The KINOTEKA Polish Film Festiwal returns for its 7th edition presenting the best of Polish cinema. The flagship project of the Polish Cultural Institute in London. Media Patron: Radio ORLA.fm

The Festival, which opens at the Riverside Studios with the highly anticipated 33 Scenes from Life by Małgorzata Szumowska, also features the UK premiere of Jerzy Skolimowski's latest masterpiece 4 Nights with Anna plus special onstage interview with the feted director/actor at the BFI Southbank, and will close with a unique Michael Nyman and Motion Trio concert at the Barbican in a celebration of film and music culminating in the world premiere of Nyman’s latest piece composed especially for KINOTEKA.

In addition to these highlights there will be screenings showcasing the latest Polish films; a four day feast of avant-garde films presented as part of an illuminating Polish New Wave programme at Tate Modern; free screenings of Polish shorts and an exhibition dedicated to Krzysztof Kieślowski’s 20th anniversary of Dekalog.

7TH KINOTEKA POLISH FILM FESTIWAL LISTINGS

12 March – 8 April 2009

www.kinoteka.org.uk

Thursday 12 March
at 7pm at Riverside Studios
Opening Gala

33 Scenes from Life / 33 Sceny z życia
dir. Małgorzata Szumowska
cast. Julia Jentsch, Peter Gantzler, Maciej Stuhr
2008, 97 min

Julia is a successful artist. She loves her
parents and a husband who is a famous
composer. Suddenly everything collapses.
Sickness and death from a close perspective
are different from what Julia expected – much
more absurd, nonsensical, and ridiculous.
33 Scenes from Life is a film about the
moment in life when we become adults.
It’s a story about stepping into the real world,
where pain, suffering and doubts
are inevitable.
Followed by a Q&A
with Małgorzata Szumowska

Friday 13 March
at 6pm at Riverside Studios
Double Bill

Everything Flows / Wszystko płynie
dir. Edyta Turczanik
2007, 10 min
People.., Birds.., Trees.., Light.., Sound..,
Time.., Everything flows...

Drowsiness / Senność
dir. Magdalena Piekorz
cast. Małgorzata Kożuchowska, Michał Żebrowski
2008, 105 min

Magdalena Piekorz second feature after her
hugely successful debut The Welts (2004)
is a tale about people existing in a state
of emotional lethargy. Róża is an actress
but she can’t work because she suffers
from narcolepsy. She suspects her husband
is cheating on her, yet she is afraid to face
the problem. Adam, a young doctor,
is struggling between loyalty to his parents
and choosing his own way of life. Robert,
a famous writer, faces a difficult trial...
As the protagonists’ paths cross, fate gives
them a chance to break free from their
emotional narcosis.

Friday 13 March
at 8.15pm at Riverside Studios
Double Bill

PRL de Lux
dir. Edyta Wróblewska
2008, 15 min
Few people know that the Polish city of Krakow
has another face – a district called Nowa
Huta, a model for a communist city. Tourists
bored with the usual historical attractions,
can choose an alternate trip into the absurdities
of communist times.

How Much Does the Trojan Horse Weigh? /
Ile waży koń trojański?
dir. Juliusz Machulski
cast. Ilona Ostrowska, Robert Więckiewicz
2008, 118 min
Machulski’s latest comedy tells the story
of Zosia, who happily married for the second
time together with her new husband Kuba,
an ideal man, bring up her daughter from her
first marriage. Her ex-husband is somewhere
around, but nothing can destroy the family
happiness. However Zosia can only think
about one thing: why she did not meet Kuba
earlier? And what would happen if one could
go back in time…?

Saturday 14 March
at 4pm at Riverside Studios
Triple Bill: Focus on Marcin Koszałka

Such a Beautiful Son I Gave Birth To/
Takiego pięknego syna urodziłam

2000, 25 min
Koszałka turns his ironic eye to his parents
in this extremely honest account of the director’s
relationship with them, especially his
domineering mother. For most of time she
is shouting and humiliating her husband and
son. The only thing that brings her happiness
are the memories of Koszałka’s birth and his
early childhood.

All Day Together / Cały dzień razem
2006, 25 min
Two losers from Poland arrive at the house
of a Japanese woman that they would like to
make a movie about, yet she is always busy
or not there to receive them. Marcin Koszałka
examines the cultural differences and language
barriers that are the biggest obstacles
to achieving their plan.

