Irish Animation The Polish Language Selected for Mexican Festival
The Irish short animated film The Polish Language, written by Alice Lyons, has been officially selected for competition in the Expresión en Corto International Film Festival which takes place in Mexico from 23rd July until 1st August.
The Polish Language, which was co-directed by Alice and Orla McHardy, is an animated film-poem about the subversive force of art and the renewal of poetry in the whispery language of Polish.
Based on the poem of the same title, the film pays homage to the revitalization of poetry in the Polish language in the 20th century. Using hand-drawn, stop-motion and time-lapse animation techniques, the poem unfolds onscreen, with typography as a key visual element.
The film premiered at last year's Galway Film Fleadh where it picked up the Best Animation award. It has since gone on to screen in festivals including the Darklight Festival in Dublin, Animated Dreams Film Festival in Estonia, Short Film Festival Clermont Ferrand in France, SXSW Festival in Texas and more recently at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. It was also nominated in the Best Animation category at the IFTA's earlier this year.
Produced by Steve Woods for Cel' Division, the animation was funded through the Frameworks scheme which is co-financed by the IFB, RTÉ and the Arts Council.
The Expresión en Corto International Film Festival estimates an attendance of over 83,000 audience members and receives over 2,000 films from more than 85 participating countries in the international competition. The festival takes place in the cities of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato in Mexico from 23rd July until the 1st August.