www.queensfilmtheatre.com
Polish 20th
l a v i t s e Film F
e h T m l i F s ’ n e e Qu
20
March
33 Scenes from Life 6.30pm (33 sceny z życia)
Poland 2008, 97 min Directed by: Małgorzata Szumowska Cast: Julia Jentsch, Peter Gantzler, Maciej Stuhr Julia is a successful artist. She loves her parents and a husband who is a famous composer. Suddenly everything collapses. Sickness and death from a close perspective are different from what Julia expected - much more absurd, nonsensical, and ridiculous. 33 Scenes from Life is a film about the moment in life when we become adults. It’s a story about stepping into the real world, where pain, suffering and doubts are inevitable.
22nd March
Documentaries by Marcin Koszalka 6.45pm (Filmy dokumentalne Marcina Koszałki) Existence (Istnienie), Poland 2007, 69 min The story of the Polish actor Jerzy Nowak (Schindler’s List) who wants to donate his body to science. We follow the serene and aging Nowak during his preparations as he explores the question of what will happen to his body after he donates it to medical science. Existence is a reconciliatory farewell to human life and simultaneously a solid depiction of our vanity, as Nowak in no way conceals the fact that the purpose of the documentary is to secure his posthumous reputation. Such a Beautiful Son I Gave Birth To (Takiego pięknego syna urodziłam), Poland 2000, 25 min
21st March
The Offsiders 6.45pm (Boisko bezdomnych)
Poland 2008, 126 min Directed by: Kasia Adamik Cast: Marcin Dorocinski, Jacek Poniedzialek Jacek Mróz a former player of the National Polish soccer team is currently homeless, an inhabitant of the Central Station. Against the odds he decides to establish a homeless football team with his fellow misfits.
Koszalka turns his ironic eye to his parents in this extremely honest account of the director’s relationship with his parents, especially his domineering mother. For most of time she is shouting and humiliating her husband and son. The only thing that brings her happiness it seems are the memories of Koszalka’s birth and his early childhood. Till It Hurts (Do bólu), Poland 2008, 24 min In Till It Hurts, Polish director and cinematographer Marcin Koszalka returns to the subject of his first documentary, Such a Nice Boy I Gave Birth to, which dealt with his own relationship to his dominant mother. Again he goes right to the threshold of pain in this film which was part of the Polish television series celebrating the 20th anniversary of Kieslowski’s original entitled Dekalog after Dekalog with a reinterpretation of the fourth commandment – honour your father and mother – as a form of deep emotional disruption.
t s a f l e 9 eatre, B 0 0 2 rch
a M 6 -2
0
25th March
6.45pm
Identification Marks: None (Rysopis)
Poland 1964, 80 min Directed by: Jerzy Skolimowski Cast: Jerzy Skolimowski, Elżbieta Czyżewska This revolutionary film was immediately acclaimed by critics as heralding a ‘Polish New Wave’. Made piece-meal budget during his years at the Łódź Film School, Skolimowski used the film stock available to him for student exercises to complete his feature directorial debut. The film features Skolimowski himself in the main role, as the immature and purposeless Andrzej Leszczyc. Skolimowski exploited the system of the Polish film industry to make his film, utilizing the amateurishness of student-filmmaking as a subversive tool.
23th March
Time to Die 6.45pm (Pora umierać) Poland 2008, 104 min Directed by: Dorota Kędzierzawska Cast: Danuta Szaflarska, Krzysztof Globisz Time to Die boasts possibly the greatest lead performance by a 91 year old woman in the history of cinema, for whom it was written. Gloriously feisty and totally unwilling to be the infirm woman everyone expects her to be, Szaflarska’s performance brings us her fire in the form of expressive rebellion, which is simply magnetic. A gorgeous black and white poem, a triumphant display of spirit, and an extremely touching and profound impressionistic meditation on old age, little wonder this cinematic treat is causing such a stir!
26th March
Four Nights with Anna 6.30pm (Cztery noce z Anną) Poland 2008, 91min Directed by: Jerzy Skolimowski
24th March
Ideal Boyfriend for My Girlfriend 6.30pm (Idealny chłopak dla mojej dziewczyny) A tale about how strong is the power of Poland 2008 love at first sight. When Kostek meets Directed by: Luna, there is no doubt that she is the Tomasz Konecki one. The problem is that they are so Cast: Marcin Dorociński, different that it is hard to imagine them Magdalena Boczarska, living together. The movie made by the Iza Kuna, creators of Testosteron and Lejdis, is one Tomasz Karolak of the biggest box-office successes in Poland in the last few years.
Cast: Artur Steranko, Kinga Preis, Małgorzata Burczkowska Enigmatic, disturbing and tender, Four Nights with Anna marks Skolimowski’s return as a director after a 17-year absence. The film opened the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes last year, attracting comparisons with his 1971 masterpiece Deep End. Artur Steranko plays the loner Leon, who becomes obsessed with a nurse in a small provincial hospital. What is his motivation and how far will his obsession take him?
More information about Kinoteka: www.kinoteka.org.uk | More information and online booking: www.queensfilmtheatre.com PART OF THE POLSKA! YEAR 2009-2010 www.PolskaYear.pl
of Award
Winning
819al n o i t u l o Res st Film Festiv reening lusive sc
Exc
lfa
at the Be
1st
April
Resolution 819 (Rezolucja 819)
France, Poland, Italy 2008, 95 min Directed by: Giacomo Battiato Cast: Benoît Magimel, Hippolyte Girardot, Karolina Gruszka A hard-hitting new movie about the Bosnia War’s Srebrenica massacre has won the Best Film Award at the Rome Film Festival 2008 in Italy. United Nations Resolution 819 guaranteed the safety and protection of the Muslim populations Srebrenica, Bosnia. In July 1995, General Mladic’s Bosnian Serb soldiers took the protected area, under the eyes of the completely passive UN troops. Thousands were deported, of which 8000, mostly old people and children, completely disappeared. The International Criminal Tribunal at The Hague sent volunteer French investigator Jacques Calvez to find out what really happened to those people.
VENUE INFORMATION
For more information visit www.belfastfilmfestival.org
Queen’s Film Theatre is located at 20 University Square, Belfast BT7 1PA QFT Box Office telephone: 028 9097 1097 (Monday to Sunday, after 6pm only) Information and online booking: www.queensfilmtheatre.com