Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema

What's on BFI?
Fresh from a US tour, Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema arrives at BFI Southbank in April for a two month season. Presented in partnership with the 13th KINOTEKA Polish Film Festival and Filmhouse Edinburgh, the season, curated by Martin Scorsese will include work by celebrated directors such as Krzysztof Zanussi (Camouflage, Illumination) and Krzysztof Kieślowski (A Short Film About Killing).
Classic films in London: BFI season
The collection has been curated by Scorsese, the unstoppable Oscar winning (and eight-time nominated) director, writer and producer behind films such as Raging Bull (1980) Goodfellas (1990), The Departed (2006) and Wolf of Wall Street (2013).
On show will be 21 films from the late 50s onwards, a time when Polish filmmakers were emerging from the creatively suffocating policy of Socialist Realism imposed by the pro-Soviet communist government and producing cinema described by Scorsese as one of ‘personal vision, a very strong social commitment and a poetic responsibility from which we’ve all learned and… that as a film maker I strive to achieve.’
Old films in London: BFI season
The season will include onstage appearances by award-winning cinematographer Sławomir Idziak, and director Krzysztof Zanussi, who will be in conversation following a screening of his film Camouflage (1976) which will mark the opening of the 13th KINOTEKA Polish Film Festival. A special talk led by critic and filmmaker Kuba Mikurda, describing the historical contexts informing the films and inspiration from the country’s war-torn landscapes. Mikurda will examine the difficulties of living in a corrupt Communist society that so few Poles supported.
Don’t miss a screening of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Blind Chance (1981) and the Cannes Jury Prize-winning film A Short Film About Killing (1987) (the screening of which will be followed by a Q&A with screenwriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz) as well as Andrzej Munk’s dark WWII comedy Eroica (1957), two films by Wojciech J Has; The Saragossa Manuscript (1964) and The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973), and the widescreen epic (and one of Poland’s biggest hits) Knights of the Black Cross (1960).