The “50 for 50” project in August – the yearlong all-Poland celebrations of the 50th edition of the Polish Film Festival are underway
In August we will celebrate in Opole Lubelskie, Lubomierz, Gdynia, Wrocław, Zwierzyniec, Kraków and Katowice. In the summer version of the “50 for 50” project, we invite you to “A film journey with humour from Gdynia to Lubomierz” and “Days of the Wacko”, that is August with Adaś Miauczyński. We will learn about “Paths of internal transformation”, recall “The first slap” and student films, as well as the debuts of directors of the younger generation. And the “Golden Lions” will visit the Białoprądnicki Manor. We will continue “Gdynia with humour” and “Three decades of Polish absurdity”.
In July, we met 16 times in 8 institutions and heard over 20 festival stories from filmmakers and experts. We talked about rebellion, absurdity, and the “50 for 50” correlation with Sucha Beskidzka. We set off on a “Journey to the land of film”, sailed along the Augustów lakes, watching “Nights and Days”. There was also “Gdynia with humour” and “Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Golden Lions”. We have proven that “Film is the most important of the arts!”
– As part of the “50 for 50” project, the National Centre for Culture in Łódź invited you to a series of screenings, meetings with artists, discussions, a walk around Łódź, a guided tour of the Kino Polonia exhibition and workshops in the Sound Studio – say the organisers of the review “Camera, image, sound – 50 years of the Gdynia Festival at the National Centre for Culture” from EC1 (Centre for Science and Technology). The event programme includes three films shown at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, which are connected with Łódź. – The directors of the productions we selected are graduates of the Lodz Film School, and “Escape from the ‘Liberty’ Cinema” and “The Moth” were filmed in Łódź, – they explain. The organisers focused on three aspects closely related to filmmaking – camera, image, and sound – which are also the themes of the films presented. – In “Camera Buff” the camera is not only a tool for recording reality – it becomes the source of the protagonist’s transformation, a way to understand himself and the world. “Escape from ‘he ‘Liberty’ Cinema” tells the story of an image that gets out of control, becomes alive, and raises questions about freedom, truth, and the role of art in an enslaved society. “The Moth” is a film in which sound plays a key role – the noise of everyday life, silence, voices and humming become a metaphor for the protagonist’s loss and spiritual division.
In August, we invite you to:
“Gdynia with humour” | Open-air cinema in the City Park, Opole Lubelskie
1.08 Superprodukcja, dir. Juliusz Machulski. Before the film, a conversation with the programme director of the Lublin Film Festival, Andrzej Rusin, and the head of the Lublin Film Festival office, Emilia Rusin.
22.08 The Linnet, dir. Witold Leszczyński
“A film journey with humour from Gdynia to Lubomierz” | Lubomierz
Screenings: Kino Raj, Lubomierz
8.08 Sparrow, dir. Tomasz Gąssowski
9.08 Piłkarski poker, dir. Janusz Zaorski
10.08 Day of the Wacko, dir. Marek Koterski
Meetings: Rynek, Lubomierz
9.08 Meeting with actress Maria Pakulnis
10.08 Meeting with actress Małgorzata Potocka and the director Radosław Piwowarski
“The path of internal transformation” | Centrum Telewizyjno-Konferencyjne, Telewizja TBN POLSKA, Gdynia
9.08 Johnny, dir. Daniel Jaroszek An after-screening meeting with the director and Patryk Galewski.
Big Animal, dir. Jerzy Stuhr. An after-screening meeting with the director of photography Paweł Edelman and the director’s assistant Iwona Strzałka.
Back Then, dir. Kinga Dębska. An after-screening meeting with the director Kinga Dębska, the producer Zbigniew Domagalski and actress
Barbara Papis
“Days of the Wacko. August with Adaś Miauczyński.” | The Lower Silesian Film Center, Wrocław
2.08 The House of Fools, dir. Marek Koterski and a lecture by the author of the blog “Zwierz Popkulturalny” Katarzyna Czajka-Kominiarczuk.
9.08 Nothing Funny, dir. Marek Koterski
23.08 Day of the Wacko, dir. Marek Koterski. After the film there will be a quiz with prizes.
“The first slap” | Summer Film Academy Festival in Zwierzyniec
13.08 Moje miejsce, dir. Leszek Dawid, My Name Is Ki, dir. Leszek Dawid (an after-screening meeting with the director)
14.08 You Are There, dir. Anna Kazejak, Łysy, dir. Jan Komasa, Ode to Joy, dir. Anna Kazejak, Jan Komasa (an after-screening meeting with the director Anna Kazejak)
15.08 3 love, dir. Agnieszka Smoczyńska, The Lure, dir. Agnieszka Smoczyńska (an after-screening meeting with the composer Zuza Wrońska)
16.08 Silence, dir. Małgorzata Szumowska, Happy Man, dir. Małgorzata Szumowska
“Golden Lions at the Manor” | Białoprądnicki Manor Cultural Centre, Kraków
23.08 The Silent Twins, dir. Agnieszka Smoczyńska
30.08 Kill It and Leave This Town, dir. Mariusz Wilczyński. An after-screening meeting with the director.
“Three decades of Polish absurdity” | Kino Kosmos, Katowice
28.08 Day of the Wacko, dir. Marek Koterski. An after-screening meeting with the director.
As part of the “50 for 50” project, as many as 57 institutions in 34 cities are organising a review of films focusing on a selected fragment of the history of the Polish Film Festival. The screenings are accompanied by meetings with guests who talk about the films presented and share their festival memories. Owing to this, we learn about the history of the Polish Film Festival through the outstanding filmmakers such as Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Paweł Pawlikowski, Jerzy Stuhr, Agnieszka Holland, Janusz Zaorski, Marek Koterski, Agnieszka Smoczyńska and Daniel Olbrychski. The younger generation of filmmakers will be represented, i.a., by: Agnieszka Smoczyńska, Jan P. Matuszyński, Korek Bojanowski, Piotr Domalewski and Maria Zbąska. Some of the events focus on genre cinema and films for young audiences, other concern milestone events, such as the first festivals organised in Gdańsk, awarding Man of Marble with a symbolic brick or the pandemic 45th edition of the Festival, held entirely online. The topics cover issues such as rebellion, power of women, diversity, otherness and dialogue. The programme includes also classics and canon titles, as well as winners of the Golden Lions and Don Quixote awards.
The events organised as part of the “50 for 50” project are held from March to December 2025. The project is run in arthouse cinemas, open-air cinemas, and also in film society cinemas (DKF). Cultural centres, libraries and media collections will organise their reviews too. The offer is addressed also to university and film school students. The 50th anniversary of the PFF will be celebrated also by other festival, such as: Tofifest International Film Festival in Toruń, Kino Na Granicy Film Festival, Summer Film Academy in Zwierzyniec and Bana Film Festival in Pleszew.
The list of all reviews held as part of the “50 for 50” project and the map of their location is available at: https://festiwalgdynia.pl/50-na-50/. Detailed information on particular events will be provided on websites of partner institutions.
The organiser of the “50 for 50” project is the Pomeranian Film Foundation in Gdynia – the producer of the Polish Film Festival. The project was co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage and the Polish Film Institute. The main partner of the “50 for 50” project is the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute. The project is organised in partnership with the Documentary and Feature Film Production Company and Telewizja Polska. The media patrons of the project are: Telewizja Polska, Polska Press Grupa, naszemiasto.pl, Program 1 Polskiego Radia, Program 3 Polskiego Radia, Magazyn Filmowy SFP, Filmweb, Interia, Miesięcznik KINO.
