The celebratory gala for the Golden Tapes 2010, the awards issued by critics who are members of the Association of Polish Filmmakers SFP (www.sfp.org.pl), was held on March 4 in Warsaw. Smarzowski, recently awarded with four Polish Eagles for his controversial black comedy, said that one of the film's powers is that it is not a "likable movie." The award for Michael Haneke was accepted by Monolith Film (www.monolith.pl), the Polish distributor.

"The significance of the Golden Tapes is that it is an award assigned by film critics, who judge the real artistic quality of the films and not their promotional value," said professor and critic Andrzej Werner during the opening of the gala. SFP critiques are also members of FIPRESCI.

SFP also decided to grant two Distinction Awards to foreign pictures. The first went to Waltz with Bashir, an Oscar nominated Israeli production directed by Ari Folman and distributed in Poland by Against Gravity (www.againstgravity.pl). A second Distinction Award was granted to Paper Solider, a Russian production directed by Aleksei German and distributed in Poland by Art House.

The Golden Tapes are one of the oldest and most prestigious Polish film awards. Speaking of this year's selection, Werner said, "The young filmmakers showed us a lot of new ideas, introduced a lot of freshness to the Polish cinema. Routine is not one of the traits in their work."