Editor’s Note: The capital is rarely short of film festivals. The ongoing Polish-Ukrainian festival “BO!,” which started on Dec.15 in Zhovten cinema, is featuring 11 films of different genres: from documentary to comedy - telling human stories and revealing the history of Poland. Kyiv Post offers some highlights.
To see full schedules go to www.zhovten-kino.kiev.ua
ROZYCZKA (LITTLE ROSE)
Historical drama
Poland 2010, 118’
Dec. 16 at 7:15 p.m.
Poland had the largest Jewish community in Europe before World War II.
The Holocaust changed it all, killing as many as 2.8 million of 3.5 million Jews.
Many survivors fled the country. About 30,000 stayed, but not for long. In 1967, the anti-Semitic campaign “Zionist fight” broke out, led by the ruling party.
Roman Rozek, the main character of the movie, is part of the campaign.
His job as a secret member of State Security Service is to look for the “enemies of the regime”.
Suspecting famous writer Adam Warczewski to be a Zionist and a spy, Rozek persuades his own fiancee to get friendly with the suspect, and report on him using the pseudonym “Little Rose” (Rozyczka).
CZARNY CZWARTEK (BLACK THURSDAY)
Historical drama
Poland 2010, 100’
Dec. 17 at 7:30 p.m.
This movie, based on a true story, takes us back to the cold December of 1970 in the Polish city of Gdynia on the Baltic Sea.
Gdynia was one of the first two cities where shipyards went on strike and joined the mass unrest in the northern Poland, caused by a sudden hike in prices on all basic goods.
The military and workers clashed on Dec. 17, with dozens killed and hundreds wounded.
This day was later called “The Black Thursday” and became one of the symbols of those tragic events.
ERRATUM
Drama
Poland 2010, 95’
Dec. 19 at 7:50 p.m.
Sometimes, to see what you’re missing in the present, you need to go back to the past.
Michal, a 34-year-old loving husband and father, has been living his balanced and quiet life for years, until his boss sent him to his hometown on business.
The trip that should have lasted a day turned into a weekend of time travel that made Michal reconsider his whole life.
PIOTREK TRZYNASTEGO (FRIDAY 13TH)
Black comedy
Poland 2010, 87’
Dec. 19 at 9:35 p.m.
This home video-style comedy mocks American horror movies, especially “Friday the 13th.”
The main character is Jason Voorhees, a hockey-masked killer carrying a chain saw in his hand.
This Polish pseudo-horror tells the story of a group of friends who went to the forest, unaware of dangers they can encounter there.
The movie is not recommended for minors.
HEL (HELIUM)
Drama
Poland 2009, 84’
Dec. 20 at 7:30 p.m.
Days after day, narcologist Piotr talks to mentally unstable patients and it starts to affect his nerves.
What finally knocked him off his feet was the sudden reappearance of his son in his life. He hadn’t heard from the boy for years.
The doctor, who started off as a happy person, feels confused with the mix of professional and personal relations that are challenging his sanity, and starts thinking about taking drugs again – the habit he had given up long ago.
TOWARZYSZ GENERAL IDZIE NA WOJNE (COMRADE GENERAL GOES TO WAR)
Documentary
Poland 2011, 80’
Dec. 21 at 9:30 p.m.
Dec. 13, 1981 was the day martial law was established in Poland by Prime Minister General Wojciech Jaruzelski.
The following two years are still a matter of heated debates, as there has never been an official interpretation of those events.
This documentary reveals archives that would help to understand the motives behind what happened 30 years ago.
ZHOVTEN
26 Kostyantynivska St., 205-5951
www.zhovten-kino.kiev.ua/
