Animowana historia Polski / Animated History Of Poland (by Tomasz Baginski)

DIRECTION: Tomek Bagiński CONCEPT ARTIST: Marcin Jakubowski LAYOUT: Damian Nenow ANIMATORS: Maciej Wojtkiewicz, Arkadiusz Firlit, Łukasz Burnet MUSIC: Adam Skorupa, Krysztof Wierzynkiewicz SYNOPSIS: In a primeval forest, a tree clearing bathes in the sunlight as it stretches from the horizon. When the clearing comes into full view, a warrior rams his spear into the ground. When a sudden wind blows, in place of the spear, an early medieval town raises... This is only the beginning of the Animated History of Poland; an educational film produced for the Expo 2010 Exhibit in Shanghai. Over a thousand years of Polish history told in less than nine minutes. DIRECTOR: TOMEK BAGIŃSKI Born in 1976 in Bialystok, Poland. A self-taught artist and animator. As a senior, he quit his studies in architecture to make films. His first student film, Rain, won several local prizes in 1998 and began his association with PlatigeImage. From 1999 to 2002 he worked on and off on his dramatic short debut, The Cathedral (Katedra). The film won the Best Animated Short Film in 2002 at the SIGGRAPH special effects festival, as well as earned an Oscar nomination the following year. In 2004, Baginski made his second short film entitled Fallen Art, which, a year later, won the grand jury prize at SIGGRAPH, making him the first artist in the history of the festival to get both main prizes. In 2008 he became the director and animation artist of visualization of Krzysztof Penderecki's concert The Seven Gates of Jerusalem, the celebration finale of the world famous composer's 75th birthday. In 2009, he completed another animated short film The Kinematograph (Kinematograf). FILMOGRAPHY 2010 Animated History of Poland (Animowana historia Polski) 2009 The Kinematograph (Kinematograf); Best Film at the 13th Animago, Int'l Competition for Digital Content, 09'; 2004 Fallen Art (Sztuka spadania); BAFTA '06; SIGGRAPH, Special Jury Prize; Grand Prix at Tirana IFF and Teheran IFF, '04; Golden Nike at Prix Ars Electronica, Linz; 2002 The Cathedral (Katedra), nomination to the Academy Award for Best Animated Short, '03; Best Animated Short at SIGGRAPH '03; Silver Hobby Horse at Cracow IFF '03; 1997 Rain (Deszcz).