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02-11-2008

PISF celebrates 100 years of Polish cinema

By Katarzyna Grynienko
    Celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the first Polish feature film, the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl) had prepared a series of events including gallery shows, retrospectives and a DVD collection.
    The events kicked off October 22, the centenial of the debut screening of Antos' first time in Warsaw directed by Jerzy Meyer, a comic story of a clumsy provincial who visits the city, with an exhibition organized in cooperation with the Museum of Cinematography in Lodz (www.kinomuzeum.pl) at PISF's headquarters in Warsaw. A traveling version will be presented, both locally and abroad, throughout the next year.

    The National Film Library, (www.fn.org.pl) presents a retrospective of Polish features and documentaries, accompanied by live music, created between 1908 and 1930 in the FN's cinema Iluzjon, one of the oldest cinema theaters in Warsaw. The retrospective will travel to cinemas in the Arthouse Cinema Networks (www.kinastudyjne.pl) in 10 cities. Selected movies will appear in a special DVD collection containing the oldest historic movie fragments and films from the silent cinema period assembled by Filmoteka Narodowa.

    A separate exhibition covers the era from the first local moving picture shows to the appearance of sound cinema. The collections gathered by FN and the Cinematography Museum include several priceless items, including early movie stills; photographs of the first Polish directors and actors, pre-war film studios and cinema theaters; posters and programs from the 20's; and pieces connected to the production side of cinema history. The gallery show will accompanied by an extensive publication about this particular period in the Polish cinema and a week-long seminar titled "Joined heritage: Polonica in the world's archives".

    PISF and FN are encouraging audiences participation through a contest to select the most interesting projects for a venture, retrospective or other cultural event connected to the jubilee. The laureates will get up to 50% of financing for the realization of their ideas. Applications will be accespted through the end of November 2008.