EVENTS RECOMMENDED BY KLUB DIALOGU

CONTEMPORARY POLISH CINEMA

The first Polish film dates back to 1908, but Polish cinema really started to come to life in the late 1950s. Since then, and especially in the last decade, the Polish film industry has really flourished, having been nominated for and receiving prestigious awards.

One of the most important names associated with contemporary Polish cinema is Paweł Pawlikowski. Paweł Pawlikowski began his career in the West of Europe as a documentary film maker for the BBC. He made his debut in the film “Last resort” in 2000. His later films are “Summer of Love” from 2004 and “Woman of the Fifth District”.

In 2013, he returned to Poland to make a film called “Ida” about the turbulent fate of a nun in a Catholic order. The picture has been amazingly successful around the world and has been showered with many awards – including the first Oscar for Polish cinema.

Pawlikowski’s next film, which brought him an Oscar nomination in the category ‘foreign language film’ and ‘directing’ is Cold War from 2018.  It is a romantic and sad story of impossible love – the young dancer Zula and pianist Wiktor against the background of the Cold War waged between the countries of Western Europe and the Communist Bloc.

KLUB DIALOGU Polish Language School for Foreigners organised watching the film “Cold War” as part of its original program “Meetings with Culture” to watch a film in Polish with English subtitles with its foreign language students.  After the film, there was a discussion during which everyone could share their impressions and feelings, and as a consequence better understand Polish culture and language.

Another name in Polish cinema worth mentioning is Wojciech Smarzowski. He is considered to be the most interesting Polish filmmaker at present. The movie “The Wedding” in 2004 immediately attracted the attention of critics. Another film “Bad House” (2009) meant that he began to be seen as a mature artist with a perfect workshop and his own unique style. Smarzowski’s subsequent films consistently depict a world full of pathology, corruption, cruelty and degeneration. These quite difficult to perceive images have gained huge crowds of admirers and critical acclaim. Worth recommended are: “Rose” (2011), “Drogówka” (2012), “Pod Mocnym Aniołem” (2014), “Volhynia” (2016) and “Clergy ” (2018).

Why is Polish cinema so interesting and why does it bring such international recognition? Polish films are often very picturesque, whether in colour or completely black and white, with beautiful cinematography as well as well-picked soundtracks which massively complement the film itself. These aspects, as well as the terrific actors and actresses, really pull the films together into a piece of artwork and create an endearing and emotional experience for the audience.

KLUB DIALOGU Polish Language School has its own list of the most interesting films of contemporary Polish cinema worth watching, for Poles and foreigners alike: It includes: “Day of the Freak” (M. Koterski, 2002), “Edi” (P. Trzaskalski, 2002), “Pręgi” (M. Piekorz, 2004), “Plac Zbawiciel” (K. Krauze, 2006), “Reverse” (B. Lankosz, 2009), “In Darkness” (2012) and “Pokot” (2017)  based on the novel by Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk – both directed by Agnieszka Holland, “Body / Body” (M. Szumowska, 2015), “Gods” (2014) and “Best” (2017) – both by Łukasz Palkowski, “Last Family” (J. Matuszyński, 2016), “Silent Night” (P. Domalewski, 2017), “Carte Blanche” (J. Lusiński, 2015), “Tower, a bright day” (J. Szelc, 2017) and “Corpus Christi “(2019) by Jan Komasa, nominated for an ‘Oscar’ this year.

Around a year ago, KLUB DIALOGU Polish Language School initiated the event called “Filmowy Piąteczek” (“Friday Film”) which was a monthly occurrence. We set up our own small cinema in the school and played Polish movies with English subtitles and proceeded to discuss the films afterwards together. Our students really enjoy and appreciate these events; it’s the perfect way to practise Polish as well as watch beautiful films and immerse in Polish culture and cinematography!

