Romantic drama Little Moscow received $22,000 (PLN 50,000) and the Golden Lion award for best film at the 33rd Polish Film Festival on Sept 20.

An international jury chaired by Polish director Robert Glinski selected the winners from among 16 competition films at the festival in the seaside town of Gdynia.

Directed by Waldemar Krzystek and produced by Pawel Rakowski, Little Moscow is set at a Soviet army base in Poland in the months leading up to the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.
The story portrays a tragic love affair between the wife of a Russian pilot and a Polish officer and their daughter's attempt, 40 years later, to learn what happened to her parents.

Russian actress Svetlana Khodchenkova was named best actress for her double role in the film as the officer's wife and her daughter.

AlthoughRussian actors take leading roles and more than half the film's dialogue is in Russian, Little Moscow is a purely Polish production between Skorpion Art, Banana Split and Telewizja Polska.
Rakowski told journalists in Gdynia that he was in negotiations with three Russian distributors who would like to give the film a wide release in the CIS.

The Silver Lion and $13,000 (PLN 30,000) went to runner-up Before Twilight, directed by Jack Blawut and produced by Anna Blawut-Mazurkiewicz.

Malgorzata Szumowska's 33 Scenes From Life collected four awards. After winning the Special Jury Prize at Locarno, the film collected awards in Gdynia for Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Musical Score and Best Supporting Actress.

The Polish Film-makers Association presented its award to 0_1_0, directed by the late Peter Lazarkiewicz.

Outside the main competition, the grand prize in the Young Cinema section went to Luksus (dir. Jaroslaw Sztandera). The film Nie ma o czym milczec (dir. Maciej Buchwald) won the grand prize in the Independent Cinema competition.

Main awards, 33rd Polish Film Festival

Best Film: Little Moscow (dir. Waldemar Krzystek)
Best Director: Malgorzata Szumowska for 33 Scenes From Life
Best Screenplay: Michal Rosa for Scratch (dir. Michal Rosa)
Best Actress: Svetlana Khodchenkova for Little Moscow
Best Actor: Jan Nowicki for Before Twilight (dir. Jacek Blawut)
Best New Actress: Karolina Piechota for Splinters (dir. Peter Lazarkiewicz)
Best Cinematography: Michal Englert for 33 Scenes From Life
Best Musical Score: Pawel Mykietyn for 33 Scenes From Life
Best Supporting Actress: Malgorzata Hajewska-Kryzsytofik for 33 Scenes From Life
Best Supporting Actor: Eryk Lubos for The Offsiders (dir. Kasia Adamik)
Best New Director: Maciej Pieprzyca for Splinters
Jury Special Award: Four Nights With Anna (dir. Jerzy Skolimowski)

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