“I’m really delighted. It’s an honour. At moments like this, I’m also grateful to the entire crew who worked on the film and to the central figure, Aneta. It was her extraordinary courage that made the documentary possible. And my artistic mentor, Jacek Bławut, also provided me with enormous inspiration and help,” – director Michał Szcześniak commented just after the list had been announced.
For Starting Point, the fight for a place on the shortlist began in November 2014, when the film won the Golden Frog in the Short Documentary Films category at the 22nd Camerimage International Film Festival. That award made it possible for the producers to launch their efforts to qualify for the Oscars and the film was one of seventy-four from around the world which succeeding in doing so.
In the meantime, it went on to receive a string of other awards, including the Short Doc Award at the Sheffield Doc/Fest, a distinction which also qualifies the winning title for the Oscars and thus heightened the picture’s chance of making the shortlist. The Oscar nominations will be announced on 14th January 2016 and the awards ceremony itself is scheduled for 28th February.
Starting Point tells the story of Aneta, who ‘rebelled to the max’ at the age of nineteen and wound up in prison for murder. Nine years later, her daily routine takes her from behind the walls of the prison to a care home for the elderly. One of the residents, Helena, has been ill ever since infancy. As she sees it, Aneta has everything she could want for and so she avidly asks her all about her life. A test awaits Aneta… and it is Helena who will help her. With cinematography by Przemysław Niczyporuk, the Munk Studio/PFA film was co-produced by Studio Filmowe N. The Oscar qualifying Grand Prix of Short Documentary Competition at the Camerimage Film Festival (December 2014; Bydgoszcz, Poland) went to Starting Point and the list of festivals where it has also received recognition includes the Sheffield Doc/Fest, Encounters – Short Film & Animation Festival(UK), the DocumentaMadrid International Madrid Documentary Festival, the Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival (Kiev, Ukraine) and the Budapest International Documentary Festival.
Official website: Starting Point | FB
Source: The Consulate General of Poland in Los Angeles, Studio Munka
Photo © Starting Point