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Rochester Polish Film Festival 2023

Arts and Entertainment

November 1, 2023

From: Rochester Polish Film Festival

Schedule :

November 2, 2023

The Great Way

Wielka Droga

1946, 87 minutes

Poland

Directed by: Micha? Waszy?ski

Written by: Konrad Tom

Music: Henryk Wars

Principal cast: Jadwiga Andrzejewska, Renata Bogda?ska, Albin Ossowski, Józef Winawer

The film follows the fate of an engaged couple – Adam and Irena separated by the outbreak of World War II.

It incorporates authentic, and unique archival recordings, as the action moves from the siege of Lwów in 1939 to the formation of the Anders Army and evacuation of Polish citizens from Soviet labor camps, and the subsequent journey through Iran, Iraq, Palestine and Egypt, leading to the Italian Campaign and Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944.

The Great Way was shot in 1946 in Italy. It is the only film showing the Polish participation in the Italian Campaign.

About Micha? Waszy?ski

Born in Kowel, Volhynia (now Ukraine) in 1904. One of the most important directors of the interwar period. He made forty films in the decade preceding World War II. In 1941, he joined Polish Armed Forces in the East commanded by General W?adys?aw Anders.

With Konrad Tom, they recorded the army’s journey to the Middle East in the documentary film “Children” (1943). A year later, he shot another documentary, “Monte Cassino”. Died in 1965 in Spain.

November 4, 2023

Pharaoh

Faraon

1966, 145 minutes

Poland

Directed by: Jerzy Kawalerowicz

Written by: Tadeusz Konwicki, Jerzy Kawalerowicz

Principal cast: Jerzy Zelnik, Andrzej Girtler, Wies?awa Mazurkiewicz, Piotr Paw?owski, Stanis?aw Milski, Leszek Herdegen, Mieczys?aw Voit, Barbara Brylska, Krystyna Miko?ajewska, Ewa Krzy?ewska, Emir Buczacki, Kazimierz Opali?ski

Pharaoh is an epic Polish film adapted from the novel by Boles?aw Prus. A young pharaoh takes power in Egypt after the death of his father. He does not realize how strong the influence of the priests is.

He will try to implement reforms aimed at strengthening the state, the power of the pharaoh and the army. He will also experience personal tragedies when he loses his beloved Jewish woman and son. The man becomes entangled in a net of intrigues aimed at leading to a war with Assyria and Phoenicia. The priests, who know astronomical phenomena, use the solar eclipse to control the Egyptian people. Ramesses, indebted to the Phoenicians, deceived by his lover, and deluded by the image of his doppelganger, falls into a trap.

The shots were taken in Luxor and Giza (pyramids), Bukhara (the Kara-*** desert) and Masuria (Kirsajty Lake as the Nile). The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (1967). The production belongs to the world classic of spectacular historical films set in antiquity.

November 10, 2023

With Fire and Sword

Ogniem i Mieczem

1999, 183 minutes

Poland

Directed by: Jerzy Hoffman

Written by: Jerzy Hoffman

Principal cast: Izabela Scorupco, Michal Zebrowski, Aleksander Domgorow, Andrzej Seweryn, Bohdan Stupka, Krzysztof Kowalewski, Wiktor Zborowski, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Wojciech Malajkat, Ewa Wisniewska, Ruslana Pysanka, Daniel Olbrychski

The film is based on the novel With Fire and Sword, the first part in The Trilogy written by Henryk Sienkiewicz.

The story is set in the 17th century, during a period of strife on the eastern fringes of Polish territory, in today's Ukraine. A Polish noble, Skrzetuski, and a Cossack ataman Bohun, both fall in love with the same woman, Helena.

Their rivalry unfolds against the backdrop of a Cossack uprising led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky, aimed at reclaiming control of the land from the hands of the Polish nobles. Historic events form a framework for an action and character driven plot, and fictional characters mingle with historic ones. The movie, as the book, culminates with the savage siege of Zbara?.

November 14, 2023

Fall 2023: Grand Opening

The Secret of Little Rose

Ró?yczka II

2023, 106 minutes

Directed by: Jan Kidawa-B?o?ski

Screenwriting by: Maciej Karpi?ski, Agatha Dominik

Principal cast: Magdalena Boczarska, Robert Wi?ckiewicz, Maria Seweryn, Janusz Gajos

Space is limited. To attend, RSVP by October 17 to [email protected].

Joanna Warczewska, daughter of an eminent writer, is at the peak of her life. Her thriving political career and family happiness are instantly destroyed by a terrorist attack in which her beloved husband is killed.

When fate gives her a new chance in life, another blow hits her. Someone sends her photos and documents undermining her family ties and suggesting that her mother has collaborated with the Security Service in the past. Joanna decides to conduct a historical investigation on her own and unravel the mystery that casts a shadow on her family.

What she discovers not only makes her look at her mother in a completely different way, but will also make her find her own identity. Joanna will be forced to face the blackmailer herself and make a choice that will change her life forever.

