Festival

Festival presentation: 

5^TH EKRAN Toronto Polish Film Festival

www.ekran.ca

         The Ekran Polish Film Association is proud to announce the 5th Annual Polish Film Festival in Toronto (November 13  17, 2013) celebrating the greatest achievements of Polish filmmakers. The festival will open with SIBERIAN EXILE (Syberiada polska) by Janusz Zaorski on November 13th, 2013 with our star-studded gala during which both Polish and American moviemakers will walk the red carpet at TIFF Bell Lightbox, an extravagant start to a 5-day-long celebration of Polish Cinema through November 17th, 2013 with subsequent  screenings at the Cine-Starz Cinema and the Revue Cinema. The Festival continues to grow each year by screening more films and drawing larger crowds.

        For the fifth time we will present the most recent achievements of Polish cinema as  IN HIDING (W ukryciu) by Jan Kidawa-Blonski, THE CLOSED CIRCUIT (Uklad zamkniety) by Ryszard Bugajski, THE FIFTH SEASON OF THE YEAR (Piata pora roku) by Jerzy Domaradzki, FLOATING SKYSCRAPERS  (Plynace wiezowce) by Tomasz Wasilewski, VIVA BELARUS (Zywje Bialorus) by Krzysztof Lukaszewicz, PAPUSZA dir. Joanna Kos-Krauze i Krzysztof Krauze and series of short films, documentaries and animations. In the segment of movies made abroad by Polish filmmakers, or with Polish talent we will present IMAGINE by Andrzej Jakimowski.

Panel of jurors from Toronto, including Larry Anklewicz, Shane Harvey and Chris Alexander will pick-up winners in feature film category.

Ekran is supported by the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Toronto, the Polish Filmmakers Association and the Polish Film Institute.

 

Festival Nickname: 

EKRAN Toronto Polish Film Festival

Edition: 

5

Festival Logo: 

Theme: 

European Films

Category/Format: 

Documentaries

Fiction Features

Nov 13, 2013 7.30 PM

TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King Street West, Toronto

Ticket price: 35$ (general admission), 250$ (VIP) – if we receive your donation before October 15th, your name will printed in the festival catalog)

SIBERIAN EXILE

Directed by: Janusz Zaorski
Written by: Michał Komar, Maciej Dutkiewicz

Cast: Adam Woronowicz, Andrii Zhurba, Paweł Krucz, Lera Guliaieva, Sonia Bohosiewicz, Igor Gniezdilov, Natalia Rybicka, DmytroSova, Agnieszka Więdłocha, Jan Peszek

Poland-Ukraine 2013

Dramatic life experience of inhabitants of the Czerwony Jar village who were transported far into the Soviet Union, exiled from the Polish territory taken by the Russians in accordance with the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact of 1939.

Please join us for the reception prior to the screening at the Polish Consulate between 4-6 PM. In attendance will be director of the film Janusz Zaorski, producer Miroslaw Slowinski
(This ticket will enable you to attend the reception)
Dress code: Black Tie
Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Toronto
2603 Lake Shore Blvd. W., M8V 1G5 Toronto, Canada

Nov 14, 2013 7:00 PM

Cine Starz, 377 Burnhamthorpe Rd. Mississauga

Ticket price: 15$ (general admission)

BACZYNSKI
 

Directed by: Kordian Piwowarski
Written by: Kordian Piwowarski
Cast: Katarzyna Zawadzka, Mateusz Kościukiewicz, Ewa Telega, Tomasz Leszczyński

Poland 2013

A poetic film journey through the last years of the life of Krzysztof Kamil Baczynski. The film combines feature film and documentary elements, the poet's poems form its narrative. Does Baczynski's poetry still influence contemporary readers? Can we still understand the choices he had to make? Would we fight like Baczynski for the freedom of our country? "Baczynski" is a story which leaves no one indifferent.

