POLISH SHORT FILMS IN IRAN

Polish Cinema Week - the programme presenting full length and more than 20 short films produced mainly by Munk Studio working within the structure of the Polish Filmmakers Association, will run from 31st January to 10th February 2013, during the 31st Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran.

Polish Cinema Week is the first presentation of its kind to be held on this scale in Iran for thirty years. The programmes offers six full length features such as Andrzej Wajda’s "Man of Iron", Dorota Kędzierzawska’s "Time to Die" and "Tomorrow Will Be Better", Krzysztof Krauze’s "My Nikifor" and Krzysztof Zanussi’s "Life as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease". Audiences will also have the opportunity of seeing twenty-one shorts, including Tomasz Bagiński’s Oscar-nominated The Cathedral and a number of films produced under the 30 Minutes, First Documentary and Young Animation programmes run by the Munk Studio, which operates within the structure of the Polish Filmmakers Association; they are Rafał Kapeliński’s "The Informer", Michał Wnuk’s "What the Doctors Say", Monkia Jordan Młodzianowska’s "Easter", Marcin Bortkiewicz’s "Drawn From Memory", Jakub Cuman’s "The Contest", Jan Matuszyński’s "Heaven" and Jarosław Konopka’s "Underlife".

What we know of Iran from the media doesn’t inspire optimism. What amazes us more is the intelligence, wisdom, beauty and wit of their films. In all likelihood, the Iranians know even less about us. This will be the first extensive opportunity for them to encounter Polish film. I can’t wait for my What the Doctors Say to be shown there, in that place and at this time. I would be wonderful if the discussion after the screening began with the film, but didn’t stop at that. And was longer than the film itself, says Michał Wnuk, Chair of the Polish Filmmakers Association’s Young Filmmakers’ Circle.

The Fajr International Film Festival dates back to 1982 and is the largest of its kind in the Middle East. The 31st edition will be held from 31st January to 10th February 2013.

More on the festival can be found at: www.fajrfilmfestival.com

The organisers of Polish Film Week in Iran are the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Tehran, the Polish Filmmakers Association, the Polish-British Films for Young Audiences Foundation, the Polish Film Institute and the Visual Media Institute.

Source: Polish Filmmakers Association