10th Edition of Filmland Polen

The tenth edition of the Filmland Polen New Polish Film Festival will launch in Hanover, Hamburg, and Lübeck between April 28 and April 30, 2012.

Opening Film: Róża (Rosa)

Between April and December, cinemas in northern Germany participating in the Filmland Polen framework will screen approximately 45 Polish feature, documentary, and short films, produced in Poland in 2010 and 2011. The festival’s opening film will be Róża (Rosa), directed by Wojciech Smarzowski and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute. Smarzowski will attend screenings in Hanover and Hamburg.

Films by First-time Directors Supported by the Polish Film Institute

New Polish films to screen at Filmland Polen include several films by first-time directors: Sala samobójców (Suicide Room) by Jan Komasa, Lęk wysokości (Fear of Heights) by Bartosz Konopka, Ki (My Name Is Ki) by Leszek Dawid, Wymyk (Courage) by Greg Zglinski, and Kret (The Mole) by Rafael Lewandowski. These films were also co-financed by the Polish Film Institute

Q&A Sessions and Audience Poll

For those who enjoy discussions on cinema, screenings in Hanover and Hamburg will be followed by Q&A sessions with Polish filmmakers. The audience will have an opportunity to chat with various acclaimed Polish film personalities, including Bartosz Konopka, Roma Gąsiorowska, Agata Kulesza, Marcin Dorociński, Jakub Gierszał, Adam Woronowicz, and Krzysztof Stroiński. The jubilee edition of the Filmland Polen Festival will also bring the results of the 2011 audience poll, along with a prize draw. The prizes were founded by participating cinemas.

Polish Cinema for Young Audiences

To celebrate the Year of Janusz Korczak, this year’s Polish Cinema for Young Audiences programme will feature screenings of films dedicated to the life and works of Korczak, including the animated film Król Maciuś Pierwszy (King Matt the First) by Sandor Jesse and Lutz Stützner, a  teleplay entitled Bankructwo Małego Dżeka (The Bankruptcy of Little Jack) by Agnieszka Glińska, as well as the feature film Korczak by Andrzej Wajda.

Cosmopolitans

The festival team is also planning a series of screenings in a section called “Cosmopolitans: A Week of Cinema from Poland and Others”. The series will focus on films made by Polish filmmakers as international co-productions. Titles screening in this section include Code Blue by Urszula Antoniak, Dwa ognie (Between Two Fires) by Agnieszka Łukasiak, Italiani by Łukasz Barczyk, as well as four films co-financed by the Polish Film Institute: Nagroda (The Prize) by Paula Markovitch, Młyn i krzyż (The Mill and the Cross) by Lech Majewski, Sponsoring (Elles) by Małgorzata Szumowska, and W ciemności (In Darkness) by Agnieszka Holland.

Events Surrounding the Festival

The festival team has planned a number of additional events surrounding the festival. These include an evening of documentary films focused on the history of Polish-German relations. the “Night of the Three Colours: the Krzysztof Kieślowski Trilogy”, and a “Weekend with Andrzej Wajda and His Works”, all taking place in Hamburg.

Promoting Polish Cinema in Germany

The Filmland Polen Festival has been promoting Polish filmmaking in German cinemas for the past 15 years. It is the oldest year-round film event in Northern Germany. Since 2004, Filmland Polen has been organized and coordinated by the Deutsch-Polnisches FilmForum e.V. in Hanover.

Filmland Polen is co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.

Further details available on the festival website: www.filmlandpolen.de (Polish and German only).

Based on the Filmland Polen press release

Translated by Karolina Kołtun