Organised in London for the fourteenth time, KINOTEKA comes back with a diverse programme, abundant in film, music and visual arts. This year's edition includes the latest Polish productions as well as classic feature films, documentaries and silent movies. Plans also include concerts, exhibitions, interactive workshops and lectures.
The main event, however, are retrospectives devoted to the lives and works of three outstanding Polish directors: Jerzy Skolimowski, Agnieszka Holland and Andrzej Żuławski. All three have artistic legacies that have shaped the international film world and found recognition from critics and audiences alike.
Jerzy Skolimowski: 11 Minutes and 55 Years
Jerzy Skolimowski, one of the legendary figures of Polish cinema, is a director, scriptwriter and actor of more than 50 years’ experience. He will personally present his newest film 11 Minutes during the opening night gala on 7th April at the Barbican. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director, moderated by British film critic Michael Brooke.
Lighting Fires: The Film & TV of Agnieszka Holland
Agnieszka Holland began her film career working with the renown Polish directors Andrzej Wajda and Krzysztof Zanussi. Now she herself is one of the most important artists in Polish and European cinema, having also enjoyed commercial success. The screening of A Woman Alone will be followed by a Q&A with the director. The retrospective will also be accompanied by an exhibition of Holland film posters from the Film Museum in Łódź.
Andrzej Żuławski: The Man, The Myth, The Films
Considered one of the most original and controversial figures in Polish cinema, Andrzej Żuławski built his career principally outside Poland. Having passed away on 17th February 2016, KINOTEKA will honour the late filmmaker with the retrospective Andrzej Żuławski: The Man, The Myth, The Films, featuring the British premiere of Cosmos, Żuławski's last film (on 15th April).
In the introduction to the retrospective, Daniel Bird, British writer and film scholar, described Cosmos as:
An exhilarating jungle gym for the heart and brain… and the perfect coda to Andrzej Żuławski's filmmaking career. Żuławski made just thirteen films, but every one, including his last, is stuffed with a lifetime worth of thoughts and, above all else, feelings.
Besides the retrospective, the memory of the late director will be honoured on 22nd April with performance by DJ Andy Votel at the Rich Mix, featuring exceptional musical scores from Żuławski's movies, including the Cannes-winning Possession and his debut The Third Part of the Night.
New Polish cinema and rediscovered classics
Already familiar with the classics by Holland, Żuławski and Skolimowski? Fret not, as KINOTEKA also offers also a broad selection of the most acclaimed Polish films of 2015, featuring a variety of genres and forms in films such as Body, Anatomy of Evil, These Daughters of Mine and Demon.
On 8th April, Regent Street Cinema will host a unique screening of People with No Tomorrow, a 1921 film by Aleksander Hertz. The tapes, considered lost for many years, were rediscovered in the German Federal Archives. Commissioned by the National Film Archive, Paweł Szamburski, Patryk Zakrocki and Sebastian Wypych have created a dynamic accompanying musical score, which they will perform live in London.
Another rediscovered classic shown at the festival is the digitally-remastered and newly-edited 2014 version of The Deluge by Jerzy Hoffman. Originally premiered in 1974, this classic of Polish cinema is an adaptation of the novel of Henryk Sienkiewicz, the Polish Nobel Laureate whose death centenary is being commemorated in 2016.
Documentary aficionados may choose to see Brothers by Wojciech Staroń, an extraordinary document about two brothers coming back to Poland from Kazakhstan after 70 years of exile. Presented on Friday 22nd April at the ICA, the film will also be followed by a Q&A with the director.
Lessons in film and dance
Among the accompanying events is a three-day workshop for directors and writers, organised with the support of the London Film Academy. In this year's edition, ten selected directors and writers will learn about the world of VFX, including crafting spectacular visual experiences, creative solutions and combining the latest technologies.
The festival will close on 28th April with Janusz Morgenstern's classic Goodbye, See You Tomorrow. Accompanied by Krzysztof Komeda's music, the love story stars Zbigniew Cybulski and Teresa Tuszyńska. The screening will be followed by the closing night gala at the Polish Embassy in London, featuring live music by the Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet and swing dance lessons.
KINOTEKA is co-organised by the Polish Culture Institute in London in collaboration with the Pola Arts Foundation and MyPolishTV, with financial support from the Polish Film Institute.
The festival events will take place at the BFI Southbank, the ICA, the London Film Academy, Regent Street Cinema, the Barbican and at Close-Up Cinema. The full programme and ticket information can be found at www.kinoteka.org.uk.