Krzysztof Kieślowski was born on June 27, 1941 in Warsaw. In 1969 he graduated from the directing department of the Film School in Łódź. Kieślowski began his film career with documentaries. “I was interested in reality and wanted to tell the truth about it. I observed people in various situations and tried to understand them”, the director recalled. Kieślowski avoided ready-made solutions and was always on the lookout.

He experimented in most his feature films with the concepts of fate and chance that govern the human life, and tended to believe in the possibility of supernatural events in our life. The director achieved a special “metaphysical” atmosphere by means of specific frame and light setting. He wanted to “see the inner world of the person” and pushed the viewers to think about the nature of human soul. Krzysztof Kieślowski died at 54, on March 13, 1996 during a heart surgery. Kieślowski remains one of the most influential European directors and his films are studied at film art faculties of universities of the whole world.

The Double Life of Véronique / directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski / Poland-France / 1991

08.10

It is the second half of the 1980-s. Two very similar girls are born at the same day and time in two different countries. Weronika is born in Poland and Véronique is born in France. One day they suddenly meet and during the short time of their random acquaintance look at each other attentively as if looking in the mirror…

“The Double Life of Véronique” was the first Krzysztof Kieślowski’s film created abroad after the world success of his “Dekalog”, which was met by the Polish audience with less enthusiasm than in Western Europe.

Blind Chance / directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski / Poland-France / 1981

10.10

The film presents the circumstances of life in Poland on the eve of the events in August of 1980. The events of the film develop against the background of the history of the Communism in Poland from the end of the Second World War to the beginning of 1980s, when the “Solidarity” was born, and the struggle of the Communist regime against the opposition. The director analyzes the role of chance that shapes the human fate on the example of three versions of the biography of the protagonist Witek…

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Kyiv
8 October – 10 October
“Lira” cinema / Velyka Zhytomyrska st., 40 / Beginning at 19:30