This film will be screened together with 30 min. short film "The Easter Crumble" directed by Julia Kolberger.
During this screening will be in attendance:
Kordian Piwowarski and Anna Piwowarska - directors of film "Baczynski" and Julia Kolberger - director of "The Easter Crumble"
 

The Revue Cinema, 400 Roncesvalles Ave., Toronto

Ticket price: 15$ (general admission)

IMAGINE

Directed by: AndrzejJakimowski
Written by: AndrzejJakimowski
Cast: Alexandra Maria Lara, Edward Hogg, Ellie Wallwork, Melchior Derouet, AlixPlancq, Francis Frappat

Poland-France-Portugal-UK 2012

Ian, a new spatial orientation instructor, arrives at an ophthalmology clinic in Lisbon. He comes to work with blind patients. However, the clinic personnel does not approve of his unconventional methods. Ian does not consider sensual perception to be very important. He believes that the mind and imagination make it possible to get about and have an active lifestyle.

After the screening join us for the after party at FREGATA,1900 Dundas Str. E. Mississauga, ONL4X 2Z4 Canada, (905)270-6265

Nov 15, 2013 9:15 PM

The Revue Cinema, 400 Roncesvalles Ave., Toronto

Ticket price: 15$ (general admission)

FLOATING SKYSCRAPERS

Directed by: Tomasz Wasilewski
Written by: Tomasz Wasilewski
Cast: Marta Nieradkiewicz, Mateusz Banasiuk, Katarzyna Herman, Bartosz Gelner

Poland 2013
 

Kuba attends an art opening with his girlfriend of two years and bumps into Michal. The connection between these two young men is instantaneous and intoxicating, and despite opposition from all sides, he allows Michal into his life. The results go beyond anything he could have imagined. This intimate and bold second feature from Polish director Tomasz Wasilewski captures the often-complicated consequences of finding love where others do not want it.
 

After the screening join us for the after party at FREGATA, 1900 Dundas Str. E. Mississauga,

ONL4X 2Z4 Canada, (905)270-6265

 

THE VULTURE

Written & directed by: Eugeniusz Korin
Cast: Michał Żebrowski, Daniel Olbrychski, Paweł Małaszyński, Anna Przybylska, Anna Dereszowska, Andrzej Seweryn, Andrzej Grabowski, Mirosław Baka, Piotr Fronczewski

Poland 2013

During a high profile murder trial, the accused is dramatically kidnapped from the court room and spirited away. Komendant Krasucki enlists trusted officer Aleksander Wolin, who is incorruptible and nicknamed The Vulture, to head up the special unit that will hunt down the kidnappers. Wolin recruits department veteran Bozek and an enthusiastic rookie to join his perilous crusade.

After the screening join us for an after party at FREGATA,1900 Dundas Str. E. Mississauga, ONL4X 2Z4 Canada, (905)270-6265

VIVA BELARUS!

Directed by: Krzysztof Łukaszewicz
Written by: Krzysztof Łukaszewicz, Frank Viachorka
Cast:Karolina Gruszka, Dźmitry "Vinsent" Papko, Paval Kryksunou, Aliaksandr Malcanau, Dzianis Tarasenka

Poland 2013

Miron Zacharka does not belong to the opposition. However, concerts of his rock band become an occasion for anti-regime demonstrations. After one of the concerts, Miron, who has a congenital heart defect, is conscripted for 15 months into a special military unit. Via an illegal mobile phone, he dictates a diary to his girlfriend who posts it on a blog which becomes extremely popular..

Cine Starz, 377 Burnhamthorpe Rd. Mississauga
Ticket price: 15$ (general admission)

PAPUSZA

Directed by: Joanna Kos-Krauze, Krzysztof Krauze
Written by: Joanna Kos-Krauze, Krzysztof Krauze
Cast: Jowita Budnik, Zbigniew Waleryś, Antoni Pawlicki, Paloma Mirga, Sebastian Wesołowski
Poland 2013

True story of Papusza - the first Roma woman who put her poems into writing and published them, and therefore confronted the traditional female image in the gypsy community. The film follows Papusza's life from birth to old age: arranged marriage as a small girl, her life in a gypsy tabor before, during and after second world war, then forced settlement in communist Poland and urban life in poverty. Her meeting with the Polish poet Jerzy Ficowski, who discovered her great talent for poetry and published her works led to a tragic paradox: a famous poet was living in poverty, rejected by the Roma community, for betraying their secrets.

