The festival, running from October 9 to 13, also features special events, including the unveiling of a star honoring film director and screenwriter Marcel Łoziński, and a retrospective of his films.
World-renowned filmmakers, such as Oscar-nominated Rithy Panh from Cambodia and Australian George Gittoes, known for his coverage of global war crimes, will be among the special guests.
This year's documentary competition will feature 12 films, with awards to be decided by a jury led by Mariusz Wilczyński, the director of the film Kill It and Leave This Town.
The festival's top prize, the Grand Prix, includes a cash award and a White Cobra statuette, a tradition since the festival's inception in 1990.
Jakub Wiewiórski, the festival's director, said that many of the competing films were created or co-created by women.
These include The Trees Are Silent by Agnieszka Zwiefka, The Forest by Lidia Duda, Listen to What I Want to Tell You by Małgorzata Imielska, Danger Zone by Vita Drygas, and When the Harmattan Blows by Edyta Wróblewska.
In addition to the documentary films, journalists will compete in the television and audio report categories.
Rithy Panh will receive the Krzysztof Talczewski Award, given to filmmakers who address contemporary threats through archival materials.
This award will be presented by a committee led by renowned director Agnieszka Holland.
The festival will also offer special screenings of both contemporary and classic documentaries from around the world.
Among the highlights are Mati Diop’s Dahomey, Basel Adra’s We Want No Other Land, and Jeremy Xido’s Bones.
Audiences will also revisit works by Polish filmmakers such as Józef Robakowski and Katarzyna Kobro.
A key moment of the festival will take place on Friday, when a star dedicated to Marcel Łoziński, one of Poland’s most esteemed documentary filmmakers, will be unveiled on Łódź's landmark Piotrkowska Street.
Łoziński, a graduate of the Łódź Film School and a member of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is best known for his Oscar-nominated 1993 documentary short 89mm from Europe.
The festival is organized by the Film Museum in Łódź.
Selected films will be available online from October 13 to 24.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP