The 44th Polish Film Festival – Day 1 [video, gallery]

Months of preparations, hard work and excitement have finally brought their fruits. The 44th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia started on Monday morning. Tricity News has a pleasure to be a partner of the festival.

The great beginning and the grand opening

The official inauguration of the 44th Polish Film Festival was still to come in the evening. The pass holders were on their feet from the early morning though to book the screenings online at 7:30. It all started at 9:00 am in the Musical Theatre and in the Gdynia Film Centre. This year, however, there are more locations available for the participants of the festival. Helios cinema in Riviera mall, the Witold Gombrowicz theatre, Culture consulate, and the Navy Museum opened their door for the festival.

Main Competition screenings

On Monday, the journalists saw two movies, which had already had their premieres in cinemas. Additionally, there was a chance to see the first of the four directors’ debuts. The day opened with “The Messenger” by Wladyslaw Pasikowski. We had a pleasure of interviewing Philippe Tlokinski, who plays the main role in the movie. The screenings continued with “Dolce Fine Giornata” by Jacek Borcuch. The third movie from the main competition that day was “All for My Mother” by Malgorzata Imielska.

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Apart from the press screenings, the participants of the festivals saw “Interior”, “Bird Talk”, “Proceder”, “Pilsudski” as well as “Mr. Jones”. The last movie, by Agnieszka Holland, became a part of the official inauguration of the 44th Polish Film Festival.

Other screenings

In addition to nearly 70 screenings of the Main Competition Movies, the audience could see 16 shows of movies from other categories of the festival. Those involved the work from “Polish Film Panorama” category, which presents Polish movies, which aren’t a part of the Main Competition.

The grand opening

The peak moment of the first day at the Polish Film Festival was the opening gala. The official inauguration of the event took place in the Musical Theatre in Gdynia. The crowds gathered at the main door to see both national and local celebrities at the red carpet.

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In their opening words, director Leszek Kopeć and mayor Wojciech Szczurek welcomed the audience. They also wished all the participants a great festival and lots of film emotions.

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Two screenings at the Grand Opening

After the opening speeches, the audience saw the first Polish narrative film. The very short piece dates back to 1902 and tells a story of a youth coming back from a whole night of fun. “The return of the Birbant” has a very rich history. The interesting screening of this movie will take place on Thursday when the creators will screen it from the original recording device – Pleograph.

The grand opening of the festival ended with a screening of Mr. Jones by Agnieszka Holland.

Festival tickets

Visit the official website of the 44th Polish Film Festival to book tickets for the screenings and to find out more about the event.