WHAT YOU GOT?

Ashes and Diamonds (Popiol i diament) (12A) / Opening Gala
23 Jan 09 / 19:30 / Cinema 1
Zbigniew Cybulski, popularly known as the Polish James Dean, stars in Andrzej Wajda anti-war masterpiece of European cinema. Cybulski is the idealist underground fighter in the closing days of the Second World War, who is appointed to assassinate a local official. But his love for a bar‑maid (beautifully played by Ewa Krzyzewska), leads him to question his role. Utterly memorable, for its photography (by veteran cinematographer Jerzy Wójcik), its complex struggling of conscience, and for Cybulski’s astounding, complex and perfectly measured performance.
Poland 1958 Dir. Andrzej Wajda 104 min.
In Polish with English subtitles

Rebel Without a Cause (PG)
14:00 / James Dean’s landmark film
24 Jan 09 / 14:00 / Cinema 2
East of Eden (PG)
16:15 / A towering debut from James Dean in
24 Jan 09 / 16:15 / Cinema 2

Fanfan la Tulipe (12A)
16:00 / A magnificent performance from Gérard Philipe in this thrilling 18th Century adventure
25 Jan 09 / 16:00 / Cinema 1
Les Belles de Nuit (12A*)
18:05 / Philipe won accolades for his spirited performance in René Clair’s charming fantasy
25 Jan 09 / 18:05 / Cinema 1
Les Orgueilleux (The proud ones) (12A*)
20:00 / An atmospheric adaptation of a Sartre’s novel, nominated for an Oscar at the time
25 Jan 09 / 20:00 / Cinema 1

Giuseppe in Warsaw (Giuseppe W Warszawie) (12A*)
26 Jan 09 / 18:30 / Cinema 2
Following Zbigniew Cybulski’s outstanding performance in our opening film Ashes and Diamonds, we return to the work of the legendary Polish star. Cybulski and the wonderful Elzbieta Czyzewska lead this delicious comedy set in occupied Poland during the Second World War II. The kind-hearted sister of an artist brings an Italian deserter named Giuseppe into their Warsaw apartment. Trouble begins when Giuseppe falls for Maria, who tries to keep her involvement in the Polish underground under wraps. A cult favorite on the festival circuit, Giuseppe in Warsaw is on the lighter side of classic Polish cinema.
Poland 1964 Dir. Stanislaw Lenartowicz 94 min.
In Polish with English subtitles

How to Be Loved (Jak byc kochana) (12A*)
26 Jan 09 / 20:30 / Cinema 2
On a plane bound for Paris, a successful radio actress (Bara Krafftówna) recalls the night in 1939 when she was to debut as Ophelia, with the man she loved playing Hamlet (Zbigniew Cybulski). The Second World War intervenes, and Felicja takes a job as a waitress to avoid acting on a German stage, and gives her lover sanctuary when he’s accused of killing a collaborator. After the war, Wiktor can’t get away fast enough, hot on the trail of fame and applause, and the woman who saved his life is herself wrongly accused of collaboration.Years later, they meet again, and the tables have turned… Cybulski again shines in a drama about the emotional casualties of war, and the personal tragedy of egoism and cowardice, versus devotion and courage.
Poland 1963 Dir. Wojciech Has 100 min.
In Polish with English subtitles

Tuesday 13th – Saturday 31st Jan, 7.30pm (except Mondays)
Tickets: £11/ £8 Conc

The Mother examines crucial issues of our time: painful relationships within a dysfunctional family, drug abuse and common delusions caused by mainstream ideas. It paints a picture of a modern society slavishly pursuing a life of excitement and debauchery which gives rise to a world of grotesque characters, irrational actions and absurd situations.

Te Art Project is a new international company  promoting Eastern European theatre tradition. This production is a collaboration between Polish and British artists and promises to be a challenging and exciting event.

