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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Pianoforte, a film about young pianists competing in a famous piano competition held in Warsaw, has become the first Polish documentary to win an International Emmy.
“We have an Emmy,” wrote the film’s producer, Maciej Kubicki, in a social media post sharing images from Monday’s award ceremony in New York, where Pianoforte won in the best arts programming category.
The International Emmy Awards are handed out annually by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (IATAS) for works produced outside the United States.
Pianoforte won in its category after being shortlisted alongside the productions Robbie Williams from the United Kingdom, Virgilio from Argentina, andWho I Am Life from Japan.
The International Emmy® for Arts Programming goes to “Pianoforte”
Produced by Telemark / HBO / The Fryderyk Chopin Institute / Ventana / ZDF/ Arte / Mazovia Warsaw Film Fund / MX35 / Polish Film Institute#iemmyWIN pic.twitter.com/kQQX9Q9BHH— International Emmy Awards (@iemmys) November 26, 2024
The documentary, directed by Polish filmmaker Jakub Piątek, follows young pianists from around the world participating in the Chopin Competition, one of the world’s most prestigious classical music contests held every five years in Warsaw.
The film offers an intimate look at their lives, shaped by rigorous training from an early age. Among the featured competitors are Italy’s Alexander Gadjiev and Leonora Armellini, South Korea’s Hyuk Lee, and China’s Hao Rao.
Also highlighted are Jewa Gieworgian, an 18-year-old Russian-Armenian student at the Moscow Conservatory, and Poland’s Marcin Wieczorek, who studies at the Bydgoszcz Music Academy.
Piątek’s film also earned recognition from the Polish Film Academy, which honoured it with the best documentary award. Additionally, it has received accolades at various festivals, including Millennium Docs Against Gravity and The Young and the Film. The movie is available online on the Max platform.
Pianoforte is the first Polish documentary film to ever receive an International Emmy. To date, only one other Polish production has been recognised by the IATAS, notes Press magazine: The Magic Tree, which won in the children and youth in 2007.
In 2009, Seven Gates of Jerusalem, based on Polish composer Krzysztof Panderecki’s Seventh Symphony, was nominated for in arts programming category but failed to win.
A Real Pain, a new movie by Jesse Eisenberg filmed entirely in Poland, has had its premiere in Warsaw.
The director says that the film, which is being tipped as an Oscar contender, is a “love letter to Poland”, the country from which his ancestors hailed https://t.co/JjX2yJkprG
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 5, 2024
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Pianoforte / Against Gravity
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
