71st UNICA Film Festival

UNICA, the World Union of Independent Cinema, is the oldest existing world independent film organization, which operates within the UNESCO structures. UNICA gathers its member countries' National Federations of Independent Filmmakers. Most of the 36 countries are European but among countries member cuntries we can also find South Korea, Argentina or Tunisia.
The diversified activities of the organization are crowned by the yearly World Festival of Independent Film. The first UNICA festival was held in 1931 in Paris. What is worth mentioning, one of the Lumiere brothers sat on the jury during the first two editions of the festival. The UNICA festivals are currently organized in a different member country each year. So far Poland hosted the festival three times: 1975 in Toruń, 1997 and 2003 in Warsaw. Last year's edition of the festival was held in Tunisia.

In 2009 the festival will be held in Poland, Gdańsk, from September 4 to September 13. It was taken under the honorary patronage of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, the Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, the Mayor of Gdańsk and the President of the Polish Film Institute. It is the 71st edition of this eminent cultural event which aims at promoting independent cinema.
Films not longer than 1 minute are particularly popular among the films entered yearly in the competition. They take part in the World Minute Movie Cup, which allows films from outside UNICA-membership countries. During the festival the jury awards the films honourable gold, silver and bronze medals, as well as special mentions. These are very prestigious awards in the independent filmmakers' circles. This is why festivals organized by UNICA enjoy an excellent reputation among foreign filmmakers and promoters of independent cinema.

This year's edition of the UNICA festival is organized by the Federation of Independent Filmmakers, a non-governmental organization of creators and producers of non-commercial films. It was created in 1956 and to this day it actively promotes independent cinema. Numerous achievements of this group include preparing and organising three international UNICA film festivals, which were held in Toruń in 1975 and in Warsaw in 1997 and 2003. Moreover, the same group manges the following events: OFF/ON Warsaw, European Film Week, Polish National Competition of Amateur Films OKFA in Konin, International Film Festival “Dozwolone do 21”, Young Cinema Art – the World Student Film Festival and Grand OFF, World OFF Film Awards.

www.unica2009.pl