The Cultural Centre Centre De Spil in Roeselare showcases a mini Polish Film festival during the Spring Holidays. Every day, a movie will be screened, along with conferences, workshops and other funny moments. Here is the list of the presented movies: Afterimage, The art of loving, Behind the blue door, The zookeeper’s wife, 11 Minutes and Butterfly kisses.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
>>> CC De Spil (Hippoliet Spilleboutdreef 1, 8800 Roeselare) – see map
>>> from Tuesday 13 February until Saturday 17 February
>>> €7 / €3,5
Tuesday 13/02 – Afterimage (Powidoki)
(Andrzej Wajda, PL, 2016, orignal Polish version w/NL subtitles, 98′)
In post-war Poland, the famous painter Władysław Strzemiński taught at the Lodz Academy of Fine Arts. He had achieved notoriety before the world war broke out due to his nature and the ‘unist’ movement which he helped to found. His students continued to regard him as the “saviour of modern painting” but the Ministry of Culture took an entirely different view. Unlike his counterparts who had complied with the party line and accepted the principles of socialist realism, Strzemiński refused to compromise when it came to his art. He refused to follow party orders, which led to him being expelled from the university and the Union of Artists. In spite of this, his students continued to visit him and take private lessons with him. They noted his theory of vision and set great store by his opinion on their work. Yet Strzemiński, who lost an arm and a leg, and who subsequently found himself without a source of income, slipped into severe poverty and his health declined. This did not prevent the communist authorities from continuing to work on ruining him. This is the last film from Andrzej Wajda, one of the greatest directors ever to grace Polish cinema.
>>> Screening at 14:30 and 20:00
>>> The 20:00 screening will be preceded (at 19:00) by an introduction by Professor Kris VANHEUCKELOM (Catholic University of Leuven). Those attending can sample Polish patisserie and drinks after the film. As for those who opt for the 16:00 screening, they will be served a slice of tart and a cup of Polish coffee.
Wednesday 14/02 – The Art of Loving (Sztuka Kochania)
(Maria Sadowska, PL, 2017, orignal Polish version w/EN subtitles, 121′)
The film tells the story of Michalina Wisłocka, a gynaecologist who achieves the impossible in the conservative and puritanical Poland of the post-war years. Her book “The Art of Loving” revolutionised people’s sex lives in communist Poland. In order to publish her book, Wisłocka had to fight a lengthy battle against conservative stereotypes, widespread ignorance and censorship against the backdrop of a complicated personal life. One thing is for sure: the sexual lives of Poles changed thanks to her.
>>> Screening at 20:00
>>> A discussion about the topic of the film will take place from 19:00 and will continue after the screening.
Thursday 15/02 – Behind The Blue Door (Za niebieskimi drzwiami)
(Mariusz Palej, PL, 2015, original Polish version w/NL-FR subtitles, 92′)
Łukasz, 11 years old, embarks on an incredible adventure when he goes on holiday with his mother. Following a car accident, his mother falls into a coma and the protagonist is forced to go and live with his aunt Agata. She takes him to a tiny house by the sea where, in his mother’s old bedroom, he discovers a door which opens onto a parallel, magic world… it’s up to Łukasz to decide how far he wishes the adventure to take him!
>>> Screening at 10:00
>>> A free breakfast will be served from 9:00. The screening will be followed by a virtual reality workshop run by Iwona POM.
Thursday 15/02 – The Zookeeper’s wife
(Niki Caro, USA, 2017, original English version w/NL subtitles, 129′)
Two-time Academy Award nominee Jessica CHASTAIN stars in The Zookeeper’s Wife in the title role of Antonina Żabińska, a real-life working wife and mother who became a hero to hundreds during WWII. Niki Caro (Whale Rider, North Country) directed the movie, which was adapted from a screenplay by Angela Workman, adapted from Diane Ackerman’s non-fiction book of the same name which was based on Antonina’s diaries.
The year is 1939. The place is Poland, homeland of Antonina and her husband, Dr. Jan Żabiński (Johan HELDENBERGH, of The Broken Circle Breakdown). Devoted to each other, the couple thrive as personal and professional partners; the Warsaw Zoo flourishes under Jan’s stewardship and Antonina’s care. With her boundless energy, Antonina rises every day to tend to both her family and their menagerie, as the gates to the majestic zoo open to welcome the public…
…until the entrance is slammed shut and the zoo is crippled in an attack as the entire country is invaded by the Germans. Stunned, the couple is forced to report to the Reich’s newly-appointed chief zoologist, Lutz Heck (Golden Globe Award nominee Daniel BRUHL of Captain America: Civil War). Heck envisions a new, selective breeding program for the zoo.
Antonina and Jan fight back on their own terms, and covertly begin working with the Resistance – realising that their zoo’s abandoned animal cages and underground tunnels, originally designed to safeguard animal life, can now secretly safeguard human life. As the couple puts into action plans to save lives out of what has become the Warsaw Ghetto, Antonina places herself and even her children at great risk.
>>> Screening at 20u
>>> Introduction by Polish historian Michał TRĘBACZ, from the POLIN museum in Warsaw.
Friday 16/02 – 11 Minutes
(Jerzy Skolimowski, PL/IER, 2015, original Polish version w/EN subtitles, 81′)
A jealous husband, a sexy woman who works as an actress, a sleazy director working in Hollywood, a careless drug dealer, a young woman left to her own devices, a hotdog seller, an overexcited student on a mysterious mission, a crazy team of paramedics, a starving group of nuns: this is the little panel of inhabitants from a contemporary village whose fates intertwine an take an unexpected turn in the space of scarcely 11 minutes. A thriller from the master of the Polish New Wave, Jerzy Skolimowski.
>>> Screening at 20:00
Saturday 17/02 – Butterfly Kisses (Pocałunki Motyla)
(Rafał Kapeliński, UK, 2017, original English version w/NL subtitles, 89′)
The realist and social drama examines 3 young boys in a boring part of London. The trio escape boredom by playing snooker, talking about women and watching porn. This innocent account of adolescent lives is transformed into a darkly poetic drama when the quietest of the three protagonists falls in love. The ethereal photography and sensational performances by the young actors highlight the sense of a lack of direction felt these boys to whom life has not been kind, to such an extent that it calls to mind the New Wave or English punk. The film was awarded the Crystal Bear at the Berlinale.
>>> Screening at 20:00
>>> The screening will be followed by a drink which will close the week of Polish cinema.
