2021 NY Polish Film Festival Premieres In Theatres and Online

The New York Polish Film Festival will present its 16th annual showcase of Poland's most riveting cinema including lauded festival highlights and several New York premieres.

On May 26th, the NYPFF will present Poland's 2021 Academy Award submission NEVER GONNA SNOW AGAIN as an opening night selection with directors Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert in person. Additional festival highlights include a special screening of Agnieszka Holland's CHARLATAN with a new introduction by the celebrated filmmaker, Viennale FIPRESCI award-winner Mariusz Wilczyński's hand-drawn fourteen years in the making animated wonder KILL IT AND LEAVE THIS TOWN featuring the voice of famed director Andrzei Wajda and the New York premieres of Cannes selection SWEAT by filmmaker Magnus von Horn and Jacek Bromski's SOLID GOLD with actress Katarzyna Śmiechowicz in person.

"We are delighted to return to experiencing the magic of the big screen's shared emotions and discussing our discoveries together," says festival director Hanna Hartowicz.

The 2021 edition of the NY Polish Film Festival is dedicated to master director, Krzysztof Kieślowski for his lasting influence on Polish and world cinema. This spring coincides with the 25th anniversary of his passing and marks the 80th anniversary of his birth. CONVERSATIONS WITH KIESLOWSKI will be presented in conjunction with the New York Polish Film Festival.

Selections for the 2021 NY Polish Film Festival:

New York Theatrical Premiere

ALL FOR MY MOTHER (Wszystko dla mojej matki)

Directed by Małgorzata Imielska, 2019, 103 min.

Polish Film Festival Winner, Best Actress

Warsaw Film Festival Audience Winner

17 year old orphan Olka (Zofia Domalik), does not care for the other girls in the reformatory, nor the promise of new clothes, phones, and money from the corrupt guards. Olka only wants to find her mother, and she will escape from every institution until they meet. Małgorzata Imielska's "All For My Mother" is a searing portrait of modern day Poland, and a stunning debut.

CORPUS CHRISTI (Boże Ciało)

Directed by Jan Komasa, 2019, 116 min.

Academy Award Nominee Best International Feature Film

Polish Film Festival, Best Director Winner

Bartosz Bielenia smolders in a wild performance pitting forgiveness against vengeance amongst the faithful. When a newly paroled convict (Bielenia), arrives for work at a saw mill, he is mistaken for a priest and decides to take over a country church.

New York Theatrical Premiere

New recorded introduction by Agnieszka Holland.

CHARLATAN (Szarlatan)

Directed by Agnieszka Holland, 2020, 118 min.

Czech Republic's official submission for the Best International Feature Film

category at the 2021 Academy Awards.

In Soviet-era Czechoslovakia, herbalist Jan Mikolášek (Ivan Trojan) treats the sick by the thousands against strict government orders to stop. Oscar nominated director Agnieszka Holland's fascinating biopic, explores a complicated man, more at war with himself than the authorities attempting to imprison him.

KILL IT AND LEAVE THIS TOWN (Zabij to i wyjedź z tego miasta)

Directed by Mariusz Wilczyński, 2020, 88 min.

Polish Film Festival 2020, Golden Lions Winner Best Film

Winner of the Grand Prize for Feature Animation, Ottawa International Animation Festival Viennale FIPRESCI Award winner

Fleeing from despair after losing those dearest to him, the film's hero hides in a safe land of memories where time stands still and those dear to him are still alive. Fourteen years in the making, director Wilczyński's deeply personal, hand-drawn Łódź set animated film is voiced by an ensemble cast that includes famed director Andrzei Wajda and scored with blues songs by the late Tadeusz Nalepa.

MR JONES (Obywatel Jones)

Directed by Agnieszka Holland, 2019, 119 min.

Polish Film Festival, Gdynia- Golden Lions Winner for Best Film

Agnieszka Holland's thriller, set on the eve of world WWII, sees Hitler's rise to power and Stalin's Soviet propaganda machine pushing their "utopia" to the Western world.

Jones goes on a life-or-death journey to uncover the truth behind the façade that would later inspire George Orwell's seminal book Animal Farm.

Directors Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert in person

NEVER GONNA SNOW AGAIN (Śniegu już nigdy nie będzie)

Directed by Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert, 2020, 113 min.

Poland's official submission for Best International Film, 2021 Academy Awards

Venice Film Festival Golden Lion Nominee

The latest from writer/director Malgorzata Szumowska (ELLES, IN THE NAME OF) and her longtime collaborator Michal Englert is an unclassifiable meditation on class, immigration, and global warming with touches of magical realism and moments of sober beauty and subtle humor.

New York Premiere

SOLID GOLD

Directed by Jacek Bromski, 2019, 135 min.

Actress Katarzyna Śmiechowicz in person

Top crime detective Nowicki (Janusz Gajos) enlists outsider Kaja (Marta Nieradkiewicz) to go undercover and expose businessman Kawecki (Andrzej Seweryn) for the mafia boss he is. As Nowicki and Kaja move through the elite world of politics and power like knives, Kawaicki decides he must pull them even closer to survive in this explosive thriller.

SUPERNOVA

Directed by Bartosz Kruhlik, 2019, 78 min.

Polish Film Festival award winner for debut or second film

Told in a realistic style, this is a universal story about a few hours in the life of a village community. SUPERNOVA is an observation of a person placed in a critical situation, and it poses a question about the fundamental nature of coincidence and destiny. A vibrant story that moves between drama, thriller and a disaster film.

New York Premiere

SWEAT

Directed by Magnus von Horn, 2020, 106 min.

Cannes 2020 Official Selection

Fitness model Sylwia Zając's presence on social media has made her a celebrity, but not everyone following has good intentions in this finely taut thriller about the dangers and pleasures of social media.

NYPFF opening night and NY premiere screening tickets are $20, individual tickets are $15, pass for all in person screenings is $100; virtual screening tickets are $9.

For advance tickets: https://www.nypff.com/

NYPFF's jury will award this year's Krzysztof Kieslowski Beyond Borders Award embodying the deeply humanistic commitment so characteristic of Kieslowski's work, the Elzbieta Czyzewska Award and the The Special Jury Award. 2021 jury members include: jury president- Stacy Keach, Veronica K. Hartowicz, Martyna Majok, Kama Royz, Cezary Skubiszewski and Ewa Zadrzynska-Głowacka.

NYPFF 2021's poster is designed by Andrzej Pągowski (born 1953 in Warsaw) is a Polish artist who specializes in graphic design and poster art. Pągowski graduated from The State University of Fine Arts in Poznan in 1978 and began to design posters, which has since become his main interest. In addition to posters, he designs theatrical settings, prints and catalogues. One of the younger of the Third Generation of artists of Polish School of Posters, he easily made the transition from socialism to capitalism; in 1990, he created his own graphic studio, STUDIO P, which developed into an advertising agency in 1993 and continues in operation today. His art can be found in many European museums as well as the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He has also had one-man shows in Stockholm, Paris, London, and Warsaw.