For more information please visit: http://www.teartproject.com/

POLISH POETRY IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION: TOMASZ RÓŻYCKI AND ZBIGNIEW HERBERT

1 December 2008, 7:30 pm
Haldane Room, Wolfson College, Oxford

Participants: Jan Fellerer, George (György) Gömöri, Elżbieta Wójcik-Leese
Chair: Dr. Carmen Bugan
This seminar series brings together expert panellists on modern European languages and literatures as well as English writers and scholars to discuss English translations of fiction and poetry from modern and contemporary European literature. Focusing on comparative readings of translations, these seminars aim to approach issues of translation theory and to ascertain the impact of translation, particularly the language of translation, on English language and literature thus considering the inter-lingual transmission of texts and culture. The series will be chaired by Dr. Carmen Bugan, Creative Arts Fellow at Wolfson College.

Jan Fellerer graduated from Vienna and Basel Universities in Slavonic philology and linguistics. He has been Lecturer in non-Russian Slavonic Languages at Oxford University and a fellow of Wolfson College since 1999. Main areas of research include the history of Polish, Ukrainian and Czech as well as aspects of Polish and Slavonic grammar, especially syntax.

George (György) Gömöri is a Hungarian poet and translator living in London. He left Hungary after the revolution in 1956 in which he took part. He co-translates with the poet Clive Wilmer into English. Polishing October, published recently by Shoestring Press, Nottingham, is the second collection of his poetry in English. His other collaborations with Clive Wilmer include works by Miklós Radnóti (1979, 2003), György Petri (1991,1999) and he also edited the anthology of modern Hungarian poetry The Colonnade of Teeth with George Szirtes. A Retired Lecturer from the University of Cambridge, he is Emeritus Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge. His literary prizes include the Salvatore Quasimodo Prize (Balatonfüred, 1993), the Ada Negri Prize (Lodi,1995) and the Pro Cultura Hungarica (1999).

Elżbieta Wójcik-Leese’s translations of contemporary Polish poetry have appeared in, among others, Poetry Review, Poetry London, Poetry Wales, Modern Poetry in Translation, Poetry Ireland Review, Acumen, Magma, Brand as well as in various anthologies, most recently New European Poets (Graywolf Press, 2008) and Six Polish Poets (ARC, 2008). Her Salt Monody is a selection of fifty-three translations from Marzanna Kielar (Zephyr Press, 2006). She co-edited Carnivorous Boy Carnivorous Bird. Poetry from Poland. A bilingual edition (Zephyr Press, 2004), which presents twenty-four Polish poets born between 1958 and 1969. She is a contributing editor to Poetry Wales.

This event is free and open to the public; wine will be served.
Handouts with the poems discussed will be available on the night.

For more information please contact carmen.bugan@wolfson.ox.ac.uk

KATYN
dir. Andrzej Wajda, 2007

Wajda returns to the WWII period of his early trilogy to explore one of the major war crimes to effect Poland. In the spring of 1940 some 15,000 to 20,000 Polish officers were executed by Stalin’s secret police, among them Wajda’s own father. Working from a novel by Andrzej Mularczyk, letters and diaries by many of the victims and reportedly details from his own family’s struggle, Wajda, who co-wrote the script with Mularczyk, tells the fictional stories of four families, who are forever separated from one another in late 1939.

Thursday 27 November at 6.30pm at Duke of York’s Picturehouse

TIME TO DIE
dir. Dorota Kedzierzawska, 2007
Garnering rave reviews from film festivals around the world this is a real gem: a deeply moving but also witty and genuinely uplifting slice of cinema.
93 year-old Polish screen veteran Danuta Szaflarska produces a wonderful central performance as the feisty and spirited Aniela, all alone in her once grand home and fighting against greedy property developers, idiotic neighbours, unappreciative family, juvenile delinquents and the rigours of old age.

Sunday 7 December at 11am at the Duke of York’s Picturehouse

TRICKS
dir. Andrzej Jakimowski, 2007
A charming, bittersweet tale of childhood. Six-year-old Stefek spends his summer holiday following his older sister Elka around. The pair live with their shopkeeper mother but their father left the picture when Stefek was very young. One day, at a train station, Stefek sees a man whom he suspects is the father who abandoned them years before. In an attempt to win his father back Stefek embarks on a game plan or ‘tricks’ to get the man’s attention. Winner of the Europa Cinemas Label prize in Venice, TRICKS is a hugely likeable and poignant portrayal of growing-up

CITY EYE GDANSK

The most international of Polish cities, Gdansk on the Baltic coast has always been a multinational mix of cultures and ethnic groups. With a long tradition of being a free city, the Polish maritime capital has played a key role in trade and cultural links between Poland and the rest of Europe.
It is said whoever controls Gdansk controls Poland and throughout its history it has been the site for battles between rival powers.

