Damian Kocur’s 2022 Venice Film Festival winner “Bread and Salt” will open the 21st Kinoteka Polish Film Festival.
“Bread and Salt” follows the journey of two brothers, played by real-life siblings Tymoteusz Bies and Jacek Bies, in a small Polish town during one hot summer.
The closing gala will be Feliks Falk’s 1977 classic “Top Dog.” Causing much debate in Poland on its original release, the film follows the story of small-town entertainer Danielak, played by Polish acting legend Jerzy Stuhr, who will stop at nothing to achieve his aim of hosting the town’s 500th anniversary celebrations.
In collaboration with BFI, Kinoteka will also present Outsiders and Exiles: The Films of Jerzy Skolimowski, a month-long retrospective at BFI Southbank. Skolimowski’s latest film “EO” has earned enormous critical acclaim across the world since its premiere at Cannes, culminating with the film’s recent Academy Award nomination in the international feature category. As part of the season, Skolmowski will be live in conversation with curator Michael Brooke, where audiences will discover what drives his creative passion and what lies behind his international success.
The lineup spans over 60 years of Polish cinema and showcases a selection of new features, many of them U.K. premieres, and also explores the past with screenings of classic films from some of the country’s most renowned filmmakers.
The festival is organized by the Polish Cultural Institute and supported by the Polish Film Institute and takes place March 9 through April 27 across BFI Southbank, Barbican Centre, ICA, Prince Charles Cinema, Riverside Studios, Phoenix Cinema, Cine Lumiere and Whitechapel Gallery.