Existence / Istnienie
2007, 69 min
The story of the Polish actor Jerzy Nowak
(Schindler’s List) who wants to donate his
body to science. We follow the serene and
aging Nowak during his preparations as he explores
the question of what will happen to his
body after he donates it to medical science.
Existence is a reconciliatory farewell to human
life and simultaneously a solid depiction
of our vanity, as Nowak in no way conceals
the fact that the purpose of the documentary
is to secure his posthumous reputation.

Saturday 14 March
at 6.20pm at Riverside Studios
Double Bill: Dekalog after Dekalog

Dekalog Part IV / Dekalog część IV
dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski
cast. Adrianna Biedrzyńska, Janusz Gajos
1989, 56 min
“Honour thy father and thy mother.”
A twenty-year old girl finds a letter from
her deceased mother that contains a family
secret. She confronts her father, leading to
a major change in their relationship.

Till It Hurts / Do bolu
dir. Marcin Koszałka
2008, 24 min
In Till It Hurts, Polish director and cinematographer
Marcin Koszałka returns to the
subject of his first documentary, Such a Nice
Boy I Gave Birth to, which dealt with his own
relationship to his dominant mother. Again
he goes right to the threshold of pain in this
film which was part of the Polish television
series celebrating the 20th anniversary
of Kieślowski’s original entitled Dekalog
after Dekalog with a reinterpretation
of the fourth commandment – honour your
father and mother – as a form of deep
emotional disruption.

Saturday 14 March
at 8.05pm at Riverside Studios

The Offsiders / Boisko bezdomnych
dir. Kasia Adamik
cast. Marcin Dorociński, Jacek Poniedziałek
2008, 126 min
Jacek Mróz, a former player of the National
Polish soccer team, is currently homeless,
an inhabitant of the Central Rail Station.
Against the odds he decides to establish
a homeless football team with his fellow
misfits.
Followed by a Q&A with Kasia Adamik

Sunday 15 March
at 3pm at Riverside Studios
Double Bill: Dekalog After Dekalog

Dekalog Part III / Dekalog część III
dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski
cast. Daniel Olbrychski, Maria Pakulnis
1989, 56 min
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep
it holy.” On Christmas Eve, lonely Ewa tries
to convince her lover Janusz to stay with her
for the night and not with his family. Her husband
is missing, and she asks Janusz to help
her search for him. In this episode Kieslowski
expands eloquently on his fascination with
affairs of the heart and their consequences.

Remember the Sabbath Day
to Keep It Holy / Pamietaj, abyś dzień
święty swięcił
dir. Maciej Cuske,
2008, 44 min
In a few months Staś is going to take his
First Communion. It is an intensive period
of preparations, spiritual and material ones.
Each person in the family experiences
it differently. Cuske’s objective camera
brings insightful observation upon himself
and his family.
10
Sunday 15 March
at 5.20pm at Riverside Studios
Double Bill

Refrains / Refreny
An episode repeats itself in the life
of a family of three very close-knit women.
dir. Wiola Sowa
2007, 13 min

Time to Die / Pora umierać
dir. Dorota Kędzierzawska
cast. Danuta Szaflarska, Krzysztof Globisz
2007, 104 min
Time to Die boasts possibly the greatest
lead performance by a 91-year-old woman
in the history of cinema, for whom it was
written. Gloriously feisty and totally unwilling
to be the infirm woman everyone expects
her to be, Szaflarska’s performance brings
us her fire in the form of expressive rebellion,
which is simply magnetic. A gorgeous
black and white poem, a triumphant display
of spirit, and an extremely touching and profound
impressionistic meditation on old age,
little wonder this cinematic treat is causing
such a stir!
Tricks / Sztuczki
False / Falstart
dir. Igor Devold
2007, 27min.

Sunday 15 March
at 7.40pm at Riverside Studios
Double Bill

False / Falstart
dir. Igor Devold
2007, 27min.
After leaving prison Witek goes to Norway
to find his wife and daughter and mend
his family relations. Story of young people,
who were put in adult roles way too quickly.

