4th "Five Flavours" FF Launched
Ambassador Joon Jae Lee and festival director Jakub Królikowski. Photo by Piotr Szymański, Polish Film Institute
October 26 brought the opening of the 4th “Five Flavours” Film Festival. The festival was opened by Joon Jae Lee, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Poland. Over the next few days, film enthusiasts will have an opportunity to enjoy Asian cinema – first in Warsaw, later in Krakow, Poznan, and Katowice.
Guests of the opening ceremony gathered at Warsaw’s Muranów cinema, to be welcomed by festival director Jakub Królikowski of the “Arteria” Foundation. He thanked all organizations and persons who helped make the “Five Flavours” film festival possible – among them the Cultural Centre of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Poland and its director Soo-myoung Lee, as well as the Royal Thai Embassy in Poland.
Speaking next was Joon Jae Lee, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Poland. “My sincere congratulations go out to the hosts of the 4th ‘Five Flavours’ Festival. It is my great pleasure to introduce Korean films that will be screened at this festivals. These Korean films form a special section called ‘Taste of Korea’.
The Ambassador also mentioned that cinephiles in Korea include a large number of fans of Polish cinema. Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Trzy kolory (Three Colours) trilogy is particularly popular. The Ambassador later spoke of the filmmaker whose film screened at the festival opening: “I am very happy that the opening film is Dream by Kim Ki-duk. Kim Ki-duk is a director who has had wide acclaim in our country, and is the creator of many interesting films. I think that Korean films really fit into the theme of this festival. There will be five Korean films – just like the name of the festival is ‘Five Flavours’. I hope Polish audiences will really be able to taste the flavour of Korea.
The 4th “Five Flavours” Film Festivals runs through November 1 in Warsaw, later to move to other Polish cities. In addition to Korean cinema in the ‘Taste of Korea’ section, audiences will be able to enjoy feature, documentary, and short films from Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and China. The festival programme features such films as Mundane History, directed by Anocha Suwichakornpong. This film won the Grand Prize at the last edition of the Era New Horizons film festival in Wrocław. In addition to her award-winning feature, the festival will also screen a selection of short films produced by the Thai director.
Screenings will be accompanied by lectures, and a Q&A session with the festival’s special guest – director Ho Tzu Nyen from Singapore. His film Earth (Warsaw) will screen as the “Five Flavours” Festival’s closing film. This will be a special curator version of the film, with live music performed by Wolfram (Dominik Kowalczyk), prepared in co-operation with the director.
Further details about the fourth edition of the “Five Flavours” Film Festival available at: www.piecsmakow.pl.
Translated by Karolina Kołtun