Short Film 01: Franz Kafka (1991)

I will share lots of awarded short films with you. Begining with Piotr Dumala's film: Franz Kafka.

In Franz Kafka, Dumala shows us scenes from Kafka's life, from youth, through the ripening of his creative genius to his eventual isolation. Taking Kafka's diaries, letters and novels themselves as its source, the film includes documentary material - from photos taken by Kafka between 1883 and 1924 to images of Prague at the turn of the century.

Piotr Dumala was born in Poland and studied sculpture and animation at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. His award-winning animated ?lms include Lagodna (Gentle Spirit, 1985), Nerwowe zycie kosmosu (Nervous Life of the Universe, 1986), Sciany (Walls, 1987), Wolnosc nogi (Freedom of the Leg, 1988), and Franz Kafka (1990).

Dumala's films have won multiple awards. Lagodna was winner of the Golden Ducat at the International Film Festival in Mannheim, Germany, in 1985, and received an award for the Best Animated Film at the International Short Film Festival in Toures, France. Dumala received a Mister Linea Award at the Treviso International Animation Festival for his 24 episodes of the series Nerwowe zycie, and, in 1998, Sciany received the Grand Prix at the International Short Film Festival in Krakow, Poland, and Special Jury Award at the International Animated Film Festival in Annecy, France. In 1992, Franz Kafka received the Grand Prix at the 10th International Animation Film Festival in Zagreb, Best Animated Film at the International Film Festival in Madrid, Grand Prix at the International Animated Film Festival in Espinho, and Best Cartoon Animation at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.

Dumala's most recent piece is an adaptation of Dostoyevski's Crime and Punishment (Zbrodnia i kara) which premiered at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in September 2000 and received the prize for Best Design at that festival. In 2001, Crime and Punishment was awarded the Public Prize at the Summer Film Festival in Kazimierz, Poland, and at the International Animation Film Festival in Espinho. In 2003 Dumala was awarded a Luna de Valencia at the Valencia Film Festival for his lifetime achievement in animation. He received the Albin Brunovski Prize in Uherske Hradiste for his artistic creativity in the art of animation, and a Grande FeFe Award at the FeFe Festival in Warsaw for his artistic independence in the field of animation. Dumala has created four MTV idents: Charlatan won the Broadcast Design Gold Award in Orlando, Florida, in 1994, and was a finalist in the New York festivals. Kafka Meets Dostoyevski received an International Broadcast Design Gold Award in 1996.

In addition, Dumala has made commercials and TV trailers; a short public service announcement for Amnesty International; and a ten-second sequence created for the Absolut Vodka website showcasing independent animation. He teaches animation at the Film, Television and Drama School in Lodz, Poland; is a guest professor at the Animation House at Konstfack in Eksj?, Sweden; and a visiting lecturer at Harvard University. He is involved in writing and journalistic activities, and published Razor Game (Male, 2000), a collection of short stories. He also creates graphics, paintings, illustrations and poster designs. He is currently working on his new film The Forest.

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