14th Edition of Polish Film Festival, Los Angeles was opened on October 8 and continues until October 17. Here is the program for Sunday October 13, Monday October 14 and Tuesday October 15.
Laemmle’s NoHo7 Theatre, 5240 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601 (310-478-3836)
Sunday, October 13, 20113 (in person: Andrzej Jakimowski, Ewa Jakimowska)
1:00 p.m. Shorts & Doc. 2: PERSISTENCE by Sebastian Synowiec (21 min.) When Adam a Polish Home Army Ex-serviceman carries his dearest friend and brother in arms Mietek to his last destination, he remembers his own youthful naivety and ignorance. The first time an eighteen year old Adam meets Mietek, a Polish Army veteran returned from POW camp, he asks the ex-soldier to rejoin the fight against the German occupant in WW II. Facing a horrific incident changing their life, both find themselves risking the most precious thing to lose – their life – for the most precious thing another human being can offer – deep and true respect.
MAN AT WAR (Wirtualna wojna) by Jacek Blawut (70 min.) A film about the international community of people fascinated with World War II, who fulfill their ambitions in computer games. They take the role of pilots of flying machines during WWII and participate in air battles in real time. Some of them treat it as a hobby, but for many of them the game has become their life. Has a new human species been born – Homo Virtualis?
3:00 p.m. Doc. 2: MUNDIAL. THE HIGHEST STAKES (Mundial. Gra o wszystko) by M. Bielawski (96 min.) The “España ’82” World Cup was the last big success of the Polish national football team. Viewers all over the country, glued to their TV sets, marveled at the goals scored by Boniek and Smolarek, the extraordinary agility of Lato, Kupcewicz and Buncol, the spectacular goalkeeper parades of Mlynarczyk. For a brief moment, Poland forgot the bleak reality of Martial Law: censorship, troops on the streets, prisons overflowing with members of the political opposition. The national team’s performance was so successful that it was nicknamed “the best TV series of Martial Law Poland”. “Mundial. The highest stakes.” tells the fascinating, untold story of sport and politics in the aberrant period of Martial Law. The World Cup was watched with equal devotion by interned activists of the delegalized “Solidarity” and censors, whose job was to diligently cut any signs of Polish political opposition from the live TV broadcast (mostly banners with the word “Solidarity” displayed in the bleachers of the stadium). The film shows us also the perspective of the football players, who, apart from having to deal with the pressure of playing in the World Cup, had to live up to the expectations of their fans and skillfully manage the political regime themselves. The documentary „Mundial. The highest stakes” is a combination of unique archive materials from Polish Television, Polish Film Chronicles, FIFA, 3D-animated photos from the Bialoleka internment camp, drawings and interviews with the football players sports commentators and the interned members of political opposition.
5:00 p.m. HEAVY MENTAL by Sebastian Butny (99 min.) HEAVY MENTAL tells the story of on unemployed actor, suffering from a mental block, who is being offered to play a tragicomic part in his own life. In return for a flat, hi is supposed to pick up some girl and then “transfer” her to his employer. An immoral proposition leads the characters into the depths of their own fear, which so far they have been hiding from themselves and the world.
7:00 p.m. WOMEN’S DAY (Dzien kobiet) by Maria Sadowska (90 min.) Halina, a modest cashier in a chain store is dreaming of a better life for herself and her gifted 13 years old daughter – Misia. She soon gets her chance as Halina becomes the store manager. She discovers that the price for a higher salary and a better standard of living is dishonesty, manipulation and deceit. She turns from victim to villain to her former cashier friends. She is so consumed with her work that she fails to notice her daughter’s addiction to computer games. She will soon have to start her journey for forgiveness…
9:00 p.m. IMAGINE by Andrzej Jakimowski (105 min.) Ian, a spatial orientation instructor, arrives at a world-renowned Lisbon clinic for the visually impaired to work with blind patients. It is his task to help them become more confident and allow them to explore their surroundings without feeling vulnerable or afraid – and without a white cane. The clinic’s international community greets his unorthodox methods with both anticipation and skepticism. For Ian, orientation flows from the mind and imagination – then sensory perception follows. He quickly wins the trust of his patients: a small group of children and young adults of various nationalities. His techniques intrigue them and embolden them to explore their surroundings. He even motivates the reclusive Eva to engage on a social, possibly romantic level. But are his techniques as safe as he claims? Director Andrzej Jakimowski finds imaginative ways to put the audience in a blind person’s shoes in this engrossing and original drama.
Monday, October 14, 2013
7:00 p.m. Shorts & Doc. 3: THE BIG LEAP (Wielki skok) by Kristoffer Rus (14 min.) Three people meet at the top of a skyscraper during an economic crisis, and question what lies beyond? The only way to tell is to jump.
THE FOURTH PARTITION: CHICAGO (Czwarty zabor: Chicago) by A. Prawica (76 min.) THE FOURTH PARTITION: CHICAGO tells a unique and rarely talked about history of Chicago’s Polish Community at the dawn of the 20th century. It examines economic and political reasons for the migration of over 4,000,000 Poles to the United States between 1870 and 1920. Starting with the first Polish settlers in the Jamestown colony in 1608, this documentary focuses on Polish immigrant workers in heavily industrialized Chicago neighborhoods, their community, as well as their political activism, which aided Poland in her fight for independence during WWI. THE FOURTH PARTITION: CHICAGO features interviews with some of the most known Polish-American historians in the United States. It shows rare images of Poles in the Unites States and their communities, which they built while working in some of the heaviest industries such as steel and meatpacking. Most of all, it tells a history of one of the largest ethnic communities in Chicago, that is still ever present today.
9:00 p.m. IT’S A PERFECT NIGHT FOR A SUICIDE (Od pelni do pelni) by Tomasz Szafranski (110 min.) A black comedy about a psychic who pretends to believe that magic exists, a gigolo who pretends to believe the psychic, an illusionist who pretends to be somebody else and a desperate woman who believes she will find true happiness in love… after she’s dead.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013 (in person: Micah Stuart, Pawel Sek)
7:00 p.m. Shorts 2: DR. JAZZ by Alek Pietrzak (10 min.) Grandfather really wants his grandson to become a real men.
THE MOTHER (Matka) by Lukasz Ostalski (30 min.) Malgorzata – an important politician – is going to her home at the lake. Her son – a drug addict – needs her help. Małgorzata is asking her daughter for her support. At home they find Malgorzata’s semiconscious son and a massacred body of a young girl. In the face of the tragedy, their relationship gets complicated, disclosing their hidden grudges. The mother has to make the most difficult decision in her life.
DEFENSE MACHANISM (System obronny) by Dominik Matwiejczyk (32 min.) Robert, 30, spends his evening in a pub, where he gets drunk and coarsely hits on girls. Accosted by the barman, he starts to tell his story about his service in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a former soldier, who had participated in both missions.
THE BALLERINA AND THE ROCKING HORSE by Micah Stuart (19 min.) Emma, a 13 year old girl suffers a severe head trauma, plunging her into a coma for nearly 30 years. She awakes in the year 2042 to find her parents have grown feeble and have left her in the hands of an unusual caretaker. As Emma learns to cope with her new life, unstoppable events unravel before her. She is forced to hasten her readiness as she prepares for a dangerous journey to come.
9:00 p.m. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN CHILDREN DON’T EAT SOUP? (Co sie dzieje…) by P. Prewencki (9 min.) This story is about two children and their grandfather. Unruly sibling don’t want to eat a soup and they get away from the table. Grandfather in magic way create a wind and lead children to the trap. They will stay in this soupy world for ever. Naughty children must be punished. How Heinrich Hoffmann wrote: Who don’t eat soup must die.
THE PHOTOGRAPH (Zdjecie) by Maciej Adamek (82 min.) THE PHOTOGRAPH tells the story of 17-year-old Adam who discovers an old picture of his mother with a strange man and tries to find out who his real father is. This is also a story about first love, infidelity and encounter with death.
Laemmle’s Royal Theatre, 11523 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, CA 90025 (310-478-3836):
Sunday, October 13, 20113 (in person: Janusz Zaorski, Miroslaw Slowinski, Maciej Michalski)
2:00 p.m. SIBERIAN EXILE (Syberiada polska) by Janusz Zaorski (125 min.) SIBERIAN EXILE is an epic tale of Poles, Ukrainians, Jews who are deported to Siberia, Russia. The fate of displaced is shown from the perspective of a young boy Staszek (Pawel Krucz), who goes to Siberia with his family and neighbors from a small village in the eastern Polish borderlands. Together with his companions, he starts the hard struggle for survival, where his most fearsome opponents turn out to be terrible, merciless nature, ringing frost and deadly famine. Circumstances force the boy to reevaluate his life and grow up faster. He will soon have to learn the essential struggle for survival and make decisions that will where rate will be life of his relatives.