November 15, 2023

Hunting

Polowanie

2023, 120 minutes

Poland

Directed by: Pawe? Chmielewski

Written by: Miros?aw Piepka, Micha? S. Pruski, Pawe? Chmielewski

Principal cast: Micha? Czernecki, Magdalena Wa?ach, Artur Barcis, Andrzej Andrzejewski, Szymon Piotr Warszawski, Kamila Kami?ska, Ewa Kasprzyk, Wojciech Solarz, Piotr Cyrwus

Produced by: Olga Bieniek, Miros?aw Piepka, Marlena Kre?ska

Every town has its secrets. Micha? Król—an entrepreneur who becomes the mayor—is painfully convinced of this. Corrupt officials, financial fraud and media manipulation become his everyday life.

He must fend off the attacks of those who have gotten under his skin. At some point, he begins to fear for his life and that of his family. Despite the difficulties he faces, he does not give up, remains faithful to his ideals and works for the good of the local community. However, he will have to pay a high price for this.

There will be a Q&A session with film producers Olga Bieniek and Marlena Kre?ska following the screening.

November 16, 2023

Daddy

Tata

2022, 110 minutes

Poland, Ukraine

Directed by: Anna Maliszewska

Written by: Anna Maliszewska, Przemys?aw Chru?cielewski

Principal cast: Polina Gromova, Eryk Lubos, Yevheniia Muts, Seriej Solovyov, Marta Malikowska

Micha? is a truck driver and the single father of Mi?ka. Long hours behind the wheel, loneliness and constantly being on the road are his everyday life. When he works, his Ukrainian neighbor takes care of his daughter.

Her granddaughter Lenka and Mi?ka are inseparable. When the nanny dies suddenly, Micha? takes the girls and goes back on the road, transporting a dead body to Ukraine. During this journey, Micha? is forced to grow up fast as an active parent, decide what is most important to him and take responsibility for the future.

A Polish Ukrainian co-production developed before the Russian invasion, the film tackles some of the social history between the two nations as well as imagining what the future might be for their youth.

November 17, 2023

Filip

2022, 125 minutes

Poland

Directed by: Micha? Kwieci?ski

Written by: Micha? Kwieci?ski, Micha? Matejkiewicz

Principal cast: Victor Meutelet, Eryk Kulm, Caroline Hartig, Robert Wi?ckiewicz, Julian ?wie?ewski

Director of Photography: Micha? Soboci?ski

The film is based on the semi-biographical novel of the same name by Leopold Tyrmand (Filip, 1961).

In 1941, Filip, a young Polish Jew, escapes the massacre of the Warsaw Ghetto. Two years later, posing as French, Filip works as a waiter in a restaurant in Frankfurt in an exclusive hotel among other forced laborers from all over Europe.

He makes the most of the world, surrounded by luxury and lonely German women. His life is one great reckless provocation. However, when the war begins to take a bloody toll among those closest to him, the intricately built world that surrounds him crumbles like a house of cards.

November 18, 2023

Strawman

Figurant

2023, 113 minutes

Poland

Directed by: Robert Gli?ski

Written by: Andrzej Go?da

Principal cast: Marianna Zydek, Mateusz Wi?c?awek, Zuzanna Lit, Zbigniew Stryj, Adrian Brz?ka?a

The action is set in the Communist Poland. The film is based on true events and tells unknown story of surveillance operation whose target was Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II.

Told from the perspective of a young officer in charge of the operation; he invigilated Wojty?a for over 20 years from his consecration as a bishop of Krakow in 1958 until his election as Pope in 1978.

The film skillfully uses generic tropes of an espionage thriller to tell a dark but compelling story of a man tasked with a morally indefensible objective, who succumbs to loneliness and despair. Wojty?a, the goal of the surveillance operation, is only visible in the film in rare glimpses, and yet his life becomes the obsession of the main character.

November 19, 2023

Dangerous Gentlemen

Niebezpieczni Gentelmeni

2022, 107 minutes

Poland

Directed and written by: Maciej Kawalski

Principal cast: Tomasz Kot, Marcin Doroci?ski, Andrzej Seweryn, Wojciech Mecwaldowski

Writer and medical doctor Tadeusz Boy-?ele?ski, painter and writer Witkacy, writer and former sailor Joseph Conrad, and anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski—four leading figures among the Zakopane bohemians, wake up after all-night drunken party with an enormous hallucination-ridden hangover just to find out the corpse of an unknown man on the floor.

They have not a clue who he is, why he is dead, and why law enforcement officers are knocking on their door. And that’s just the beginning of their problems. A race against time begins, in which the protagonists have to free themselves not just of any suspicion but also of equally dangerous societal gossip, and solve a puzzle of the mysterious death as soon as possible.

Soon these brilliant and risk-loving men turn culturally vibrant Zakopane into the backdrop of a huge intrigue involving gangsters, artists and politicians. Their paths will even cross with Lenin himself who has just arrived in Poronin.

Buy Tickets

Date : November 2, 2023 - November 19, 2023

Location : Various Location

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