Screenings of New Polish Films

The Christening by Marcin Wrona.

The 27^th Mons International Film Festival in Belgium drew to a close on February 26. The festival’s Grand Prix and Best Screenplay award went to Chrzest (The Christening) by Marcin Wrona. The Christening is also one of several Polish features that screened at recent film festivals in Dublin and Glasgow.

The Mons International Film Festival is dedicated to love themes in cinema. The festival’s international jury members Joaquim de Almeida, Abdelkrim Bahloul, Jocelyne Beroard, Andrei Gruzsniczki, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Yousry Nasrallah, Mansour Sora Wade, Barbara Tabita, and Roger Van Hool awarded two prizes to Marcin Wrona’s latest feature. Wrona also gave an interview to the festival reps, available through the Mons festival’s partner website www.eknetwork.tv.

Wrona’s The Christening, along with Essential Killing by Jerzy Skolimowski, also screened in the European cinema section of the recently wrapped Glasgow Film Festival.

“The screening of The Christening at the GFF ended with a completely silent audience. After the death of the main character, it took a long while before anyone dared to budge from their seat. Essential Killing was met with applause. The world became aware of the good quality of Polish cinema,” wrote Mateusz Jażdżewski in Gazeta Wyborcza.

Essential Killing will soon screen at one of the fastest growing film festivals, the 15^th edition of the Sofia International Film Festival. Andrzej Żuławski will be a special guest at this event, presenting his 1981 Cannes award-winning feature Opętanie (Possession) at a special screening organized by the European Film Academy.

Several Polish films also featured in the lineup of the recent Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. The Irish capital welcomed Wrona’s latest feature, along with the recent productions from Marek Lechki and Jerzy Skolimowski. “Erratum proved to be an excellent film, worth nothing but the highest acclaim for its screenplay, dialogue, soundtrack, and camerawork. It is an exceptional and deeply moving drama,” wrote Svetlana Frolova after the Dublin screening.

The Irish film festival also screened Paweł Sala’s Matka Teresa od kotów (Mother Teresa of Cats). This last picture is also screening at the 39^th Belgrade International Film Festival, which runs through March 6.

Translated by Karolina Kołtun