5:00 p.m. MUNDIAL. THE HIGHEST STAKES (Mundial. Gra o wszystko) by Michal Bielawski (96 min.) The “España ’82” World Cup was the last big success of the Polish national football team. Viewers all over the country, glued to their TV sets, marveled at the goals scored by Boniek and Smolarek, the extraordinary agility of Lato, Kupcewicz and Buncol, the spectacular goalkeeper parades of Mlynarczyk. For a brief moment, Poland forgot the bleak reality of Martial Law: censorship, troops on the streets, prisons overflowing with members of the political opposition. The national team’s performance was so successful that it was nicknamed “the best TV series of Martial Law Poland”. “Mundial. The highest stakes.” tells the fascinating, untold story of sport and politics in the aberrant period of Martial Law. The World Cup was watched with equal devotion by interned activists of the delegalized “Solidarity” and censors, whose job was to diligently cut any signs of Polish political opposition from the live TV broadcast (mostly banners with the word “Solidarity” displayed in the bleachers of the stadium). The film shows us also the perspective of the football players, who, apart from having to deal with the pressure of playing in the World Cup, had to live up to the expectations of their fans and skillfully manage the political regime themselves. The documentary „Mundial. The highest stakes” is a combination of unique archive materials from Polish Television, Polish Film Chronicles, FIFA, 3D-animated photos from the Bialoleka internment camp, drawings and interviews with the football players sports commentators and the interned members of political opposition.
7:00 p.m. YUMA by Piotr Mularuk (105 min) It’s the beginning of the 1990s but the situation along the Polish-German border hasn’t much changed since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Twenty-year-old Zyga (the talented Jakub Gierszał) is tired of looking at the latest fashions and Western conveniences in glossy magazines. He and his friends decide to brighten up life in their sleepy, gray town by bettering themselves and their fellow citizens.
9:00 p.m. CANADIAN DRESSES (Kanadyjskie sukienki) by Maciej Michalski (127 min) A family saga set against the backdrop of Pola Negri’s stolen jewelry. Based on a true story. The Polish countryside in the 80s. Zofia’s birthday is approaching. At a grand party for the occasion, the guests of honor are to be her husband, Tadeusz and her daughter, Amelia, both who have been living in Canada for the past ten years. Unexpectedly, Amelia arrives alone. “Canadian Dresses” is a comedy-drama about hard times in the communist era and a carefree world as seen in the eyes of a child, about regrettable decisions and longing after a better life.
Monday, October 14, 2013
7:00 p.m. THE FIFTH SEASON OF THE YEAR (Piata pora roku) by Jerzy Domaradzki (96 min.) On the surface, they have nothing in common. Witek is a widowed driver, who has driven thousands of kilometers in his life, but never really seen anything outside his homeland of Silesia.Barbara is retired music teacher who cannot get over the death of a loved one – a painter with whom she spent the most beautiful years of her life. Wanting to fulfill his dying wish and bury his ashes at sea, she turns to Witek for help. As they travel north to the Polish shore, they become friends; this friendship will allow them to overcome even the largest differences.
9:00 p.m. THE SECRET OF WESTERPLATTE (Tajemnica Westerplatte) by Pawel Chochlew (120 min.) Courage vs. fear, loyalty vs. egoism, patriotism vs. rationalism – set during the opening days of the Second World War, portraying an epic struggle that pitted Polish defenders against German forces. Depicting resistance in the face invasion, The Secret Of Westerplatte tells the story of fewer than 200 Polish soldiers who held off the first German attack of the war for seven days. The defense of Westerplatte is one of the famous events of the September 1939 campaign, and served as inspiration for the Polish military. Partly based on fact, the film revolves around a conflict between two great individuals: Major Sucharski and Captain Dąbrowski.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013 (in person: Balbina Korzeniowska, Kajetan Plis, Kacper Skowron, Valentina Probosz, Mikolaj Stroinski)
7:00 p.m. Shorts & Doc. 1: HAPPY DAYS by Tomasz Jeziorski (19 min.) Ewa retires and dreams of a peaceful family life. However, a 30-year-old son does not intend to move out while her husband escapes into the world of childish passion. How far can Ewa go to break the routine of their life? A bittersweet portrait of a family who doesn’t know how to talk to each other.
