Polish Films at World Festivals
This year seven films co-financed by the Polish Film Institute will be shown at important world festivals, including in Venice, Montreal, Toronto, Tokyo, Busan, and Mar del Plata.
The Polish film Scratch (Rysa) by Michał Rosa will be shown on 3 September during the Venice International Film Festival in the prestigious section “Venice Days”. The following month, the film will be presented at a festival in Busan, one of the most important film festivals in Asia.
The film Four Nights with Anna (Cztery noce z Anną) by Jerzy Skolimowski is travelling around the world and was shown at the opening gala of the “Quinzaine des réalisateurs” section in Cannes. The film will be also displayed at prestigious festivals such as Toronto, Tokyo, Mar del Plata, New York, Chicago, and Taiwan.
The list of Polish productions that will be shown at the biggest world festivals is much longer. The film 33 Scenes from Life (33 Sceny z życia) by Małgorzata Szumowska, recently honoured with the Golden Leopard at Locarno IFF, will be shown at the Toronto IFF in the Contemporary World Cinema section. Co-production Tulpan by Siergiej Dworcewoj will be shown in the Discovery section. This year the film was awarded with the Grand Prix in the “Un Certain Regard” section at Cannes and the Grand Prix in the “East of the West” section in Karlovy Vary.
The film 33 Scenes from Life will also be shown in the “World Cinema” section at the Busan IFF. In the same section Mr. Kuka’s Advice (Lekcje Pana Kuki) by Dariusz Gajewski and the already mentioned Scratch will be presented. Viewers from festival in Montreal will see Katyń by Andrzej Wajda, presented in the “Masters of Cinema” section, and All Will Be Well (Wszystko będzie dobrze) by Tomasz Wiszniewski – in the “World Film Panorama”.
Screenings at prestigious festivals are not the only indication of Polish film’s growing presence in the world. To further support Polish cinema promotion, the Polish Film Institute this autumn will co-organise two important retrospectives of Polish producers in New York: Andrzej Wajda in Lincoln Center, and Agnieszka Holland in the Museum of Modern Art.
The retrospectives will be complete reviews of the artistic creativity of these two outstanding directors and will be held in two of the most important cultural institutions in New York. In November a big retrospective of Polish films will be held during the Mar del Plata International Film Festival.
The Polish Film Institute is also planning to promote Polish films at leading world film markets. Poland will take part in a so-called umbrella stand – a stall organised under the patronage of the European Film Promotion programme at the festival in Toronto and the American Film Market in Los Angeles in November.
Translated by Monika Miziniak | Edited by Patricia Koza