Bydgoszcz documentary filmmakers win awards at the “To Love a Human Being” festival
Two documentaries by filmmakers associated with the Bydgoszcz Film Chronicle were honoured at the 22nd International Festival of Amateur Films “To Love a Human Being” in Oświęcim.
This year’s edition received 108 film submissions, of which 58 were selected for competition screenings. Katarzyna Bogucka and Wojciech Hofman returned from Oświęcim with prestigious distinctions, confirming the high standard of Bydgoszcz documentary filmmaking.
Katarzyna Bogucka’s film “Half Past One” received the UNICA Medal of the International Union of Cinema, the festival’s patron. The jury awarded the filmmaker from Bydgoszcz for her search for new means of artistic expression. The documentary tells the story of Mr. Jerzy and his extraordinary relationship with his dog, Wolter. After the animal’s death, the protagonist faces emptiness, longing and memories.
“After his dog passed away, Mr. Jerzy posted letters around Bydgoszcz announcing the loss of his friend and now willingly shares this story with people he meets. In the film we enter the inner world of the protagonist and learn more and more about his life. It is a universal story about love and what happens when it is gone,” reads the description on the Bydgoszcz Film Chronicle website.
The documentary is a universal story about attachment, loneliness and the need for closeness—themes closely aligned with the festival’s core idea.
See the documentary here!
Meanwhile, the documentary “From First to Last” by Wojciech Hofman won third prize – the Bronze Heart – in the documentary category. This intimate film takes place in a queue. The director portrays conversations, minor tensions, kindness and impatience, revealing a microcosm of human relationships. It is “a short documentary set on the streets of a big city, whose essence unfolds within the small worlds of individual people. It is a collection of values and reflections of those who regularly find themselves standing in line.”
The festival’s main award, the Crystal Heart, went to the film “Hope” by Krzysztof Jakoniuk and Mateusz Guzowski from Supraśl. It was described as “a beautiful story about accepting life, about joy in each day, and about coming to terms with passing.”
The “To Love a Human Being” festival has been held since 1985. Its first edition accompanied the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the German Auschwitz extermination camp and the city of Oświęcim. Since 1996 the event has had an international character and takes place every two years.
“The festival is a meeting of filmmakers for whom human issues are close—human beings who love, who are joyful, creative and victorious, but also those who struggle, suffer and lose,” the organisers state. “Festival films—features, documentaries and animations—record human stories and reveal the truth of their time. They place human struggles and the fight for a dignified life within the context of changes taking place in the immediate and broader environment. They move and evoke emotions. They address the human condition and humanity’s place in the world.”
Bydgoszcz Film Chronicle
The Bydgoszcz Film Chronicle (BKF) is a unique project not only in the region but in all of Poland. It combines the characteristics of a film school and a film club, where cinema enthusiasts develop their ideas and learn filmmaking under the guidance of renowned Bydgoszcz-born documentarians Maciej Cuske and Marcin Sauter.
To date, BKF has produced more than 100 short films by young creators, including Under Sail by Stanisław Cuske, Black Sunday by Jarosław Piskozub and Maciej Jasiński, and Unexpected by Mateusz Buława. BKF graduates continue their education at film and art schools and pursue professional filmmaking careers.
Department of Promotion
6 February 2026