Cine Starz, 377 Burnhamthorpe Rd. Mississauga

Ticket price: 15$ (general admission)

THE FIFTH SEASON OF THE YEAR

Directed by: Jerzy Domaradzki
Written by: Natalia Pruzewicz
Cast: Marian Dziedziel, Ewa Wisniewska, Andrzej Grabowski, Agnieszka Mandat

Poland 2012

On the surface, they have nothing in common. Witek is a widowed driver, who has driven thousands of kilometers in his life, but never really seen anything outside his homeland of Silesia. Barbara is retired music teacher who cannot get over the death of a loved one - a painter with whom she spent the most beautiful years of her life. Wanting to fulfill his dying wish and bury his ashes at sea, she turns to Witek for help. As they travel north to the Polish shore, they become friends; this friendship will allow them to overcome even the largest differences.

 

Cine Starz, 377 Burnhamthorpe Rd. Mississauga
Ticket price: 20$ (general admission)

IN HIDING
 

Directed by: Jan Kidawa Blonski
Written by: Maciej Karpinski
Cast: Magdalena Boczarska, Julia Pogrebinska, Tomasz Kot, AgataKulesza

Poland 2013

A story of destructive feeling, universal and with a surprising twist. Poland, the last months of the WWII and the first months after Liberation. Radom under Nazi occupation. A photographer and his daughter Janina, a cellist, try to survive in the harsh reality. To Janina's surprise, her father decides to give shelter to Ester, a young Jewish woman. Over time a bond forms between the two women which makes it easier for them to cope with their difficult situation. When the father is taken away by the Nazis and the women are left to fend for themselves, their relationship becomes increasingly obsessive.

In attendance at the screening will be director of the film Jan Kidawa Blonski and the lead

 actress Magda Boczarska and Julia Pogrebinska.
 

TO KILL A BEAVER

Written & Directed by Jan Jakub Kolski

Cast Agnieszka Pawelkiewicz, Eryk Lubos, Alexandra Michael

Poland 2012

War-weary loner Eryk returns to his trashed-out family home in rural Poland after serving what seems to have been a traumatic stint in the Chechen war. A scraggly teenage girl named Bezi (Polish shorthand for “nameless”) has taken up residence there, even going so far as to decorate an upper bedroom. They form an uneasy association, which quickly grows into something more needy and desperate and restless.

RESETTLEMENT

Directed by: FilipAntoni Malinowski
Written by: FilipAntoni Malinowski

Poland-Austria-Switzerland 2012

The Art of Choosing on what side to be. A unique Polish couple in their 80s. After living for 66 years in their flat they have to move out. While Maria is an extraordinary spirit full of un-dominable optimism and vitality - Tadeusz is a silent scientist and fatalist. Now they have to fight their existential disaster that unveils the touching stories of their life and cast a shadow over their present. It's a film about justice and equality- the crisis of morality in past and present modern society, as well as about how to get old-staying young.

BLINKY & ME
 

Directed by: Tomasz Magierski
Written by: Tomasz Magierski

Poland-USA 2012
 

The untold story of Australian animator, Yoram Gross, comes to life in this film that follows the artist and his family through his childhood in Nazi occupied Poland, in Israel, where he began creating animated art films, all the way to Australia, where he found his fortune and happiness through children animated features and the popular film series "Blinky Bill", for which he received the highest honor in Australia.

YOU ARE GOD

Directed by: Leszek Dawid
Written by: Maciej Pisuk
Cast: Marcin Kowalczyk, Katarzyna Wajda, Dawid Ogrodnik, Tomasz Schuchardt, Arkadiusz Jakubik

Poland 2012

A film about the Magician, one of the most charismatic musicians in Polish hop-hop. The story is set in 1998, in Bogucice, a neighborhood of Katowice. The Magician, Rahim and Focus are three friends and one hip-hop squad Paktofonika pact sealed by music. A tale of friendship, passion and sensitivity.

THE CLOSED CIRCUIT

Directed by: Ryszard Bugajski
Written by: Mirosław Piepka, Michał S. Pruski
Cast: Janusz Gajos, Kazimierz Kaczor, Wojciech Żołądkowicz

Poland 2012

Three Polish entrepreneurs lose their estates and their fortune as a result of murky practices by the revenue office and the judicial system. Though after seven years of struggle all charges against them are dropped, they are ruined both financially and mentally. The story is based on real events.

At the screening n attendance will be the director Ryszard Bugajski and actress Maria Mamona