The films selected for Cinema for Social Change address some of the essential political and social issues facing all of us today, representing not only a range of important topics but also a wide variety of cinematic styles. These films do not provide any answers to the issues they address; they rather attempt to provide a human face to those issues, to move these discussions out of the realm of abstract political debate and into the actual lives of citizens from around the world – from China to France to Bolivia to Moldova to El Salvador to Poland and beyond.
The event will be opened with Katarzyna Kolenda-Zaleska’s Cud historii / Miracle of History (2014), in which the history and aftermath of Poland's entrance into the European Union is given a dynamic and informative overview. Clear-eyed and provocative, it chronicles a milestone in European history whose impact is being felt even today.
Other Polish films presented at Cinema for Social Change include Toys by Andrzej Wolski, Art of Freedom (2011) by Wojciech Słota and Marek Kłosowicz and Zew Wolności / Beats of Freedom by Wojciech Słota and Leszek Gnoiński.
Andrzej Wolski’s Toys takes a look at the toys and games that shaped the minds of the creative leaders of modern Poland.
"Toys" from Culture.pl on Vimeo.
Art of Freedom answers the most poignant questions on the phenomenon of Polish alpinism and tells the stories of the most difficult expeditions.
Beats of Freedom is a documentary which captures a remarkable time in Poland, when alternative rock exploded with a force unseen anywhere else in the communist bloc. It shows the fascinating links between music and the growing popular protests that resulted in the Solidarity movement, as well as the crucial role rock and music festivals played during the dark days of martial law.
"Beats of Freedom" from Culture.pl on Vimeo.
The screenings will be accompanied by free workshops, Q&As and open discussions on pressing social problems faced by contemporary societies, about the history and contemporary organization of film festivals, from programming philosophy to promotion and marketing, and about room for aesthetics in film in the contemporary digital world.
Here you can find the complete program of the event.
Cinema for Social Change is curated by Adam Michnik, editor-in-chief of Gazeta Wyborcza, the biggest daily in Poland, and Richard Peña, former Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Director of the New York Film Festival.
The event is organized by Culture.pl as part of a program initiating and developing cultural cooperation and cultural exchange between Poland and the Eastern Partnership countries.
Cinema for Social Change at IDFF Cronograf
12-18 May 2015
Chisinau, Moldova
Source: press materials, edit. Agata Dudek, 22/04/15.