Polish Film Festival

One of our most popular events, the Polish Film Festival returns to the Cinematheque this December 7th through the 9th. Co-sponsored by the Polish Students Association, the Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia (CREECA), and the Polish Heritage Club of Madison, this year's festival continues to bring innovative new Polish films to Madison. For more information, visit the Polish Film Festival website, www.polishfilmfest.org.

Friday, December 7, 7:30pm

What Sun Has Seen (Co Slonko Widzialo)

Poland, 2006, 35mm, color, 108 min.

In Polish with English subtitles

Directed by Michal Rosa

With Damian Hryniewicz, Dominika Kluzniak, Jan Machulski

Scorching July of 2005, a big city somewhere in Slask, and a trio of people who don't know much about one another: little Sebastian, Jozef and Marta. Jozef is a fifty year old man who can't find a job. Marta is a teenager who dreams about going to Norway. Thirteen years old Seba, in turn, wants to find the truth about his family. Each of them is forced to obtain a certain amount of money in a very short time - not a very big sum, but still seemingly out of their reach. They have to do it if they want to change their lives, save some pride and preserve their dreams. The film, which consists of parallel interlacing plots, tells a story of their struggle with everyday life. The fourth protagonist in the story, not less important than others, is the city itself - chaotic, bearing the memories of war, filthy and beautiful at the same time, poor and full of rich enclaves, cruel but also bringing hope to the needy.

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Friday, December 7, 9:30pm

The State Witness (ŠWIADEK KORONNY)

Poland, 2007, 35mm, color, 98'

In Polish with English subtitles

Directed by Jarek Sypniewski, Jacek Filipiak

With Robert Wieckiewicz, Pawel Malaszynski, Urszula Grabowska

A thrilling story about the power of feelings in the world of evil. Gangster Jan Blachowski quits his criminal life because of love to his woman by declaring war against his fellow mafia mobs and becoming the state witness. TV journalist Marcin Kruk, who hides a painful secret, is seeking justice off his own bat. Their paths cross due to a dramatic interview. The film was inspired by factual events.

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Saturday, December 8, 7:30pm

Angelus

Poland, 2000, 35mm, color, 103 min.

In Polish with English subtitles

Directed by Lech Majewski

With Jan Siodlaczek, Pawel Steinert

Twentieth-century history gets a fanciful twist in this imaginative historical fantasy that combines mysticism, bawdy humor, and beautiful, illumination-like tableaux. When a Silesian guru's first two prophecies--World War II and Communism--come true, his disciples prepare for the third: a death ray from Saturn. To forestall the apocalypse, they need a young male virgin as a sacrifice.

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Saturday, December 8, 9:35pm

Testosteron

Poland, 2007, 35mm, 120'

In Polish with English subtitles

Directed by Tomasz Konecki, Andrzej Saramonowicz

With Piotr Adamczyk, Cezary Kosinski, Krzysztof Stelmaszyk

During a crazy wedding party after a wedding which did not happen the film's protagonists are trying to understand the nature of human sexuality and a difference between two sexes. They deliberate what in us is more of - biology or culture? What determines our actions and choices? Free will? Or maybe selfish genes?

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Sunday, December 9, 4:00pm

Wajda School Documentary Shorts

This program is composed of 10 documentary shorts by students of Poland's celebrated Wajda School of filmmaking. The films include a look at a Polish sanatorium, a reflection of the joys of childhood, and investigations of the theme of silence.

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