Every year, the festival organized by Polish Art Europe, is recognized by a wider audience and arouses greater enthusiasm in and for the art community in Poland, as well as abroad. Thanks to cooperation with the most famous film studios and film schools, during the autumn screenings the public will have an opportunity to admire almost one hundred carefully selected pieces, including feature and short films, documentaries and animations. Among this year’s partners you will find such prestigious institutions as SE MA FOR, Munk Studio, New Europe Film Sales, Cracow Film Fundation, Krzysztof Kieslowski Radio and TV Faculty in Katowice, Polish National Film School in Lodz or Wajda School. The quality of presented materials is also determined by the fact that access to most of them was kindly facilitated by the best Polish film festivals: T-Mobile New Horizons. Short Waves Festival or O!PLA Animation Across Bordrs.
On the basis of that solid cooperation, Play Poland has a chance to improve its repertoire and conquer the hearts of not only Polish, but British moviegoers. Not only cinema fans may be excited about the forthcoming event. Every year founders of the festival spice up the whole thing with a great number of exhibitions, workshops and accompanying events promoting Polish contemporary art. Posters are established as famous graphics, like Andrzej Pągowski (2013) or Tomasz Płonka, who designed this edition’s one and, additionally, will be the special guest. This year the festival joined forces with Edinburgh Art Fair, which gave talented Polish artists the opportunity to be exhibited during this exciting event.
The 4th edition will cover seven British cities: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberfeldy, London, Birmingham, Sunderland and Belfast. Among this year’s features, spectators will find widely recognized film-makers and films, such as ‘Ida’ directed by Pawel Pawlikowski, Krzysztof Skonieczny’s ‘Hardkor Disco’, two unconventional movies directed by Anna and Wilhelm Sasnal – ‘Parasite’ and ‘It looks pretty from the distance’ and many, many more. The festival focuses on recently released, fresh productions, proving that Polish cinema still has a lot to tell, engages the spectator in lively dialogue and is able to impel for thought as well as an honest laugh. Among the features there will also be a screening of ‘Life feels good’ by Maciej Pieprzyca. The director will be the honorary guest and he will be participating in screenings in person.
The festival is co-founded and supported by the Polish Film Institute, Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Edinburgh, Polish Community Association, Art & Business Scotland and University of Ottawa. Honorary patronage over the event is extended by the Polish Consulate in Edinburgh, Andrzej Pągowski – legendary Polish graphic design artist; Professor Zbigniew Pelczynski, director of School For Leaders Association and Richard Demarco and Demarco European Art Foundation. Demarco is the man behind Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival popularity – the biggest art event in Europe. Is Polish Festival, about to repeat this huge success? Considering the dedication of its organisers and enthusiasm of wider audiences every year, it does not seem impossible.
A detailed programme of screenings for each city and information about tickets and accompanying events will be available soon on the official website: Play Poland and on Facebook, where the latest news and festival contests can be found.
