Polish film festival hits Dublin

THE
latest instalment of the highly popular Kinopolis Polish Film Festival will
take place this week in Dublin.

The
official launch of the festival took place recently at the Centre for Creative
Practices on Pembroke Street.

The
launch was attended by the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland and a number of
representatives from the Irish film industry, including producer Andrew
Freedman.

This
year, audiences will have a unique opportunity to view over 15 titles. The
movies will feature themes known as the

‘Polish Animation Attack’ and

‘Masterpieces of Polish Cinematography’, including Krzysztof Kieslowski’s
Camera Buff (1979) and A Short Film About Killing (1988).

Special
guests will include Oscar nominee and BAFTA winner Tomasz Baginski and actress
Roma Gasiorowska, who are both due to appear over the four days.

Prestigious

Gąsiorowska
is said to be one of the greatest Polish actresses of the younger generation.
In October this year it was announced that she has been nominated for the
Zbigniew Cybulski Award. It is a prestigious prize for outstanding acting
awarded every year in Poland. The actress, known to a wider audience from the
series entitled The Londoners, also collected the award for leading performance
in the film Ki by Leszek Dawid at this year’s Polish Film Festival in Gdynia.

The
audience in Dublin had the opportunity to see her on screen at previous Kinopolis
Festivals in films such as Snow White and Russian Red, Zero and My Flesh, My
Blood.

Lukasz
Garlicki, the actor who played the role of father Ignacy Skorupka in the iconic
movie Battle of Warsaw 1920 will also appear on the grand opening of the
festival. He is known from the film Warsaw by Dariusz Gajewski which has won
many awards. His most important role was in Mr Kuka’s Advice, for which he was
awarded at the Festival East and West in Orenburg. He also played a fascinating
role in The Cripple of Inishmaan by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh.

Garlicki
is a co-author of Projekt Warszawiak and he played in a music video for the
song Nie masz cwaniaka, which was awarded last month at the YachFilm video
clips festival.

High-profile

Organisers
said film fans can expect a number of high-profile 3D productions this year.

The Battle of Warsaw and the most expensive
Polish production of all time The Flying Machine will be screened in 3D.

The
Flying Machine is based on a story of two children that discover an old piano
that turns into a flying machine, which takes them on a long trip. This
animation feature film has been created by BreakThru Films, a studio previously
awarded an Oscar for Peter and The Wolf.

The first movie, Battle of Warsaw, will be
shown on November 3 at the Opening Gala Festival at Cineworld, Parnell Street.

Other
films that will be screened during the festival include Little Rose by Jan
Kidawa Blonski and Andrzej Wajda’s Promised Land.

The
film festival was established to promote the culture of one of the biggest
minorities living in Ireland. It is directed towards all nationalities and has
become extremely popular among the Irish population. It acts as an attempt to
highlight the movie successes of Poland that some Poles will not have had the
opportunity to experience in their own homeland while living and working in
Ireland.

During
its existence Kinopolis has hosted many of the world’s most renowned
personalities of Polish cinematography: Jerzy Stuhr, Krzysztof Zanussi,
Agnieszka Holland, Juliusz Machulski, Kinga Preis, Andrzej Chyra and Zbigniew
Zamachowski.

Kinopolis
is organised by the Pomeranian Film Foundation in Gdynia in cooperation with
the Polish Film Institute, the Embassy of Poland in Dublin, the Irish Film
Institute and the Cineworld Cinema.

Anybody
interested in attending any of the screenings can pick up tickets at Cineworld
and the Irish Film Institute.