The “50 for 50” project in July – the yearlong all-Poland celebrations of the 50th edition of the Polish Film Festival are underway
High summer! We continue the July events as part of the “50 for 50” project. We will celebrate in Bolesławiec, Opole Lubelskie, Jarocin, Katowice, Darłowo and Augustów. Along with the holidays, we will sail “On the wave of rebellion: a cinematic echo of freedom”, we will get to know “Gdynia with humour” and continue with “Three decades of Polish absurdity” and “Journey to the land of film”. There is also the nostalgic “She and He”, which will take place – obviously – on a ship sailing on the Augustów lakes. Because, as we all know, “Film is the most important of the arts”.
And behind us are July’s the “Golden Lions of Kieślowski” at the Bella TOFIFEST International Film Festival, “50 for 50 – correlations” in Sucha Beskidzka and the first edition of “Journey to the land of film” held in Bolesławiec.
The Janusz Zaorski film retrospective, produced at the Culture and Film Centre in Sucha Beskidzka as part of the “50 for 50 – correlations” review, was a unique part of the programme of the 3rd edition of the Billy Wilder Birthday Art Festival and a special journey for the audience and the director to the places where “Partita for a Wooden Instrument” was filmed fifty years ago. The screening of the film “The Mother of Kings” and the play “Separatka” was a meeting of the audience and the creators: film director Janusz Zaorski and Joanna Szczepkowska, a film and theatre actress, celebrating a special anniversary of 50 years of her artistic work this year. The meeting took place in exceptional circumstances and place: in Sucha Beskidzka, where her father, Andrzej Szczepkowski, was born in 1923. The conversation with the actress was accompanied by numerous family memories, and viewers and residents of the city asked insightful questions and provided souvenirs in the form of archival photos and local publications. Thus, the screening of the film “The Mother of Kings” connected people and places, highlighting in a special way the 50th anniversary of the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia. It was there in 1987, during the 12th edition of the Polish Film Festival, which, interestingly, was also the first one organised in Gdynia, that Janusz Zaorski’s film won 5 awards, including the Golden Lions for best film, and Joanna Szczepkowska received the individual award Bronze Lions of Gdańsk for best supporting role. There was also a third special guest of the event: Krzysztof Gierat, director of the Krakow Film Festival for 25 years, awarded the title of honorary citizen by the Sucha Beskidzka City Council at the initiative of the Mayor Stanisław Lichosyt. Thus, under the banner of the Billy Wilder Birthday Artistic Festival in Sucha Beskidzka, the birthplace of the outstanding director, we celebrated several film birthdays and special anniversaries in the presence of distinguished festival special guests. This is how the “50 for 50” film correlations connected two distant ends of Poland: the mountain town of Sucha Beskidzka with the seaside city of Gdynia. We are proud of our joint project carried out with the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia – says Grzegorz Wysmołek, Director of the Culture and Film Centre in Sucha Beskidzka.
In July we also invite you to:
“Journey to the land of film” | Kino Forum, Bolesławiec
17/07 Trip for One Smile, dir. Stanisław Jędryka. After the screening, cinema staff will take viewers on a tour around the cinema facility and introduce them to the history of this place and the history of cinematography.
24.07 Too Old for Fairy Tales, dir. Kristoffer Rus
“Gdynia with humour” | Open-air cinema in the City Park, Opole Lubelskie
18.07 Sparrow, dir. Tomasz Gąssowski and a meeting with the actor Jacek Borusiński.
“On the wave of rebellion: a cinematic echo of freedom” | Festival in Jarocin, Kino Echo, Jarocin
19.07 Blind Chance, dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski. Before the film, a meeting “Teacher and Master” with Magdalena Łazarkiewicz about work with Kieślowski and his works, led by Gosia Kuzdra
20/07 The Last Schoolbell, dir. Magdalena Łazarkiewicz and a meeting with the director, led by Gosia Kuzdra
20.07 Wave, dir. Piotr Łazarkiewicz iand a meeting with Magdalena Łazarkiewicz and Michał Wiraszko, led by Gosia Kuzdra
“Three decades of Polish absurdity” | Kino Kosmos, Katowice
24.07 Escape from the ‘Liberty’ Cinema, dir. Wojciech Marczewski. Before the film, a meeting of former and current managers of the Kosmos Cinema and a discussion about the “ghost of the Polish People’s Republic” haunting the cinema management process now and in the past.
“She and He” | Augustów Cultural Centres, Augustów
25.07 Nights and Days, dir. Jerzy Antczak. Screening of two parts of the film on a ship sailing on the lakes and a meeting with actress Stanisława Celińska.
“Film is the most important of the arts” | 25th Scandinavian Film Festival, Kino Bajka, Darłowo
24.07 The Girl with the Needle, dir. Magnus von Horn
25.07 Kill It and Leave This Town, dir. Mariusz Wilczyński
Songs About Love, dir. Tomasz Habowski (open-air screening at the Town Square in Darłowo – in case of unfavourable weather conditions it will be held at the Bajka cinema). Introductions by Ryszard Jaźwiński before the screening of films.
The organiser of the “50 na 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 na 50” project is the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute. The project partners are the Documentary and Feature Film Studios and Telewizja Polska. The media patrons of the project are Telewizja Polska, Polska Press Grupa, naszemiasto.pl, Polish Radio Channel 1, Polish Radio Channel 3, Polish Filmmakers Association Film Magazine, Filmweb, Interia, KINO monthly, and Kino Polska Television.
