The Independent School and Amateur Short Films Competition is a special event in the program of TWO RIVERSIDES Festival. It’s a space for the young independent authors and students from art departments taking their first steps into the world of film production.

TWO RIVERSIDES Festival gives them a chance to become known and present their work on the big screen. It also gives them an opportunity to confront their ideas with the most demanding jury- the audience.

Many directors have accepted our invitation to the Festival, among them the creators cooperating with the Munk Studio: Paulina Majda (Two steps behind…), Marcin Jażyński (Criminal), Zbigniew Czapla (The Ritual), Arek Biedrzycki (Plain Landscape with a Cradle), Kuba Czekaj (Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark Room), Tomasz Jurkiewicz (If Fish Could Talk), students from the Łódź Film School: Piotr Złotorowicz (Charcoal Burners), Cyprian Piwowarski (Summertime), students from the Krzysztof Kieślowski Radio and Television Faculty at the University of Silesia in Katowice: Leszek Korusiewicz (The Whisper), Jakub Pączek (Rolls, The Best Chiks On the Train), Daria Kopeć, cooperating with SE-MA-FOR Studio (Zuzanna), Maciej Buchwald, an independent author (I’ve Got You On A Tape) and Janaina Marquez Ribeiro, a Brazilian director who studied for 3 years at the Havana Film School in Cuba, the author of ‘The Minutes, the Hours’, featured this year in Cannes Cinefondation, which will have its Polish premiere at the 4th edition of TWO RIVERSIDES Festival.

The young authors will have another opportunity to confront their ideas with the audience. Their films will be subject to assessment of the Independent Juries awarding three prizes- one main and two distinctions- for best short films. The Jury consists of people chosen from TWO RIVERSIDES Festival audience. They have to be independent- not connected with the film industry. A perfect candidate for an Independent Jury is a regular viewer.

The list of Independent Juries is already closed. The 20 members will watch their first competition films on Sunday, August 1, and the results of the Competition will be announced on Saturday, August 7, during the Closing Ceremony of TWO RIVERSIDES Festival.


55 short films from 17 different countries have been qualified to the Independent School and Amateur Short Films Competition this year.