This year’s Polish Film Festival in America promises a great number of events which will take place in several of Chicago’s historical venues. The films will be screened over the course of two weeks, from November 4 to the 19th, in the following locations: the Gateway Theater in the Copernicus Center (5216 W Lawrence Ave, long frequented by amateurs of Polish films); in the newly reopened Portage Theater (4050 N Milwaukee Ave); and in the Beverly Arts Center (2407 W 111th St. in the South Side).

Jan Jakub Kolski’s film Jasminum is slated to launch the festival. Well-received by the Polish public, Kolski’s film is “fragrant with love,” and features the seasoned performer Janusz Gajos costarring, as Brother “Zdrówko,” with a six-year-old actress. Gajos will make a personal appearance at the festival, together with another idol of Polish screens, Krzysztof Pieczyński, who plays the part of Brother “Czeremcha.” Other favorite actors featured in the film include Grażyna Błęcka-Kolska, Franciszek Pieczka as Saint Roch, and Bogusław Linda, playing himself under a different name. A choir of Dominican monks will inaugurate the festival opening ceremony.

The festival program also includes many recent blockbusters such as Andrzej Seweryn’s debut Who Never Lived (Kto Nigdy nie żył); the second part of the Italian drama about the life of John Paul II, The Pope Who Remained Human, starring Piotr Adamczyk; Krzysztof Zanussi’s Persona Non Grata with Zbigniew Zapasiewicz and Nikita Michalkow. The action movies include Niewolski’s Palimpsest; Saniewski’s Immeasurable Justice (Bezmiar sprawiedliwości); and Ziębiński’s Understudies (Dublerzy). Among comedies, we will be able to see the French Number (Francuski numer); Uhlans At My Window (Przybyli ułani); Filip Bajon’s Foundation (Fundacja), starring Jan Nowicki; as well as the award-winning Your Name is Justine (Masz na imię Justyna), starring Anna Cieślak.

Several award nominees are sure to attract an audience. The Debt Collector (Komornik) was nominated for an Oscar in 2005. The Ode to Joy (Oda do radości) brought a breath of fresh air to recent Polish cinema. Two thought-provoking films were invited to the Cannes festival: Guziński’s The Boy on a Galopping Horse (Chłopiec na Galopującym Koniu) and Fabicki’s Retrieval (Z Odzysku). Two others, that will close the festival, were shown at the film festival in Vienna: Lewandowski’s Hyena, and the highly-anticipated Polish western directed by Uklański and starring Val Kilmer, Bogusław Linda, and Katarzyna Figura. A Swedish film, Nina’s Journey (Ninas resa), starring Agnieszka Grochowska, is also worth seeing, as is Janusz Majewski’s romance Out of Season (Po sezonie), starring the indefatigable Leon Niemczyk.

Young viewers will enjoy Tarnas’s new adaptation of the Seventh Grade Devil (Szatan z siódmej klasy), starring Wojciech Malajkat, and two magical collections of animated Polish Fairy Tales (Baśnie polskie) produced by the Studio of Animated Films in Poznań.

The first part of a Pola Negri retrospective will constitute a key part of the festival. Negri is inscribed in the history of cinema as the first European and only Polish actress to conquer Hollywood. The screening of a new biographical documentary, Life is a Dream in Cinema, will be followed by some of Negri’s original silent films accompanied on the keyboard by Jay Warren. The retrospective will start out with three films—Hotel Imperial, Woman of the World, and Barbed Wire—and will be spread over three years.

Traditionally, a portion of the festival’s offerings is devoted to documentary films, selected by Krzysztof Kamyszew, a world authority on Polish documentaries. Classics such as Kazimierz Karabasz’s Nearby, Round the Corner (Za Rogiem, niedaleko), The Professor: On Leszek Kołakowski directed by Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz, and Sleeping with the Fat Girl, Dancing with the Slim Girl by Szołajski, will be balanced with the work of younger talents. [The] Festival’s audience will have a chance to see Cuske’s Suburban Train (Elektryczka) and Ahoy, Sauter’s The Traveling Cinema (Kino objazdowe), or Kasperski’s Seeds (Nasiona) which was praised at the Cracow festival as the best Polish documentary.

A retrospective of Maciej Dygas’s films will culminate that the documentary section of the festival. Dygas belongs to the best known directors in Europe. He will be present in person at the screenings of One Day in People’s Poland (Jeden dzień z życia PRL), Voice of Hope (Głos nadziei), State of Weightlessness (Stan nieważkości), and the haunting film You Will Hear My Cries (Usłyszycie mój krzyk).

Marcel Łoziński’s film We All Used to Be Children (Wszyscy byliśmy dziećmi) will premiere at the festival, along with another feature by the same director, How It Is Done (Jak to się robi), a film treating image-building in the world of Polish politics.

Other films not to be missed include Tiger, the story of a controversial Polish boxing champion, Dariusz Michalczewski; The Witness (Świadek), about the first Polish key witness testifying against the mafia; the endearing picture Lilpop Sisters and Their Loves (Siostry Lilpop i ich miłości); and the The Center, in which the outstanding director Stanisław Mucha explores several places in Europe considered as the geographical centers of the continent.

The festival also coincides with the tenth anniversary of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s death. An extensive exhibition, Krzysztof Kieślowski: Traces and Memory, organized in cooperation with the Museum in Łódź, will be opened throughout the festival at the Society for Arts. Further, two documentaries devoted to the creator of the Decalogue will be shown as part of the festival: Krzysztof Kieślowski—Sill Alive and My Kieślowski, in which the director’s daughter, Marta, speaks about her father.

The festival would not be complete without its own awards ceremony. This year, the laureate of the prestigious Wings award for film achievements outside Poland is Sławomir Idziak. His appearance in Chicago has not been confirmed, yet, as he is currently busy making the next Harry Potter movie. Richard Pena, the director of New York Film Festival and of the Lincoln Center Film Society, will receive the first Golden Alpenstock award in recognition for his contribution to promoting Polish films in America. And, at the end of the festival, Stanisław Stawski will be awarded the Angel for his continued support for events which popularize Polish cinema.

Distinguished guests at the festival are said to include Janusz Gajos, Andrzej Seweryn, Piotr Adamczyk, Krzysztof Pieczyński, Agnieszka Holland, and Anna Cieślak. A number of documentary film producers, such as Maciej Drygas, Mariusz Kotowski, Maciej Cuska, and other prominent representatives of the Polish film milieu, will also be present in Chicago.

Ewa Domeredzka, Director of the Polish Film Festival, stated: “November’s festival can be considered as a prelude to the 20th anniversary next year. We have prepared a compelling selection of Polish films and hope that many film buffs will come to the screenings.”

Let us prepare for a cinematic banquet!

Further information about the Polish Film Festival in Chicago can be found at http://www.pffamerica.com or by calling 773-486-9612.