Outdoor cinema near the Wawel Castle and in the interior of the Barbican, shows for children, workshops or Japanese animations – many free of charge events await the viewers of the 59th Krakow Film Festival.
An extraordinary cinema inside the Barbakan
The 70th birthday of the Documentary and Feature Film Studio s (WFDiF) will be celebrated with screenings of classic Polish documentary films made by the Warsaw studio. The films will be screened on Wednesday and Thursday (29-30 May) in the extraordinary, medieval scenery of the interior of the Barbakan. WFDiF was the place where that the most important trends in Polish documentary cinema were born and flourished – from the first post-war productions, through the legendary “black series” and the most famous productions of the 60s, 70s and 80s, to the era of breakthrough films. It was here that the greatest documentary filmmakers made their films, and here the feature debuts of Agnieszka Smoczyńska, Bodo Kox and Katarzyna Rosłaniec were also made. On the occasion of the jubilee, a selection of documentaries made at Chelmska 21 will be presented, including works by Krzysztof Kieślowski, Władysław Ślesicki, Kazimierz Karabasz
On Tuesday, May 28th, in Barbakan, viewers will see films made by Educational Film Studio (Wytwórnia Filmów Oświatowych), which also celebrates its 70th anniversary. The program includes documentaries directed by Piotr Szulkin, Bogdan Dziworski or Wojciech Wiszniewski.
Caroline Leaf’s Master Class
A special event of this edition of the festival will be a meeting with the Dragon Dragon Award winner, Caroline Leaf. Winner of many film awards, nominations for an Oscar or BAFTA award, as well as the Golden and Silver Dragon of the Krakow Film Festival, she will conduct her master class on May 28 at 3 pm in the Małopolska Garden of Art. During her masterclasses, the Canadian-American artist will present slides and fragments of films to show how her thinking about the work of an animator has evolved over the years. She will also talk about how she found herself at the current stage of her career, where she is more interested in drawing and painting than animation.
Piasek czyli Piotruś i wilk, reż Caroline Leaf 
Dwie Siostry, reż reż Caroline Leaf 
Sowa, która poślubiła gęś: legenda eskimoska, reż. Caroline Leaf
Around Szumowski
On the 15th anniversary of the death of Maciej Szumowski, the Krakow Film Festival will remind the figure of this accomplished journalist, editor-in-chief of “Gazeta Krakowska” and a filmmaker who took on human misfortune and social injustice in his work. The review will include fragments of the famous cycle Polska zza siódmej miedzy (Poland from behind the seventh fear) and the series Oddam życie za pracę (I’ll give my life for a job) and films of his children, Małgorzata Szumowska and Wojciech Szumowski. The screenings will take place on 26 and 31 May and 1 June.
Celebration. A show of Japanese animations
For all lovers of Asian travel, a trip to the world of Japanese animations awaits, which will showcase the contemporary trends of this genre. The authors of the presented films are young artists connected, among others by the Kyoto City University of Arts in Japan. The screening of Japanese films is part of the project “Celebration – between criticism and aesthetics”, included in the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Poland’s establishing diplomatic relations with Japan. The films will be available on May 31 at 9.30 pm in the AST Stage room.
Take Mama to the cinema, a Mother’s Day with KFF
To celebrate Mother’s Day, the Krakow Film Festival has prepared a discount for its viewers that will encourage them to spend this special holiday together. Everyone who will come to the festival screening together with their mother on May 26th will be able to receive a second ticket, ie a ticket for mom, free of charge.
On this day, the festival screenings will take place in the Pod Baranami Cinema, the Małopolska Garden of Arts, AST Stage and Kijów.Centrum. The offer also applies to the opening ceremony of the festival, where the film “Wind. Documentary Thriller “by Michał Bielawski will be screened.
Children’s Day with KFF
On June 1st, on Children’s Day, KFF invites young film lovers to the Paradox cinema. This year’s proposals will include two Finnish films: “Super Furball”, which will provide great fun and “My New Country”, whose heroine is 10-year-old Farrah, starting life in a completely new place. The program also includes the award-winning movie “My Life As a Zucchini”.
An attraction for children will also be a workshop with Albin Talik, a transmedia artist, the creator of the paper painting technique. How to make a work of art from old books, leaflets and newspapers? The answer to this question is COLLAGE. All you need is scissors, some glue and good fun! Workshops will take place from 10.00 to 15.00 in the Małopolska Garden of Arts.
Opening of the “Memory” exhibition
An inseparable part of the festival are exhibitions that combine art presented in galleries with cinema. This year, one of the accompanying events is the “Memory” exhibition at the ASP Gallery. Black and white, time-bound photographs and the daily life of students of the Moscow film school, photos from film sets, experiments with form. The archive of the cinematographer Leonid Burlaki was accidentally found by his grandson, Ihor Ivanko. He decided to make a documentary about his grandfather to preserve his memories and recreate the realities of his era. The exhibition is open from May 16th to June 2nd, and the grand opening will take place on May 26th at 16.00 at the Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts.
The second exhibition accompanying the festival is WAJDA at the National Museum in Krakow.
An outstanding filmmaker, a master of film narration, titan of energy and ideas, a laureate among others of Academy Award Oscar and Golden Palm. Thanks to the tools of modern museology, we penetrate the world of Andrzej Wajda’s films and theater performances. The exhibition presents unconventional multimedia and narrative exhibition based on scripts, sketches, drawings, notes, props, costumes and documents. Although admission to it is not free, special discount is available for the participants of the festival. With the KFF pass or accreditation you will be able to buy a ticket for the exhibition at a special price – PLN 5.
Sounds of music
Outdoor screenings of the “Sounds of Music” section is a delight for viewers who are hungry for good music, outstanding cinema and beautiful nature ambiance. From Monday to Friday (27-31 May) you will be able to see the documentaries shown in previous years in the DocFilmMusic section on the big screen, under the starry sky, with a view of the Wawel Castle.
The open air cinema program will be opened by a documentary about the leader of Nirvana, “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck”. Another film, “Songs of Redemption” is the history of a prison in Jamaica, where a music rehabilitation program has been implemented and criminals become reggae creators. The audience will also see “When God Sleeps” about the artist Shahin Najafim, on whom the Ayatollahs have issued a fatwa for insulting Islam. The next evening is “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda”, a film about the author of music to Bertolucci’s films and “The Revenant”. “Maksymiuk. A Concert For Two “, which will close the cycle, is a portrait of the conductor, pianist and composer Jerzy Maksymiuk.
The partner of the “Sounds of Music” section is PGE Energia Ciepła, and the media partner of Radio Kraków.