Sunday 23 November at 1.30pm at Duke of York’s Picturehouse

THE DRUM
Dir. Volker Schlondorff, West Germany/France 1979
Volker Schlondorff’s very successful adaptation of Gunter Grass’ 1959 allegorical fantasy, shared the Palme d’Or with APOCALYPSE NOW at 1979 Cannes Film Festival and won the Oscar for best foreign film the following year.
The film focuses on the first half of the novel about little Oscar Matzerath growing up in Danzig between Wars.

Sunday 30 November at 5pm at Sallis Benney Theatre

MAN OF IRON
Dir. Andrezj Wajda, 1981
Wajda’s remarkable sequel to MAN OF MARBLE charts the momentous events at the Gdansk shipyard and the rise of Solidarity. It earned an Oscar nomination and won the Cannes Palme d’Or.
Wajda seamlessly integrates newsreel and documentary footage of the 1980 Gdansk strikes with staged segments to form a strong investigative drama as a disillusioned, vodka-sodden radio producer is sent to Gdansk to smear one of the main activists.

Tuesday 2 December at 6.30pm at Duke of York’s Picturehouse

SEE YOU TOMORROW
Dir. Janusz Morgenstern, 1960
Jacek (Zbigniew Cybulski) is handsome and charming and belongs to a student drama group. One day in the streets of Gdansk, he meets and falls for Marguerite, beautiful, charming and the daughter of a French diplomat.

Thursday 4 December at 6.30pm at Duke of York’s Picturehouse

SQUARING CIRCLE
Dir. Mike Hodges, US/UK 1984
Dramatisation of the birth of Solidarity in the Gdansk shipyards in 1980/81, written by Tom Stoppard and directed by Mike Hodges (GET CARTER).
Filmed just two years after the actual events, SQUARING THE CIRCLE was made for television and broadcast in the ‘golden age’ of Channel 4. Never released on DVD and its last transmission 20 years ago this is a rare opportunity to see a writer and director at the height of their powers combined with an exceptional cast.

Followed by Q&A with Mike Hodges

14-15 December 2008

Having played in the Polish national final of the GBOB Challenge and facing a 400km drive back to Warsaw, the band Sorry Boys were packing their instruments into the car when they heard their name announced. The alternative rock outfit thought it was just a thank you for taking part until someone told them they had won.

They can be forgiven for not expecting to win as the first ever GBOB national final in Poland at the Klub Muzyczny UCHO in Gdynia featured a very strong line-up of bands from all over the country. However, the judges saw it differently, awarding them the first prize and a trip to the World Finals in London December 14-15.

The Sorry Boys are Iza Komoszynska (vocals), Tomasz Dabrowski (guitar), Piotr Blak (guitar), Jacek Perkowski (bass) and Kuba Zawadzilo (drums). Formed in 2006, their music can best be described as alternative rock with haunting tunes and a sound they can confidently call their own. They are currently preparing to record their debut album. Check out their profile at www.gbob.com/sorryboys

Forget about bland, manufactured groups and all the other karaoke rubbish out there, the GBOB Challenge is about real bands playing real music…live. There are just two rules: no cover songs and no pre-recorded music. More information is available at www.gbob.com

Fast-paced and exciting, the GBOB Challenge allows you to see some of the best new bands from around the world playing two-song, eight-minute sets. With super-fast changeovers between bands - that’s a new band every ten minutes! So little chance to get bored no matter how short your attention span.

For more details go to www.gbob.com

December 14 and 15 at the Scala will feature 15 new bands per night with the overall winners being announced on the final night. Countries represented in the World Finals will be: Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, England, Faroes, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, USA, Wales.

Tickets are priced £10 each night or £15 for both nights and are available from ticketweb 08700 600 100 www.ticketweb.co.uk

Info about the bands - music, pictures etc. can be found at www.GBOB.com/challenge and hi-res pictures are downloadable in the press centre there.