POLISH FILMS NOMINATED FOR AN ‘OSCAR’:

1963 „Nóż w wodzie” Roman Polański;

1967 „Faraon” Jerzy Kawalerowicz;

1975 “Potop” Jerzy Hoffman;

1976 “Ziemia Obiecana” Andrzej Wajda;

1977 “Noce i Dnie” Jerzy Antczak;

1980 “Panny z Wilka” Andrzej Wajda;

1982 “Człowiek z Żelaza” Andrzej Wajda;

2008 “Katyń” Andrzej Wajda;

2012 “W ciemności” Agnieszka Holland;

2015 “Ida” Paweł Pawlikowski;

2019 “Zimna Wojna” Paweł Pawlikowski;

2020 “Boże Ciało” Jan Komasa.

SHOWINGS IN NATIONAL THEATRE

We highly recommend you to visit TEATR NARODOWY (NATIONAL THEATRE), which shows classic Polish romantic dramas with ENGLISH SUBTITLES! It`s an amazing way to practise Polish and immerse in Polish culture and literature.

“Cold War” (“Zimna Wojna”) – Polish film with English subtitles

Summer has already come, and summer courses have taken off. That`s why we decided not to wait any longer and take our students to “Cold War” (“Zimna Wojna”) – Polish film with English subtitles.

“Cold War” portrays the story of the difficult love between two people who cannot live without each other, but at the same time are not able to be together. Their fate takes place in the 1950s and 1960s in communist Poland and the awakening of Europe.

The film is set in black and white, accompanied by a unique soundtrack, which is a combination of Polish folk music with jazz and Parisian songs of the past century.

The main Polish roles are played by leading Polish actors: Tomasz Kot and Joanna Kulig, Borys Szyc and Agata Kulesza.

“Cold War” was awarded for the best director to Paweł Pawlikowski at one of the most important film events in the world – Cannes Film Festival.

Polish Cinema for Beginners

13.04 (Thursday), 8pm
“Influenz”, dir. Łukasz Barczyk, 2014, 110’

This time MURANÓW Cinema invites us for a film “Influenz”.
Greater Poland Uprising – the only successful uprising in the history of Poland that resulted in the restoration of the Polish State after 123 years. The uprising begun with the visit of Ignacy Paderewski, a great pianist, to the Bazar Hotel. Dr Abuse, a clairvoyant (played by an American actor Crispin Glover also known from “Back to the future” “Charlie’s Angels” and “Wild at heart”) tries to stop him by making Paderewski believe he has symptoms of the Spanish flu, which between 1918 and 1919 killed more people than died in WWI. This is going to be a fight of both cannons and spirits. Łukasz Barczyk captures a legend of the uprising not only through historical reconstruction of events but also by looking into the world of phantasy, spirituality, and the general atmosphere of that period. Made for a tremendous amount of 25 Million PLN, the film dazzles with costumes, set design and special effects. One of the most original and stylish Polish film in the last few years.

Polish Films for Foreigners

Next screening in Polish Films For Foreigners programme will take place at February 14th, Nove Kino Wisła, 9 P.M. They will screen for you with English subtitles

ART OF LOVING by Maria Sadowska

film biography of Michalina Wisłocka, first authoress who published a book about sex behind the Red Curtain (in 1976). Before screening there will be drawn some prizes!

ABOUT A FILM:
“The Art of Loving” tells the story of Michalina Wisłocka, a woman who achieved the impossible. Disposing of conservative stereotypes and pervasive ignorance, Wisłocka revolutionized the sexual life of the whole country. And she did all that with a book. „The Art of Loving: The Story of Michalina Wislocka” is a film about a doctor and the author of the most popular Polish guide to sexual life. We follow Michalina’s story through three different stages of her life that led to writing of “The Art of Loving”.

Tickets: 16 zł

Day of the Polish films

8^th of November – Day of the Polish films for foreigners. In Wisła cinema the best Polish movies will be showed with English subtitles. We fully RECOMMEND it ! Find out more on our Fb.