24 October 2009 Films at the 1st Joseph Conrad International Literature Festival
Nearly all of the foreign guests at the 1st Joseph Conrad International Literature Festival have strong links with the cinema. Their books have been adapted into films, or they themselves turned into directors or co-operated with other film-makers as scriptwriters. This is why during this literary festival we would like to invite you to go to the cinema.
On Monday (2nd November) at 6:30 pm, the film by Alain Corenau Tous les matins du monde will be shown in Kino pod Baranami (Pod Baranami Cinema) at Rynek Główny 27 (the Main Market Square 27). The film is based on the novel by Pascal Quignard. The film tells the story of Monsieur Sainte-Colombe, a viola da gamba player and teacher, who lived at the turn of the 17th and 18th c. Colombe returns home after many years of absence and after his wife’s death. Having retreated into seclusion, the virtuoso devotes his time only to music and taking care of his daughters. However, his fame reaches the court of Louis XIV, who wishes to procure the musical master for his own royal orchestra. Colombe declines the offer. Then, one day, a young man, Marin Marais, arrives at Colombe’s estate in order to take viol lessons…
On Tuesday (3rd November), at 8 pm, the film by Morten Henriksen Magnetisörens femte vinter (The Magnetist’s Fifth Winter) will be shown also in Kino pod Baranami (Pod Baranami Cinema) at Rynek Główny 27 (the Main Market Square 27). The film is based on the novel by Per Olov Enquist and tells the story of a self-proclaimed healer and wonder-worker, Friedrich Meisner, who lived in Germany at the end of the 18th c. and through unusual and mysterious techniques cured the people he met. In this film, Henriksen poses a few simple but suggestive questions about the source of our longing for the unusual.
The next film in our Festival repertoire will be Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen’s Jellyfish, the winner of the Camera d’Or prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. This complex story intertwines the lives of several citizens of Tel Aviv, who desperately look not so much for love, mercy or concern, as for a modicum of trust. The film will be shown on Wednesday (4th November) at 9 pm in Kino pod Baranami (Pod Baranami Cinema) at Rynek Główny 27 (the Main Market Square 27).
The next day, on Thursday (5th November), also at 9 pm, Kino pod Baranami will show a film based on Etgar Keret’s short story “Kneller’s Happy Campers”. Wristcutters: A Love Story directed by Goran Dukić is a contrary cinematic reflection on afterlife including Tom Waits as an angel. In an act of despair, after a breakup with his girlfriend, the main character, Zia, cuts his wrists. After his death, he finds himself in a psychedelic, alternative reality peopled solely by suicides. The gloomy world, however, turns out to be surprisingly similar to the earthly abode – Zia finds a new job and new friends… In the meantime he finds out that his ex-girlfriend has also arrived in the hereafter. So he decides to look for her…
On Friday (6th November) there will be two films on offer. The first one will be the premiere screening of a documentary film Uczeń Schulza (Schulz’s Pupil) directed by Marcin Giżycki. It will start at 6 pm in Centrum Kultury Żydowskiej (Center for Jewish Culture, Meiselsa Street 17). The film portrays Alfred Shreyer, the last living pupil of the outstanding Polish writer and graphic artist, Bruno Schulz. Shreyer is a violinist and a singer, who for many years was involved in social and cultural work. By portraying him, Giżycki has managed to depict also the teacher, Schulz, who is the other hero of the film. The second film this day, Atiq Rahimi’s Terre et cendres (Earth and Ashes), will start at 9 pm in Kino Pod Baranami. The film tells a poignant story: Dastaguir and his grandson Yassin travel to a coal mine to tell Murad (the boy’s father and Dastaguir’s son) that everyone form their village was killed in a bombing.
Finally, on Saturday, the last day of the Festival (7th November), at 9 pm, Kino Pod Baranami will show Billie August’s film Pelle erobreren (Pelle the Conqueror). The script for the film was co-written by Per Olov Enquist. At the end of the 19th c., poverty-stricken Lesse and his son Pele, desperate to alter their life, decide to leave Sweden. They travel to Denmark to work on a farm. However, settling down in a new and strange community proves highly difficult. The film gives a powerful and moving depiction of discrimination against immigrants.
Tickets to all films presented by Kino Pod Baranami (Pod Baranami Cinema) are 10 zł each and are available in the cinema’s box-office. Entry to the film Uczeń Schulza is free of charge.