Their aim is simple: to show the London art scene that the Polish community has a lot of talented artists and designers, and foremost, to provide space for collaboration and exchange of ideas, skills and inspiration.

Polish deConstruction organise exhibitions, networking events, artist talks, creative camps and multimedia presentations - connecting and promoting artists and encouraging them to actively participate in cultural life through the development of relationships between artists and organisations.

Their interactive website is designed to offer a place to exchange ideas and to start collaborative projects. It also provides information about the vibrant art scene in London and an online space to present your art to a wider public.

In September 2008, Polish deConstruction, with the help of the Polish Cultural Institute, hosted and organised the Homeless Gallery in Shoreditch, which was a tremendously successful event presenting great photography from dozens of young and up-and-coming artists.

Upcoming events by Polish deConstruction include:

 SHADOWS OF THE SPACEStart: 17/11/2008 - 19:00
End: 17/11/2008 - 22:00

Cargo Arch1 and Polish deConstruction invite you to a party which will launch the exhibition ‘Shadows of the Space’. The presentation of Justyna Chudzinska’s landscapes, as well as the photographs and video installation of Karolina Raczynski, will continue a dialogue about the spatial consciousness of the artists. Precisely this capacity will be the focus of the exhibited works, in which intriguing techniques and challenging subject matters are combined, creating a catalogue of half-real half-familiar places. This Monday, the 17th of November, will be an occasion to see the works on show as well as to share your ideas with the artists. During the evening, you can be ensured of Cargo’s great hospitality by receiving a complimentary glass of wine (7-8pm) as well as discounted prices on drinks. Make sure not to miss the artists’ speech at 8pm, followed by great tunes from our DJ till the very end!

Date: 7-10pm, Monday 17 NOV 2008
Location: Cargo Arch1, 83 Rivington Street, London EC2A 3AY
FREE ENTRY

For more information on this and other exciting Polish deConstruction events, please visit their OFFICIAL WEBSITE.

OFF Club is a new initiative by Artur Rojek which will be held twice a year, in winter and spring, as a unique edition to the annual OFF Festival.

The headliners at the first OFF Club edition is American band Deerhoof, and will be accompanied by three Polish acts: Kristen, Contemporary Noise Sextet and Emiter.

For more information please visit the following OFF Club and individual band pages:

www.myspace.com/offfestival
http://www.myspace.com/cnquintet
http://www.myspace.com/kristenband

Mitchell & Kenyon Independent Cinema
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
PR1 2HE

The breadth and variety of new Polish cinema is showcased in this unique opportunity to see five outstanding Polish films from the post-communist period at the Mitchell & Kenyon Independent Cinema. Each film portrays the complexities of Polish life post-1989, examines the nation’s past and reveals the universal meanings in Poland’s national issues. Four films from the last five years are complimented by the classic Jan Jakub Kolski film of 1993, Jańcio Wodnik (Johnnie the Aquarian).

The festival will open with Wszyscy jesteśmy Chrystusami on the 10th of November and we are very proud to announce that the film’s director, Marek Koterski, will be joining us for this very special event.

All screenings commence at 7.30pm with an introduction by leading experts on Polish cinema.

Tickets cost £5.00 for adults and £3.50 for concessions.

Please email tcinema@uclan.ac.uk for details and to reserve tickets.

Details can also be viewed at the Mitchell & Kenyon Independent Cinema Facebook group at:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21629445483

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Monday 10th November
We’re All Christs (Wszyscy jesteśmy Chrystusami)
2006/Dir: Marek Koterski/107 mins approx.

Sylwester Miauczyński sits next to his father, Adam, at the table and tells him he wanted him to die. The subsequent flashbacks, which show the father’s long battle with alcoholism, and the son’s with drug addiction, compare the journeys of their respective lives with that of Christ. Simultaneously, Koterski’s film relates a naturalistic portrayal of ‘typical Poles’ against a rich background of the changes in Poland over three generations of the Miauczyński family. Koterski rightly received a Best Director award for this film at the 2006 Festival of Polish Films in Gdynia, demonstrated that Marek Koterski, who four years earlier made the acclaimed Day of the Wacko (Dzień świra), is the most distinguished Polish director of the post-communist period and one able to satisfy both critics and ordinary viewers.

