Mateusz Buława is an independent Director of short documentary films and a cinematographer.
He was barely a teenager when he started turning his first film visions into reality, as part of Bydgoska Kronika Filmowa (The Bydgoszcz Newsreel), under the patronage of Directors Maciej Cuske and Marcin Sauter. The first made by Buława was the short documentary film Jurek, made for Bydgoska Kronika Filmowa, which won a number of awards at international film festivals. The other short film was “Hospital of Butterflies”, which demonstrated the great sensitivity of the filmmaker towards human tragedy. The document is dedicated to children suffering from cancer, who are preparing for their First Communion ceremony, in one of the hospitals in Bydgoszcz.
Buława is also one of the authors of the Polish edition of the documentary project ,,Świat od świtu do zmierzchu”/The World from Dawn till Dusk” – he directed the short film titled ,,Filozofia grabarzy”/”The Philosophy of Gravediggers.”
His successive documentary was entitled “Gdy przyjdzie mi ten świat porzucić/”When it comes to me to leave this world”, which participated in the finals of the International Short Film Competition organised by Sundance Channel. The film also won the Special Prize of Ekspres Reporterów Magazine, during the Praski Festiwal Filmów Młodzieżowych (the Praga Festival of Films by Young Directors) in Warsaw, the Grand Prix at the 13th edition of the Film Festival at Jan Kochanowski Secondary School No. 28 in Warsaw, the Grand Prix at the Dozwolone do 21 Film Festival in Warsaw, the 1st prize at the Klaps Amateur Filmmaker Contest in Bygdoszcz, and the 3rd prize at Ogólnopolski Konkurs Filmów Niezależnych OKFA (the OKFA All-Poland Independent Film Competition) in Konin.
Mateusz Buława was also the cinematographer on the following short films: ,,Obsesja” (2017),,,Klinika Sukcesu” (2017), ,,Słyszeć więcej” (2017), and ,,Zupa” (2018).
Selected filmography
- 2013 – „Jurek”
- 2013 – „Motylkowy Szpital”/”The Hospital of Butterflies”
- 2015 – „Gdy przyjdzie mi ten świat porzucić“/”When it comes for me to leave this world”
- 2016 – „Osobno/razem”
- 2018 – „Nieoczekiwane”
Selected awards
The Szarlotka Film Festival in Skierniewice – Main Prize; the Film Festival at Jan Kochanowski Secondary School No. 28 in Warsaw – Grand Prix; Tofifest IFF – The Golden Angel Award in the Lokalizacje competition; Praski Festiwal Filmów Młodzieżowych (the Praga Festival of Films by Young Directors) in Warsaw – A special prize of the Ekspres Reporterów magazine; and others.
