Seven recent films from Poland-some getting their U.S. premiere-will be shown during this year's Polish Film Festival from Nov. 8 to 14. The festival, sponsored by a grant from the Louis Skalny Foundation and organized by the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies at the University of Rochester, will be held at the Little Theatre. All are Polish-language films with subtitles, except for Last Resort, which is in English.
The festival opens Friday, Nov. 8, with several events for the screening of Angelus, a 2001 film directed by Lech Majewski based on the true story of a Silesian commune that was a center of the occult from the 1930s to 1950s. The evening begins with a reception at 6:30 p.m., followed at 7:30 p.m. with a talk by film critic and scholar Marek Haltof. He is the author of Polish National Cinema, the first comprehensive study in English of Polish cinema from 1896 to the present, and an assistant professor of film at Northern Michigan University. The movie will be shown at 8 p.m. and again at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9.
Also on Nov. 9, at 7 p.m., Kameleon (2001) tells the story of a police officer assigned to investigate a fatal hit-and-run that he committed. The contemporary thriller was written and directed by Janusz Kijowski. The film repeats at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 10.
E=MC2, a comedy by actor and director Olaf Lubaszenko, will be shown at 7 p.m. on Nov. 10 and at 9 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11. Released this year, the film lampoons the corrupt worlds of gangsters and underpaid university professors in present-day Poland.
Director Michal Rosa's psychological drama Silence (Cisza 2001) follows a man who causes a fatal car accident and then becomes obsessed with the young girl orphaned by the crash. The film will be screened at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11.
Station (Stacja 2001) is a thriller set in a border town, where a gas station attendant takes care of a wounded man with a bag full of money. The film is the third by young director Piotr Weresniak, and will be shown at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12.
Set in the 1960s, Back and Forth (Tam i z Powrotem 2001) traces the efforts of two victims of Stalinist persecutions as they try to escape from Poland. The political thriller was written and directed by Wojciech Wojcik, and will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13, and at 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14.
The award-winning film Last Resort (Ostatnie Wyjscie 2000) will be screened at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14. Director Pawel Pawlikowski's account of a Russian girl's arrival and imprisonment in a seaside English town earned awards at both the Thessaloniki and the Venice film festivals. This film by the Polish-born British documentary filmmaker is in English.
Each year, the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies brings important films and people connected to Polish cinema to Rochester. Established with a generous grant from the Louis Skalny Foundation, the Skalny Center supports research and teaching about the historical legacy and political and economic changes within Central Europe. Its public lecture series, film festival, and other activities offer the Rochester community opportunities to learn about Poland and its people.
All tickets for the festival are available at the Little box office and are $6.50 for evening performances and $4.50 for matinees. For more information, contact the Skalny Center at (585) 275-9898 or refer to the listings on the Web at www.rochester.edu/College/PSC/CPCES/home.html.