The documentary film Trains by Maciej J. Drygas has received two more awards at the international film festivals in recent days. The film was appreciated by the jurors of the UnArchive Found Footage Fest and the Neisse Film Festival.
At the UnArchive Found Footage Fest – a leading international event presenting films made using archival materials – which ended on June 1 in Rome, Maciej J. Drygas received the Main Prize for Best use of Archive Footage. The jury, composed of Federica Foglia, Costanza Quatriglio and Eyal Sivan, justified awarding the main prize to the director of Trains as follows:
„The film Trains is a masterful piece of cinematic clockwork, skilfully using archival footage to take the spectator on a journey through dream and horror, joy and sorrow. With its radical simplicity, Trains exemplifies a deep trust in cinema and offers a powerful lesson in how subjective, political gaze can transform the past into an ongoing journey”.
Maciej J. Drygas was also awarded at the Neisse Film Festival, where he received Special Award for a film which is dedicated in a special way to an understanding of the cultural and ethnic differences among different countries – or of the commonalities between them. The Neisse-Fish is awarded to a film that approaches the respective other culture with respect and tolerance and/or takes a cinematic look across the border to the neighboring country and thus paves the way for dialogue.
Trains is a documentary fresco crafted entirely from archival footage and sound design paints a collective portrait of the 20th century, capturing the hopes, desires, dramas, and tragedies that defined the era.
The film had its World Premiere at the IDFA Festival in Amsterdam in November 2024, where it was recognized as the Best Film in the International Competition, and Rafał Listopad received the Award for Best Editing. Since then, Trains has been presented at several international film festivals around the world.
IKH Pictures Promotion coordinates the international promotion and festival distribution of the film. The producer of Trains is Vita Żelakeviciute (Drygas Film Production), co-producers – Rasa Miskinyte (from the Lithuanian company Era Film), Tomasz Rychter (TVP S.A.) and Andrzej Łucjanek & Łukasz Ceranka (FIXA FILM). The film was produced in collaboration with the Eye Film Museum Amsterdam and with the support of the PKP Group Foundation.
