The second edition of Tramway Film Festival will take place on October 3–6, 2024, at the U–jazdowski Cinema, part of the Ujazdowski Castle Center for Contemporary Art in Warsaw.

The idea to organize Tramway Film Festival was born out of a personal need to fill the void of showcasing arthouse cinema, especially experimental, essay and hybrid film, which had so far been neglected in Poland. The Festival has been devised to promote conscious, original and innovative art cinema, especially the works of authors of short film across the world.

‘The core of the festival consists of two international competitions, aimed at finding and promoting emerging talents who have a distinctive character and extraordinary creative vision. For the first edition we had more than 200 submissions; for the second as many as 537 films from 71 countries were submitted!’, says Bartosz Reetz, the festival’s creator and artistic director.

‘Tramway Film Festival’s ambition is to leave behind the beaten tracks of cinematography and reveal to the audience some novel, previously unknown horizons of the cinema. To this end, we invited for the competition authors from around the world who have the courage, knowledge and talent to point at a new direction to go’, Bartosz Reetz adds.

Last year, the audience watched 10 Polish premieres and 1 world premiere out of the total 12 films presented  in the Cine Sin Fine; a section that showcases fiction-documentary hybrids, essays, experimental and avantgarde films. The Jury – Klara Da Costa (chairwoman of the jury, Manager of the U-Jazdowski Cinema and Curator of film programme at the Ujazdowski Castle Center for Contemporary Art in Warsaw), Ola Jankowska and Maciej Kowalczyk – honoured  Francesco Montagner’s Asterión with the Best Film Award, while Against Time directed by Ben Russell received a special mention.

As many as 9 out of 13 short fiction films presented in the Cineverso – cinema from the other side section premiered in Poland at the festival. The Best Film Award went to Isabelle Tollenaere for The Fruit Tree. The Jury also awarded two special mentions ex aequo to Sun Dog by Dorian Jespers and What Remains by Daniel Soares.

The organizers emphasize that the festival serves as a meeting point on several levels. First of all, it is a space of interaction around films between the audience, filmmakers and critics. Secondly, the festival can make a stage for filmmakers who take the risk and speak boldly in their works. Thirdly, the festival aims at creating space for dialogue between the history and the future of film; a space in which all sorts of various cinema traditions meet the most innovative and bold propositions.

Consequently, the festival also comprises non-competition sections. According to a metaphor used by the organizers, while competitions, with their potential to promote emerging talents, are the heart of Tramway Film Festival, its soul is made of non-competition sections, which bring unknown cinematography gems to the Polish audience.

This year’s edition will include three non-competition sections: Cinephile, with the curator’s selection of short and feature films; Cine Polaco, showcasing Polish films; and Cinemundo.

Last year, the curator’s section – Focus on Lithuania, prepared in cooperation with Lithuanian Shorts – offered a glimpse into the country’s cinematography. This year, the main character of Cinemundo section will be Peru. But why Peru?

‘Peru’s cinematography is still largely unknown and may be even considered exotic from our point of view’, Bartosz Reetz, the Artistic Director, explains. ‘It’s definitely worth discovering, even if it’s still practically unexplored at festivals outside of South America. As I mentioned before, we think that taking a beaten track is futile, because we know where it leads to. What can we expect to see there? The same things that others have seen before us. Places wild and unknown are definitely more interesting.’

The organizers have more surprises in stock for the Polish audience. These will be revealed gradually via the festival’s social media channels and website: https://tramwayfilmfestival.com/

The festival is organized by the Editions Spotkania Foundation, which promotes Polish culture in Poland and abroad through cultural events such as concerts, exhibitions and performances.

This edition of Tramway Film Festival will be held under the honorary patronage of the Mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski.

The festival’s strategic partner is Veolia.

Veolia Energia Warszawa is a modern and fully digital company of the Veolia Group. It manages Warsaw’s hseating network, supplying the residents of the capital with district heating and hot water through the EU’s largest network of this kind. Apart from that, Veolia is actively involved in the life of the city. The company works towards the protection of natural environment by investing in children’s and youth environment education projects. Through active support of education, culture and art projects, Veolia contributes to the development of the city and local communities.

‘We are contributing to the development of our city through investments in modern and energy-efficient heating infrastructure. In addition to that, we also support projects aimed at improving living standards in Warsaw, from maintenance of green areas to culture, sports and education’, says Aleksandra Żurada, Communications Director at Veolia Energia Warszawa.

‘Events such as Tramway Film Festival contribute to the growing recognition of Warsaw as an international centre for creative thinking and film art innovations. By supporting artists and cutting-edge narrative forms, we want to play a role also in this aspect of Warsaw’s transformation’, Aleksandra Żurada concludes.

Event Partners:

– Ujazdowski Castle Center for Contemporary Art in Warsaw – the location of screenings for the second edition of Tramway Film Festival this October

– Lima Alterna Festival Internacional de Cine – one of the most prominent and interesting film festivals in Peru and South America; partner of the Cinemundo section

Media Patrons: Pełna Sala, Radio Kampus, desistfilm (international film Internet portal from Peru), Kino.