Tuesday 11th November
The Wedding (Wesele)
2004/Dir: Wojciech Smarzowski/101 mins approx.

The title of Smarzowski’s film, evokes association with Stanisław Wyspiański’s The Wedding (1901), one of the most important Polish dramas, and its subsequent adaptation by Andrzej Wajda. Like Wyspiański, Smarzowski uses the eponymous wedding, somewhere in provincial Poland, as an opportunity to present Polish society in the early 21st century, when Poland symbolically ‘entered Europe’. Guests at the wedding - a gangster, a farmer, a lawyer, a policeman and a priest - are all enthused by the new wave of consumerism and will do anything to fulfil their materialistic ambitions. The film’s dark comedy was very popular with audiences in Poland and abroad.

Wednesday 12th November
Saviour Square (Plac Zbawiciela)
2006/Dir: Joanna Kos-Krauze and Krzysztof Krauze/105 mins approx.

A young couple with two small sons are living with the husband’s mother in her apartment at the eponymous Saviour Square, in the centre of Warsaw. They’re waiting for a flat in a newly-built apartment block but the developer goes bankrupt, forcing the couple to abandon their dream about their own apartment and causing a chain of tragic events. Together with Krzysztof Krauze’s celebrated Debt, the film excellently demonstrates the director’s ability to present a universal problem in well-defined, Polish circumstances. It deservedly won the main award at the 2006 Gdynia Festival. The film will be introduced by Dr Michael Goddard from Salford University

Thursday, 13th November
Preserve (Rezerwat)
2007/Dir: Łukasz Palkowski/100 mins approx.

Palkowski’s film was the star of the 2007 Polish Film Festival in Gdynia and highly praised for bringing freshness and optimism to Polish cinema. In it, Palkowski delves deep into Praga, a district of Warsaw which, until recently, was regarded as the most dangerous and troubled part of Poland’s capital. However, Palkowski offers the viewers a different image of Praga, using as his medium a photographer, who comes to Praga to make a reportage about this district which he intends to be a stepping stone in his career, just as it became for Palkowski.
The film will be introduced by Aneta Krzemień from UCLan.

Friday, 14th November
Johnnie the Aquarian (Jańcio Wodnik)
1994/Dir: Jan Jakub Kolski/100 mins approx.

Kolski’s protagonist, a peasant from the village of Brzostowo, discovers one day that he has power over water. Believing in his omnipotence, Jańcio leaves his home and young wife, Weronka, who is expecting their child, to perform miracles. To date, Johnnie the Aquarian is regarded as Jan Jakub Kolski’s masterpiece and one of the best films made after the collapse of communism. Some of its charms include exuberant magic combined with an almost ethnographic recreation of Poland of the 1950s and 1960s, and warm humour.
This film will be introduced by Professor Ewa Mazierska from UCLan.

Supported by the Polish Cultural Institute. 

STFN Trio

The band was formed by Mikolaj Trzaska, a saxophonist, bass-clarinettist and composer from Gdansk who is a founding member of the Polish ‘Yass’ scene.

Since forming the group Sni Sredstwom Zauklanianie he has developed a great reputation and played with some of the best jazz and improvising musicians from the USA and Europe.

The Bass player in The Mikolaj Trzaska Trio is Peter Friis-Nielsen with whom Mikolaj has had a longstanding musical relationship touring Poland and Scandinavia extensively. Peter has played with, amongst many others, Don Cherry, John Tchacai and Peter Brotzmann.

Drummer Mark Sanders is a stalwart of the UK and European jazz and and improvised music scene.

Tuesday 18 November at 8pm at Arnolfini Cinema
Friday 21 November at  4pm at Watershed Cinema 3

Dir: Chris Lavis / Maciek Szczerbowski
Canada 2007 17 mins 21 sec Animation
Madame Tutli-Putli boards the night train and finds herself caught up in a desperate metaphysical adventure, drifting between real and imagined worlds.

DRAGONFLIES

Thursday 20 November 16.00 Arnolfini Cinema
Saturday 22 November 10.00 Watershed Cinema 3