Tricks / Sztuczki
dir. Andrzej Jakimowski
cast. Damian Ul, Ewelina Walendziak
Rafał Guniczak
2007, 96 min

During the long summer holidays, six-yearold
Stefek follows his 17-year-old sister Elka
as she works by evening in a bar and prepares
for her job interview with a large international
company. One day, at the railway station,
they see a man who Stefek suspects may
be the father who abandoned him at birth.
Stefek and Elka have developed a life in
which they believe that ‘tricks’ or games
can influence the course of events. Andrzej
Jakimowski’s second feature film is a real
charmer, conjuring up sunny days and a world
of provincial childhood that is both nostalgic
and evocative.

Monday 16 March
at 8.30 pm at Prince Charles Cinema
Ideal Boyfriend for My Girlfriend /
Idealny facet dla mojej dziewczyny
dir. Tomasz Konecki
cast. Marcin Dorociński, Iza Kuna
2009, 128 min

A tale about how strong is the power of love
at first sight. When Kostek meets Luna,
there is no doubt that she is the one.
The problem is that they are so different
that it is hard to imagine them living
together. The movie made by the creators

of Testosterone (2007) and Lejdis (2008),
is one of the biggest box-office successes
in Poland in the last few years.

Wednesday 18 March
at 6.30pm at BFI Southbank
Four Nights with Anna / Cztery noce z Anną
dir. Jerzy Skolimowski
cast. Artur Steranko, Kinga Preis
Małgorzata Burczkowska
2008, 91 min

Enigmatic, disturbing and tender, Four Nights
with Anna marks Skolimowski’s return as
a director after a 17-year absence. The film
opened the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes
last year, attracting comparisons with his
1971 masterpiece Deep End. Artur Steranko
plays the loner Leon, who becomes obsessed
with a nurse in a small provincial hospital.
What is his motivation and how far will his
obsession take him?
Followed by a Q&A with Jerzy Skolimowski

Saturday 21 March
at 2.30pm at R
Jerzy Skolimowski’s retrospective
Identification Marks: None / Rysopis
cast. Jerzy Skolimowski, Elżbieta Czyżewska
1964, 80 min

This revolutionary film was immediately
acclaimed by critics as heralding a ‘Polish New
Wave’. Made piece-meal budget during his
years at the Łódź Film School, Skolimowski
used the film stock available to him for
student exercises to complete his feature directorial
debut. The film features Skolimowski
himself in the main role, as the immature and
purposeless Andrzej Leszczyc. Skolimowski exploited
the system of the Polish film industry
to make his film, utilizing the amateurishness
of student-filmmaking as a subversive tool.
The film might be percieved as a first independent
production in socialist Poland.

at 4.10pm
Walkover / Walkower
cast. Jerzy Skolimowski, Aleksandra Zawieruszanka
1965, 77 min
Skolimowski returns as Andrzej Leszczyc,
the restless, alienated outsider from his first
feature Identification Marks: None. Andrzej
decides to enter a boxing tournament despite
the fact that odds are very much against him.
The night before the fight he encounters
Teresa, a girl he knew at University before
he was expelled.

Sunday 22 March
at 2.00pm at Riverside Studios
Double Bill: Jerzy Skolimowski’s retrospective

Barrier / Bariera
cast. Jan Nowicki, Joanna Szczerbic
1966, 84 min
Barrier is Skolimowski’s third and the most
acclaimed of his early films. A university
graduate leaves a cold campus for a new life
armed with a suitcase, a coin he won from a
friend, and the old sword given by his father.
It is a film about two generations who have
different feelings about the war; the older
generation keeps imposing their emotions
on the young, like passing on the sword once
used in battles.

at 3.45pm
Hands Up! / Ręce do goÅLry
cast. Jerzy Skolimowski, Joanna Szczerbic
Tadeusz Łomnicki,
1967/1981, 90 min
Censored by the Polish authorities Hands
Up! can be seen as a direct provocation for
change. The film beginins with a sci-fi motif:
abstract images and electronic music. Then
the viewer is taken from the ruins of Lebanon
back into the past, featuring a score of Polish
actors in a setting resembling Kantor’s
experimental theatre. The story is a probing
investigation of a group of young physicians
who recall their university days during the
Stalinist period while meeting at a class
reunion. Originally completed in 1967, the
film was not released in the West until 1981
after Skolimowski reedited it and added new
colour footage.

