Friday, June 1, 2018 – Sunday, May 13, 2018
The Museum of the Moving Image
36-01 35th Avenue (at 37th Street), Astoria, NY
On the centennial of Poland regaining its independence, this series draws from a rich cinematic history to present some of the greatest Polish films ever made. The selection focuses on the struggle for freedom, as relevant today as it was a century ago. The series shows how cinema has been crucial to Poland’s ongoing struggles for independence.
Seven films will be screened in this series . Three masterpieces by Andrzej Wajda: the visually stunning and historically grounded work of political cinema Ashes and Diamonds, Man of Marble, a story of a young filmmaker whose movie about a bricklayer and labor leader reveal the bitter truth of 1950s Stalinism in Poland, and Promised Land, an epic historical drama set during the late 19th century in Lódz, the cradle of Polish textile industry. We will also see one of the most ambitious and acclaimed Polish films in recent years: Volhynia by Wojtek Smarzowski (with actor Arkadiusz Jakubik in person), set in a small village inhabited by Ukrainians, Poles, and Jews in the former borderlands of pre-war Poland; The Pianist, an adaptation based on the autobiography of the acclaimed Polish composer Wladyslaw Szpilman about his survival during World War II, for which Roman Polanski won the Oscar for Best Director and the Palme D’Or at Cannes; Warsaw 44 by Jan Komasa, a big-budget tale of youth, love, courage, and sacrifice during the Warsaw Uprising and Nights and Days by Jerzy Antczak, an epic love story portraying the fate of two generations of the Niechcic family set amid Poland’s social transformations between 1865 and 1914.
Four screenings will be introduced or discussed by Annette Insdorf, Columbia University film professor and author of books including Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski; Intimations: The Cinema of Wojciech Has; and Cinematic Overtures: How to Read Opening Scenes. There will be a book signing with Professor Insdorf on Saturday, June 2 at 3:00 p.m.
This program has been organized by the Association of Polish Filmmakers with the support of Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Poland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Polish Cultural Institute New York, Polish and Slavic Federal Credit Union. Special thanks to Hanna Hartowicz, founding director, New York Polish Film Festival.
