We’ll be awaiting your applications until February 6, 2015.
We have extended the application deadline for the competition for the best film or photographic report to focus on the subject of emigration. This is due mostly to the large number of questions from participants, but we are also taking into account the recent relocation of our offices and were worried about the timely arrival of all the competition works to the right address – Polska Street 1, Gdynia. Up until today, the submitted reports have arrived from all over the world – Bolivia, Georgia, Palestine, and India, among others. We hope the prolonged application period will allow all interested in the competition to submit their works.
We kindly remind you that the main prize is 5 000 PLN along with a chance to present the winning report on the biggest travel festival in the country – the Kolosy National Meeting of Travelers, Sailors, and Mountaineers. The “Man Beyond Borders” competition is directed at Poles at home and abroad, who encountered during their travels an emigrant whose story deserves to be presented before a wider audience. Through this competition, the Museum would like to recount the stories of people who confront the unknown, find their place among new languages, new cultures, new climates, and – sometimes – completely new economic realities. Reports about their hardships, successes, emotions, and featuring either individual protagonists or wider contexts, will be assessed by a well-known traveler and reporter Monika Witkowska, multiple prize winning photographer Filip Ćwik, laureate of World Press Photo 2011, and the Director of the Emigration Museum in Gdynia – Karolina Grabowicz-Matyjas.
The first edition of the competition, patronized by Pawel Edmund Strzelecki – an outstanding geographer and traveler, the first Pole to complete an individual scientific journey around the world – took place a year ago under the “Get to know your fellow countryman!” tagline and focused on reports about Polish emigrants. Last year’s jury awarded the main prize to a film report recounting the story of a Pole who – while living in a small town in Guatemala – took it upon himself to impersonate Santa Claus. Two other works were distinguished – one telling the story of Poles living in London, and the other featuring descendants of Polish emigrants in Texas, USA.
Similarly to last year’s competition, the main criteria for choosing the laureate relate to uniqueness and weight of the story tackled; technical prowess is of secondary importance. We extend our invitation to both amateurs and professionals – no professional equipment is needed – anyone who sends in their application accompanied with photographs or a short film by February 6 2015 can join the competition.
The subject of the competition has been expanded this year and it aims to present Polish experiences with emigration in a broader, supranational context – The mission of the Emigration Museum in Gdynia is to raise awareness of the history of Polish emigration and we do so with full recognition to the universal character of the phenomenon. Migration is a natural process that has occurred virtually everywhere and since the dawn of time. We are extremely curious about the stories about Polish emigrants that will be presented in the competition, as we are all part of a world in constant migrational traffic – explains Karolina Grabowicz-Matyjas, Director of the Emigration Museum in Gdynia/
[READ] the Terms and Conditions and [DOWNLOAD] the Application Form.
