07/07/2022 - The upcoming edition of the Wrocław-based gathering, which will pay tribute to Agnieszka Holland, Joanna Hogg and Lucile Hadžihalilović, includes over 200 features and will unspool from 21-31 July

The leading arthouse film festival in Poland, the New Horizons International Film Festival (21-31 July), which, for years, has been educating a new generation of cinephiles and professionals, is back to its original late-July slot and will be bookended by two recent Cannes-premiered movies by Polish filmmakers.

The opening film is the Grand Prix winner EO [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by veteran helmer Jerzy Skolimowski, while the closing slot will be entrusted to Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s English-language debut, The Silent Twins [+see also:
film review
interview: Agnieszka Smoczynska
film profile], which was shown in Un Certain Regard. Tomasz Wasilewski’s Fools [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tomasz Wasilewski
film profile] (fresh off its Karlovy Vary premiere) and Aga Woszczyńska’s Silent Land [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aga Woszczyńska
film profile], which was presented in the Toronto International Film Festival’s Platform section in 2021, join the list of the most highly anticipated recent Polish titles that will be shown at New Horizons.

The jury, comprising Radu Jude, Agata Buzek, Michel Franco, Nadav Lapid and Sandra Wollner, will debate over the 12 films taking part in the New Horizons competition. The pack of hopefuls includes 107 Mothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Peter Kerekes
film profile] by Peter Kerekes (Slovakia/Czech Republic/Ukraine), Afterwater [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Dane Komljen (Germany/South Korea/Spain/Serbia), See You Friday, Robinson [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Mitra Farahani (France/Switzerland/Iran/Lebanon), Enys Men [+see also:
film review
interview: Mark Jenkin
film profile] by Mark Jenkin (UK), A Piece of Sky [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michael Koch
film profile] by Michael Koch (Switzerland/Germany), We Haven’t Lost Our Way [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Anka and Wilhelm Sasnal (Poland), Immaculate [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Monica Stan, George Chiper-…
film profile] by Monica Stan and George Chiper-Lillemark (Romania), Dry Ground Burning [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Adirley Queirós and Joana Pimenta (Brazil/Portugal), The Dam [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ali Cherri
film profile] by Ali Cherri (France/Lebanon/Sudan/Qatar/Germany/Serbia), Robe of Gems by Natalia López Gallardo (Mexico/Argentina/USA), The Great Movement [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Kiro Russo (Bolivia/France/Qatar/Switzerland) and El agua [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elena López Riera
film profile] by Elena López Riera (Spain).

An additional programme offers retrospectives, including the first-ever full array of Agnieszka Holland’s movies, incorporating rare TV films from the early stages of her career. Brit Joanna Hogg and France’s Lucile Hadžihalilović, as well as Lithuanian-born, US-raised Jonas Mekas, will also be celebrated with their own dedicated sections. Last but not least, the festival will showcase some recent films from Kosovo.

Other treats awaiting the audience members who flock to the festival venues are the biggest arthouse hits from the Berlinale and Cannes, spearheaded by the Palme d’Or winner Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund and Alcarràs [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carla Simón
interview: Carla Simón
interview: Giovanni Pompili
film profile] by Carla Simón, who pocketed the Golden Bear. New Horizons will also host the Polish Days industry event, which will present recent Polish projects that are either in development, at the work-in-progress stage or ready to be snapped up by sales agents and invited to other festivals.

This year, the Wrocław-based gathering, which recently appointed its long-time programmers Małgorzata Sadowska and Ewa Szabłowska as its artistic directors, is unspooling under the “Cinema of Solstice” banner. As the organisers explain, cinema, just like the sun, brings light and illuminates new paths and new directions in the world, even in spite of the overwhelming darkness.