PILL GIRL by Kacper Skowron (10 min. 30 sec.) Film about an attractive, educated young woman who’s living a life without meaning. On the outside she has everything a young woman could desire: prestige, recognition, elegance, and financial independence. Underneath it all, she is troubled, unhappy, and lost. Pills are what she turns to, blinding her from the dullness and pain in her life.
VOLCANO (Wulkan) by Michal Wawrzecki (17 min.) This is an intimate story of marriage. After an unsuccessful attempt to go on holiday, he and she shut themselves away at their beautiful home. They decide that the holiday is going to be just the two of them. To really relax, the are not going to be using phones, laptops or watching television or listening to the radio. When they deprive themselves of contact with the world and other people, it turns out that they are strangers to each other and that their marriage is just pretence.
THE LORD OF THE CARPATHIANS (Niedzwiedz. Wladca gor) by K. Matysek (51 min.) A movie about a bear not ever made before. Many of the scenes were filmed for the first time. Inside the winter den, feeding of cubs, we participate in their entering the world, first walks and tree climbing. This is a real nature thriller—a documentary tale in an exciting artistic form but based on scientific research. The cubs almost lose their lives in an encounter with a powerful male who is wooing their mother. We will also see a blood curdling encounter with a pack of wolves, a dramatic fight for prey or hunting goats. This is an epos of the lord of Carpathians who is slowly losing the remains of his kingdom.
9:00 p.m. MY NAME IS ASIA by Balbina Korzeniowska (10 min.) ASIA, a 15 year old immigrant from Poland, goes to her first day of school in America. It’s not as fun as she had hoped. Just as she thinks things can’t get any worse, they do. A story of how an outsider can become an insider. Based on real events.
FLYING BLIND (Zaslepiona) by Katarzyna Klimkiewicz (88 min.) Frankie is in her forties, ambitious and successful. She works in the aerospace industry at Filton, designing surveillance drones for the military. She never married, and is completely in control of every part of her life. Her closest relationship is with her father, who worked as an engineer on Concorde. But her life changes forever when she embarks on a passionate affair with Kahil, a French/Algerian aerospace student, twenty years younger than her. One day, she arrives at work and is detained by the security services: Kahil is a person of interest to MI5. Her well-ordered life starts to unravel in a welter of suspicion and prejudice, as Frankie no longer knows whether to follow her passion or listen to the doubts that increasingly overwhelm her.
The Village at Sherman Oaks, (Senior Living Community) – Albers Theatre – 5450 Vesper Ave., Sherman Oaks, CA 91411
Sunday, October 13, 2013
11:30 a.m. THE FIFTH SEASON OF THE YEAR (Piata pora roku) by Jerzy Domaradzki (96 min.) On the surface, they have nothing in common. Witek is a widowed driver, who has driven thousands of kilometers in his life, but never really seen anything outside his homeland of Silesia.Barbara is retired music teacher who cannot get over the death of a loved one – a painter with whom she spent the most beautiful years of her life. Wanting to fulfill his dying wish and bury his ashes at sea, she turns to Witek for help. As they travel north to the Polish shore, they become friends; this friendship will allow them to overcome even the largest differences.
Free admission with RSVP to info@polishfilmla.org (limited seating). Parking on the street
Rainmaker Hall, Amity Foundation – 3750 S. Grand Ave – Los Angeles, 90007
Monday, October 14, 2013
4 p.m. I LOVE A HOOLIGAN (Milosc bez ustawki) by Kamil Krol (76 min.) Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction, and such is the case of Mariola and Krzysiek, who are seemingly opposite in all walks of life. What’s more, theysupport different rival Polish football clubs whose fans hate each other. She is a single mother and store manager leading a normal life. He is a younger, tattooed convict who has served nine years for brawls and robberies. They met on the Internet and fell deeply in love.
I LOVE A HOOLIGAN is a documentary depicting a modern day Romeo and Juliet. Free admission.
Information: www.polishfilmLA.org , 818/982-8827. Program subject to change without prior notice.