Madison Polish Film Festival Releases (Tentative) Schedule

The 22nd Annual Polish Film Festival here in Madison will be held 16-18 November with all films screened at the Marquee in Union South. The organizers from the UW Polish Student Association have released a tentative schedule. It looks interesting but I was hoping that The Hourglass Sanatorium would play here as it will be shown as part of the Polish Film Festival in America in Chicago next month. Perhaps a trek south is in order.

Nov 16 Fri 7 pm
80 MILLION / 80 MILIONÓW dir. W. Krzystek 2011, 102'
…an action feature film based on a true story, set in Wroclaw just a few days before the imposing of martial law in December 1981. Four young activists of “Solidarity” movement plot to with-draw all the funds from Union's account in National Bank of Poland before the communist regime freezes it. But how do you transfer and where do you hide 80 million zlotych in cash? Allied with Catholic Church officials and local money dealers, young heroes begin the race to outwit Security Service officers and their leader, arrogant and despotic captain Sobczyk. Waldemar Krzystek's film captures a period from Polish communist history in an original, satirical and universal way. The movie is this year’s Polish entry to the Academy Award in a foreign language category.



Nov 17 Sat 1 pm
ROSE / RÓŻA dir: Wojtek Smarzowski 2011, 94’
won the Grand Prix. “In the years following the Second World War, the indigenous inhabitants of the Mazurian lakes District became second class citizens to the new authorities. Through the eyes of a Polish Army officer, we follow the struggles of a nation doomed to annihilation by two competing nationalisms. It would seem that these hard times would leave no room for love, but love comes, and brings hope.” It is the story of the Mazurians, German-speaking Lutherans, who lived in East Prussia until the Potsdam Conference, when that borderland became part of Poland. Poles were resettled in the area, and Mazurians had to go through "national verification" to prove their ethnicity.



Nov 17 Sat 3 pm
Elles dir: Małgorzata Szumowska 2012, 95'
Anne (Juliette Binoche) is not only a mother and wife struggling with her domestic priorities, but a writer for ‘Elle’ magazine that is struggling to understand the subjects of her unfinished article – the young and beautiful girls that have opted for prostitution in order to maintain survival. Flipping through recordings and flashbacks of her interviews, Anne is forced to acknowledge her own emotions and womanhood. Viewers also come to see the forbidden and seductive nature of the girls who, in their innocent appearances, carry shadows of the taboo lifestyle. In the process of it all, the two girls stray away from remaining as subjects in Anne’s article and instead, shine as reflectors of Anne’s own desires.



Sun Nov 18 1 pm
The Courage / Wymyk dir: Greg Zgliński 2011 , 85’
Brothers Alfred (Robert Wieckiewicz, Best Actor winner)
and Jurek witness a helpless girl being mugged on a suburban train. Jurek stands up for her, while Alfred holds back. He later tries to cover up the truth at all costs…



Sun Nov 18 3 pm
My Name is Ki / Ki dir: Leszek Dawid 2011 93’
Ki is a portrait of a young mother who doesn't want to be perceived as a stereotypical lonely, anguished woman. She tries to lead a colorful, fast and intense life. Only when she meets Miko and starts a difficult relationship, she learns how to love and take responsibility for herself and her son