The Polish festival Cinergia European Cinema Forum, now in its 23^rd edition, will take place from 23 November to 1 December. Viewers will get to choose from almost 130 screenings, including a special section dedicated to Finnish cinema and British films from the so-called “Angry Young Man” genre. As with every year, Golden Glans will be handed out to independent artists who dare to go against the grain, while the jury for the Best Polish Debut and Second Features Competition will be chaired by the director Jan Jakub Kolski, whose film Pardon [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] will be shown as the festival’s opening film. The jurors, comprising Edyta Olszówka, Łukasz Orbitowski and Marcin Borchardt will watch 12 films, including 53 Wars [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ewa Bukowska
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intervista: Milko Lazarov
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intervista: Lukas Dhont
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“Our desire and goal was to create a courageous line-up,” states artistic director Anna Serdiukow, explaining the motto for this year’s edition. “We all know what this word means, and yet it has a slightly different meaning for everyone. When preparing the programme, we thought about what courageous attitude or courageous cinema means today. Does courage come with a price and is it still a virtue today?” Festival organisers decided that these questions resonate perfectly with Camera Buff by Krzysztof Kieślowski. The acclaimed drama about a factory worker whose newfound hobby, film, changes his life forever, has been commemorated with a festival poster by Marta Frej, painter and illustrator known for her feminist memes. “The scene when he directs the camera at himself became emblematic for Polish cinema and is still meaningful today. Maybe even more so than 40 years ago,” adds Serdiukow. It’s hardly a surprise that the acclaimed actor Jerzy Stuhr, who played the lead, has also been named the festival’s ambassador.

Accompanying events will include a special screening of the 1927 film The Chess Player by Raymond Bernard with live music, as well as a Nigel Kennedy concert entitled Magician Of Lublin & Gershwin, inspired by Isaac B. Singer. “Every year, we dream that our audience will stop for a moment after our festival screenings and stay with us a bit longer: laugh, talk about universal topics and try to tame fears and national traumas. We believe this is still possible. It’s crucial to be a conscious viewer, but also to ask, discuss, argue, have doubts. In the cinema we are all equal, and in the dark we all seem courageous.”

The festival was organised by the Łódź Filmowa association with the support of the city of Łódź, and Łódź – the Centre of Events.