Monday 23 March
at 7pm Cargo Club
POLISH SHORTS PART I
Programmed by Jan Naszewski, Shorts International
and hosted by Polish DeConstruction

Loneliness Of The Short Orders Cook /
Samotność kucharza szybkich zamowień
dir. Marcel Sawicki, 2008, 25 min
A Japanese expat in New York is looking
for love and understanding in this original,
sophisticated piece of filmmaking.

Take a Look / Popatrz
dir. Adam Palenta, 2008, 4 min
Two blind kids try to describe an abstract
painting by touching it.

What Nobody Knows / Czego nikt nie wie
dir. Maciej Prykowski, 2008, 23 min
Romantic comedy. A city boy falls in love with
a country girl desperate to leave her father.
Their move to town leads to an unexpected
finale.

The Well / Studnia
dir. Andrzej Gosieniecki, 2008, 9 min
Animation. There is a belief among desert
tribes that water can be obtained from
clouds. During a drought a group decides to
hunt for clouds with air baloons.

Joyets / Radostki
dir. Magda Osińska, 2008, 10 min
Animation about the power of a child’s
imagination.
Followed by a Q&A with Magda Osińska.

Monday 30 March
at 7pm Cargo Club
POLISH SHORTS PART II

Aria Diva
dir. Agnieszka Smoczyńska, 2007, 30 min
When an opera diva moves into a flat above
a middle-class family a special relationship
develops between her and her housewifeneighbour
in this electrifying and sensual
drama.

Glass Trap / Szklana pułapka
dir. Paweł Ferdek, 2008, 15 min
Documentary. Young gangster-wannabies
lead their lifes like action film heroes. Cars,
drugs and... fish fights are their daily bread.

Mr. Owl And The Barber From Targowek /
Pan Sowka i fryzjer z Targowka
dir. Lesław Dobrucki, Marzena Popławska,
Joanna Pawluśkiewicz, 2008, 10 min
Stylised comedy written by children from
Warsaw’s Praga district. In a society ruled
by an obsessed barber a group of youngsters
decides to rebel.

The Splinter / Drzazga
dir. Wojtek Wawszczyk, 2008, 17 min
The Splinter is a story about a wooden park
bench, unhappily in love with a girl. Desperate
and hurt it decides to have its revenge.
Followed by a Q&A with Paweł Ferdek

POLISH New wave:

Friday 3 April
at 7pm at Tate Modern
All screenings of Polish New Wave
– Starr Auditorium
Through And Through / Na Wylot
dir. Grzegorz Królikiewicz
1972, 70 min
Królikiewicz’s radical debut is representative
of his parallel pursuits – as a filmmaker as
well as a film theorist – and employs his crucial
theory of ‘out-of-frame cinematic space’.
The first film in his trilogy (together with
Dancing Hawk and Endless Claims) portraying
typical Polish anti-heroes imprisoned by
reality, Through and Through criticized the
nihilism and depravity created by the sociopolitical
system.

Saturday 4 April
at 3pm at Tate Modern
Jerzy Skolimowski
Identification Marks: None / Rysopis
1964, 78 min
This revolutionary film was immediately
acclaimed by critics as heralding a ‘Polish New
Wave’. Made piece-meal budget during his
years at the Łódź Film School, Skolimowski
used the film stock available to him for
student exercises to complete his feature directorial
debut. The film features Skolimowski
himself in the main role, as the immature and
purposeless Andrzej Leszczyc. Skolimowski exploited
the system of the Polish film industry
to make his film, utilizing the amateurishness
of student-filmmaking as a subversive tool.
The film might be percieved as a first independent
production in socialist Poland.

Saturday 4 April
at 7pm at Tate Modern
On The Silver Globe / Na Srebrnym
Globie
dir. Andrzej Żuławski
1976/1987, 155 min
One of the earliest cosmic odysseys, and
science fiction superproductions the film
begins and ends with off-screen commentary
by Żuławski on the failure of the film’s
12-year-long production, left unfinished due
to bureaucratic intervention. The film’s selfreferential
commentary, amazing costumes,
hysterical and ecstatic cinematography and
montage, and unforgettable performances,
are all typical of Żuławski’s unique and
shamanic film language.
Dir. Andrzej Żuławski introduces the screening

Sunday 5 April
at 12.00 at Tate Modern
The Illumination / Iluminacja
dir. Krzysztof Zanussi
1973, 87 min
A student of physics searches for solid scientific
paradigms and, ultimately, metaphysical
explanations, eventually realizing that
the state of mind suggested by the title will
prove elusive. Combining elements of fiction
and documentary, this film-essay puts the
impossible ideal of philosophical illumination
in confrontation with the clichés of everyday
life, utilizing a shocking and extraordinary
form.

