Madison Polish Film Fest '25 Redux

Madison Polish Film Festival 2025

Here is the schedule for this year's Madison Polish Film Festival which again takes place over the course of 2 Sundays:

9 November
3:00 p.m. CHOPIN, CHOPIN (2025)

5:30 p.m. WHITE COURAGE (2024)

16 November
3:00 p.m. FRANZ (2025)

5:30 p.m. SPARROW (2024)

2024 Madison Polish Film Festival

The Madison Polish Film Festival dates have been announced: 10 & 17 November. Screenings are at Union South and are free and open to the public. No Union membership required. Here's the line-up.

His name is Eo he seems to understand

EO is a remake/reimagining of Robert Bresson's Au Hasard Balthazar. I've never seen Bresson's film so I cannot speak to the similarities/differences.

Eo is a donkey who goes from danger to danger, from predicament to predicament in a manner that reminded me of Forest Gump. It's not that Eo doesn't take matters into his own, er, hooves, on occasion as he does when he takes out a fence to escape a farm. But most of the time he is forced to navigate the vagaries of man-made environments and the caprices of human nature.

When the movie opens, our donkey hero suffers the indignity of being part of a circus act, though he is beloved by one of the other performers, a young woman. The authorities close the circus down and Eo is sent to a horse farm where he assists the horse trainers. These are not draft horses but rather show horses, I guess you'd say. The Adonises of the equestrian world.

We get close-ups of Eo's big brown eyes that may show the animal's weariness or may instead reflect the viewer's feelings. We get flashbacks of the woman from the circus petting him that tempt one to think the movie is showing Eo looking back with affection. But perhaps it was just "I like pets and carrots." Director Jerzy Skolimowski largely relegates humans to the background and instead we get intimate micro portraits of animals - we hear their breathing, horses whinny and neigh, wolves howl, a spider in close-up scurries up a strand of its web, and so on.

There are a couple people who show genuine compassion for Eo, more that show indifference to his plight, and others who are hostile to him as well as other people.

I really enjoyed the little touches that Skolimowski injected into his movie such as the scenes that are lit red and take on a tint of unreality. And then in one scene a gate seems to magically open, as if by Eo's will, to allow his escape.

I'm unsure of the movie's message, at least the one that isn't given to us via some text at the end just before the credits. Human beings both harm and heal Eo. There are wolves would eat Eo but other animals are content to graze. I suppose it shows that humans are animals just like donkeys but also have powers over and stewardship responsibility for creatures even if they simply want to stand around and eat grass.

EO to screen at Cinematheque

The Polish movie, EO, is set to screen here in Madison at UW Cinematheque on 26 January. Directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, it's remake/reenvisioning/whatever of the 1966's Au Hasard Balthazar by legendary French director Robert Bresson.

"With his first film in seven years, legendary director Jerzy Skolimowski (Deep End, Moonlighting) directs one of his most free and visually inventive films yet, following the travels of a nomadic gray donkey named EO. After being removed from the traveling circus, which is the only life he’s ever known, EO begins a trek across the Polish and Italian countryside, experiencing cruelty and kindness in equal measure, all the while observing the follies and triumphs of humankind."

More Polish Films

I noted earlier that the Madison Polish Film Festival has announced dates and films. It was my hope that Aftermath and/or 1939: The Secret of Westerplatte would be brought north but, alas, it was not to be.

But all is not lost. The fest here in Madison piggybacks off of the Polish Film Festival in America, a much larger event held annually in Chicago. That fest begins in three days and lasts until the 24th of this month. And both of the above films are to screen.





I recently found out about Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema.



Scorsese is apparently curating this exhibition of 21 classic Polish films all of which have been restored. Screenings start in New York come February and then move on to various cities around the country with Chicago likely being the closest stop to Madison. It looks to be quite a treat and would really love the chance to see The Hourglass Sanatorium (Sanatorium pod klepsydra) and The Saragossa Manuscript (Rekopis znaleziony w Saragossie) on the big screen.

23rd Annual Madison Polish Film Festival

The dates and films for the 23rd Annual Madison Polish Film Festival have been announced. There will be four films in total with two screened on Saturday, 23 November and the remaining on Saturday, 7 December. All films are to be screened at the Marquee Theatre at Union South and are in Polish with English subtitles. Here's the line-up:

23 November

1PM
Loving (Miłość) dir. Sławomir Fabicki, 2012
Maria and Tomek are in their 30's, have been happily married for 10 years, and are expecting a baby soon. All of the sudden, their peaceful relationship is put to the test by an unexpected event. This drama explores the complex nature of love and how jealousy, fear, responsibility, empathy, and forgiveness affect loving relationships.



3PM
In The Name Of (W imię) dir. Małgorzata Szumowska, 2013
Adam is a Catholic priest who directs a reintigration center for orphans with behavioral problems in rural Poland. His loneliness in the village is matched with his personal life, as he desires men - a sexual inclination deemed by his own religious beliefs as both amoral and intrinsically evil. When Adam meets Łukasz he finds himself caught between his profession and his crippling need to be loved. His infatuation remains well-hidden, yet when a young boy in his care commits suicide, he finds himself under the harsh judicial glare of the church.




7 December

1PM
The Closed Circuit (Układ Zamknięty) dir. Ryszard Bugajski, 2013
Inspired by real events that took place in 2003, this film relates the misfortunes of three businessmen who fall victim to a conspiracy of sorts, led by a corrupt group of jurists and tax department employees. One day, at 6 a.m., anti-terrorist intervention teams, guns in hand, enter the homes of these three businessmen, who have no idea of the origin of the accusations brought against them by the district attorney: they are accused of being criminals laundering money. Put in jail and kept from having any contact with their families who are being harassed by government employees, they can only count on the help of a young journalist who will risk his career on television to do everything he can to unveil the truth.



3PM
Dzień Kobiet (Women's Day) dir. Maria Sadowska, 2012
Halina, a cashier in a chain-store is hoping for a better life for herself and her 13 year old daughter, Misia. As soon as she can, Halina becomes the store manager; as manager she discovers that dishonesty, manipulation, and deceit are part of the price for a higher salary and standard of living. Halina soon loses track of past friendships, as well as her relationship with her daughter; will she take the opportunity to set things right? The absurdity of consumerism and its subsequent re-evaluation of values are called into question by this film that depicts an evolving Polish reality.