Still-frame from "Toys"
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute presented three new films of the Guide to the Poles series in the documentary film competition at Mink's Listapad Festival. The event also presented Piotr Stasik's "The End of Summer", Antony Krauze's "Black Thursday" and Marek Lechki's "Erratum" competing in the main contest
"Toys", "Art of Freedom" and "Political Dress" are three chapters of the five-part series on how the Polish character was shaped by the hardships of the communist regime and the ways in which art, music, fashion, sport and play helped them to overcome these obstacles. The films explore how Polish youngsters discovered independence, liberal thinking and creativity with a few twigs and some wire, how one's appearance was a personal manifest for liberty and how Polish mountain climbers managed to become the best in the world in spite of meager funds and equipment shortages.
What distinguished Poles from the rest of Europe, from those on the other side of the 'iron curtain' and how did those experiences shape who Poles are today?
The very first chapter in the series - "Beats of Freedom", which takes audiences through a history of rock and roll in those tumultuous times - was also screened at the festival as part of the Dragon Forum workshop series for young documentary filmmakers, along with Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz's "I Love Poland" and Carolina Belyavskaya's "Get Warsaw". Screenings took place on the 8th of November.
See more on the Dragon Forum series in Minsk
Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Elena” opened the 18th edition of the festival on the 5th of November. The film won the 'Un Certain Regard' distinction at the 64th Cannes Film Festival. Within the main competition programme, Piotr Stasik presented his short film "The End of Summer" ("Koniec Lata"). The film won the silver medal at the Flahertiana Film Festival in Russia in October 2011 and the gold medal at the at Poland's Plus Camerimage Festival for cinematography in 2010. The 32-minute film takes a look at everyday life in Russia through the eyes of young cadets in a military academy in Russia.
The main competition also presented Antoni Krauze's "Black Thursday" (Czarny Czwartek), which tells the story of the regime's violent reaction to protests in Poland's shipyards in the 1970 and how it fueled greater determination on the part of citizens to overthrow socialism. Marek Lechki's "Erratum" was also on the programme, telling the story of a man who struggles with past regrets. Other films from Poland included "Sala Samobójców" / "Suicide Room", "Sztuczki" / "Tricks", "Dom Zły" / "The Dark House" and "Różyczka" / "Little Rose".
Screening times:
Documentary Films:
"Toys", dir. Andrzej Wolski, 6.11, 19:00
"Political Dress", dir. Judyta Fibiger, 7.11, 21:00
"Art of Freedom", dir. Wojciech Słota and Marek Kłosowicz, 11.11, 21:00
Feature Films:
"Erratum", fit. Marek Lechki, 6.11, 20:00
"Zero", dir. Paweł Borowski, 6.11, 21:00
"Tricks", dir. Andrzej Jakimowski, 7.11, 21:30,
"Suicide Room", dir. Jan Komasa, 7.11, 13:00
"Black Thursday", dir. Antoni Kraze, 9.11, 21:00,
"Tricks", dir. Andrzej Jakimowski, 9.11, 21:00,
"The Dark House", dir. Wojciech Smarzowski, 10.11, 16:00,
"Suicide Room", dir. Jan Komasa, 10.11, 18:30,
"Little Rose", dir. Jan Kidawa Błoński, 12.11, 19:00.
Source: www.listapad.com