Sunday 5 April
at 3pm at Tate Modern
NEW WAVE SHORTS
The Hydro-Riddle / Hydrozagadka
dir. Andrzej Kondratiuk
1970, 70 min
A superhero comedy modelled on detective
films and comic strip parodies, The Hydro-
Riddle begins during a Warsaw heat-wave,
in which the city’s water supply has inexplicably
vanished. Scientists and a detective
desperately try to solve the mystery.
With its gleeful deconstruction of film heroes
and icons, its unapologetically inappropriate
quotations from Shakespeare, Goethe and
others, and terrific camera-work, it’s hard
to believe The Hydro-Riddle was made
in communist Poland.

Skiing Scenes With Franz Klammer /
Sceny Narciarskie Z Franzem
Klammerem
dir. Bogdan Dziworski, Gerald Kargl,
Zbigniew Rybczyński
1980, 22 min.
One of the best examples of ‘creative documentary,’
the paradoxical genre examined
and expanded by artists from the Łódź Film
School, the film presents a biographical-visual
impression of an Austrian skier-celebrity
of the late-70’s.
Wanda Gościmińska. A Textile Worker /
Wanda Gościmińska. WłoÅLkniarka
dir. Wojciech Wiszniewski
1975, 21 min
The film focuses on a symbol and product
of communist propaganda of the 50’s
– the famous labor leader Wanda
Gościmińska from Łódź, deconstructing the
false mechanisms, beliefs and rituals
of the totalitarian era. This ‘creative documentary’
was shaped in unusual visual and
cinematic structure: combination of set
design by conceptual artist Ewa Partum and
cinematography by Zbigniew Rybczyński.
Project co-organized by:
Filmoteka Narodowa in Warsaw, Center
for Contemporary Art (CSW) in Warsaw,
Polish Film Institute

Wednesday 8 April
Closing Gala
at 7pm at the Barbican
The Michael Nyman Band + Motion Trio
Films to write Music To

Nyman is one of Britain’s most celebrated
composers and his recently discovered Polish
roots have led him to seek inspiration from
the visual history of Polish cinema.
The Barbican and KINOTEKA are proud
to present a very special evening of film
and music, offering a unique collaboration
between the Michael Nyman Band and the
cutting-edge Polish accordion group,
Motion Trio.
The evening begins with Nyman revisiting
some of his most celebrated scores for Peter
Greenaway’s films including The Draughtsman’s
Contract (1982), Drowning by Numbers
(1988) and Prospero’s Books (1991)
and includes the world premiere of a new
version of MGV (Musique a` Grande Vitesse)
performed with Motion Trio. The phenomenal
technique, imagination and avant-garde
approach of the Motion Trio adds a totally
new aural dimension to these classic
Nyman scores.
The climax to the evening is the World
Premiere of Nyman’s latest musical work,
a personal celebration of classic Polish cinema.
Nyman has composed his new work to
a montage of extracts from the Polish films
which have inspired him, featuring many
remarkable and visually stunning images
from great Polish filmmakers such
as Andrzej Wajda, Andrzej Żuławski,
Krzysztof Kieślowski and Andrzej Munk.

Venues:

Riverside Studios
Crisp Road
Hammersmith
London W6 9RL
020 8237 1111
www.riversidestudios.co.uk
Barbican Centre
Silk Street
London EC2Y 8DS
020 7638 4141
www.barbican.org.uk
Prince Charles Cinema
7 Leicester Place
London WC2H 7BY
0870 811 2559
www.princecharlescinema.com
Tate Modern
Bankside
London SE1 9TG
020 7887 8888
www.tate.org.uk/modern
Cargo club
83 Rivington Street
Shoreditch
London EC2A 3AY
020 7739 3440
www.cargo-london.com
BFI Southbank
Belvedere Road
South Bank
Waterloo
London SE1 8XT
Box Office: 020 7928 3232
www.bfi.org.uk