Industry Zone is Krakow Film Market – a digital video library, containing about 250 documentary, short and animated films, including the festival's competition films and sections prepared by the partners. One of the highlights is DOC LAB POLAND featuring workshops for directors and producers of Polish documentary films. DOC LAB POLAND includes two pitching sessions: DOCS TO START (Polish projects in development) and DOCS TO GO! (Polish documentaries in post-production/editing-stage). There are also presentations, master classes, networking events and the industry conference with Swedish filmmakers planned.

This year, Krakow Film Festival will host about 850 Polish and international visitors: directors, producers, festival representatives and over 25 000 viewers are expected.

56th Krakow Film Festival is held from May 29 to June 5, 2016.

Detailed programme and the tickets available on: www.krakowfilmfestival.pl