FILM FROM WAJDA SCHOOL
THE BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM IN PETERSBURG

Produced by the Wajda School film by Adam Palenta 'Popatrz [Take a Look]' won the Best Documentary Film Prize at the Festival in Saint Petersburg.

At this year's International Youth Film Festival in Saint Petersburg the film by Adam Palenta 'Popatrz' won the Best Documentary Film Prize. The main characters of the film are blind children who take the viewer on a journey to their world of sensibility and imagination, showing how they read images through touching. The film 'Popatrz' produced by the Andrzej Wajda School has been repeatedly presented at many festivals at home and abroad, where it was recognised both by the critics and by the audience. Among other awards it won the 1st Prize at the International Youth Filmmakers Short Film Festival in Vilnius.

Adam Palenta – cinematographer and director, a graduate of the documentary course at the Wajda School. Currently he is finishing another documentary film, devoted to the history of a Home Army solder who was convicted during the Stalinist era – the film is also produced by the Andrzej Wajda School. 

At this year's edition of the Festival in Saint Petersburg, films from 20 countries were presented – from 6 to 11 October young filmmakers had an opportunity to confront their work with the work of directors from different parts of the world. Apart from the film by Palenta, the main prizes also went to films produced in Spain, Germany, Great Britain and the United States.

(October 2009)