In June 2023, The New York Polish Film Festival (www.nypff.com) will celebrate its 18th Anniversary. We are proud to be the only annual Film Festival presenting and promoting Polish Cinema on the East Coast. This year a promising young generation of Polish filmmakers will take the lead in representing Polish cinema at The New York Polish Film Festival. We hope you can join us at the New York Polish Film Festival to see the work of these unforgettable new talents.
Saturday, June 10th @ 1:00 pm
OPENING RECEPTION
sponsored by Zywiec
Saturday, June 10th @ 2:00 pm
"Sparrow" ("Wróbel")
directed by Marcin Janos Krawczyk (30 min.)
"Wróbel" a short drama directed by Marcin Janos Krawczyk, is a story of falling into deepening alcoholism and a chance to overcome the crisis and regain family. Sparrow is a middle-aged man who destroyed his relationship with his wife and his 12-year-old son by succumbing to his addiction. Meeting the film crew and being offered a small part in the movie is Sparrow’s chance to get over the crisis and get his family back. But will the filmmakers really change his life?The film was a 2022 Nominee Lucjan Bokinc Award for Best Film Short Feature Film Competition.
MAIN FEATURE
"Niebezpieczni dżentelmeni" (Dangerous Men) 2002
by Maciej Kawalski (103 min.)
NY PREMIERE
"Niebezpieczni dżentelmeni" (Dangerous Men) 2022 is a crime comedy, directed by Maciej Kawalski. In Maciej Kawalski's film debut, the grotesque meets adventure cinema, and the detective story goes hand in hand with the absurd comedy. The film got an audience award at the 2022 Warsaw Film Festival for the best film.
June 10th @ 4:30 pm
"HOMETOWN. Polański. Horowitz." 2021
by Mateusz Kudla & Anna Kokoszka-Romer (75 min)
Ryszard Horowitz in person.
“HOME TOWN. Polański. Horowitz”, a documentary written and directed by Mateusz Kudla and Anna Kokoszka-Romer. Roman Polanski and Ryszard Horowitz came to Poland to share with us the most personal memories from their childhood and youth. The film got two 2021 Audience Awards at Two Riversides Film and Art Festival as well as Krakow Film Festival, and 2021 Winner Special Mention National Competition at Krowko Film Festival.
Saturday, June 10th @ 6 pm
“Poza Biurem” (“Out Of Office”)
short film directed by Bartosz Nowacki (20min)
Bartosz Nowacki in person
“Poza Biurem” (“Out Of Office”) is a crime comedy written and directed by Bartosz Nowacki. A career-focused man regularly puts business promotions ahead of his private life. One night, however, he is visited by a mysterious visitor. The film is a 2022 Winner of Bridging the Borders Award for Best Short Film.
MAIN FEATURE
“Braty” 2022
directed by Marcin Filipowicz (82 min.)
NY PREMIERE
"Braty," directed by Marcin Filipowicz, is also a film debut. It is a poetic tale and a coming-of-age film, shot beautifully in black and white and filled with music. The main characters are brothers, whose former lives in a loving and functional family are in the shadow of a new reality after their mother's death and father's inability to cope with mourning in a healthy way. "Braty" was given a special award "for a special sensitivity to the issue of maturity and responsibility" by the Jury of Stowarzyszenie Kin Studyjnych at the 41st Koszalin Festival of Film Debuts "Młodzi i Film" (Young and Film) Festival and also was given a ZEF QUALITY MARK ( ZEF is a recommendation/certificate that is being given by The Film Educators Team for films that carry educational and substantive values for the youngest viewers). The young director says about his movie that "I wanted the script not to be classically dramaturgic, but rather to be more of an emotional impression than telling a conventionally constructed story. I don't expect the viewer to wait in uncertainty about what will happen next, but to make friends with my characters for an hour and a half and spend a piece of life with them. Quite risky, but Jerzy Stuhr once told me: You make a debut once in your life. Make it as if you'd like to see it yourself."
Saturday, June 10th @ 8:15 pm
"Bread and Salt" (Original title: "Chleb i sól") 2022
by Damian Kocur (1h., 40min.)
A feature debut by director Damian Kocur. "Bread and Salt" (original title: "Chleb i sól”) premiered in the Horizons section of the 79th Venice Film Festival, winning the Special Jury Prize. It also got awards at eleven other international film festivals. What is unusual about "Bread and Salt" is that all the actors are non-professionals, and yet the director has succeeded at telling a story, based on tragic real-life events in a small Polish town, in a complex and non-judgmental way that genuinely resonates with many viewers. The director grew up in the kind of small-town, working-class environment portrayed in the film, so he knows the terrain well, but he brings it to the screen with world-class cinematic intelligence. Damian Kocur is a sensitive, unpretentious, and sophisticated new talent, but this brilliant debut is just the beginning. His second film, a Polish-Ukrainian co-production, called "As It Was," was just chosen for the Short Film Competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
Sunday, June 11th @ 2:30 pm
“Victoria” 2022
directed by Karolina Porkari
30 min. (with Katarzyna Figura)
“Victoria” a short film written and directed by Karolina Porcari, starring Katarzyna Figura. The main character’s, Amelia, long-term relationship is slowly slipping into routine, and Amelia’s sexual and romantic needs remain unfulfilled. The 50-year-old is not even aware of what those needs are. A lifetime of her silenced desires will slowly start awakening when she finds a mysterious package on her doorstep. The director says: "I want to make a movie where a woman’s voice will be heard. I believe that in art, and in literature, it is still heard too weakly, that there is an imbalance in this respect. That we still lack women's stories, stories told from a woman's point of view. That is why the main characters in my stories, whether in the cinema or in the theater, are women." The film got two awards at The Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, including Award for Best Film in Short Feature Film Competition.
MAIN FEATURE
“Roving Woman" 2022
directed by Michal Chmielewski (95 min.)
“Roving Woman" is a poetic road trip tale that explores contemporary America. Initially, it is mainly an escape, but after a while, the viewer realizes that the main character, Sara (Lena Góra), is on her way to something new, not a place,, but rather her new self. The film got 2 nominations: at Sofia International Film Festival 2023 Nominee Grand Prix International Competition Michal Chmielewski and at Raindance Film Festival 2022 Nominee Discovery Award Best Debut Feature Michal Chmielewski.
Sunday, June 11th @ 5:00 pm
"Niebezpieczni dżentelmeni" (Dangerous Men) 2002
by Maciej Kawalski (103 min.)
"Niebezpieczni dżentelmeni" (Dangerous Men) 2022 is a crime comedy, directed by Maciej Kawalski. In Maciej Kawalski's film debut, the grotesque meets adventure cinema, and the detective story goes hand in hand with the absurd comedy. The film got an audience award at the 2022 Warsaw Film Festival for the best film.
Sunday, June 11th @ 8:00 pm
“Ruskich Nie Ma” 2022
directed by Wlodek Milkowski (9min.)
“Ruskich Nie Ma” is a short directed by Wlodek Milkowski, starring Marek Koterski and his wife, Małgorzata Bogdańska.
MAIN FEATURE
"Filip" 2022
directed by Michał Kwieciński (125 min.)
NY PREMIERE
The film director says about “Filip” that: "the war is only a decoration, a background, for a story about loneliness, trauma, and the search for love." The adaptation of Leopold Tyrmand's novel, “Filip” is a war movie that looks at the human tragedy caused by war from an unusual perspective. The film was awarded with Gdynia's Silver Lions.
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