Poland in the UK

This year’s eclectic online programme is delivered by the Polish Cultural Institute in London, alongside some of the UK’s leading cultural institutions: BFI, ICA, POSK Cinema, The International Online Theatre Festival, Second Run and Channel 4’s Walter Presents.

Following a year in which we have all been craving a return to the shared cinematic experience, the KINOTEKA Polish Film Festival is back again in a digital format, bringing the annual celebration of Poland’s diverse film culture to televisions, tablets and computer screens throughout the UK. This year’s programme showcases Polish directing and acting in all its diversity – across film, theatre and TV.

KINOTEKA 2021 will launch on 6th May with Mariusz Wilczyński’s award-winning animated debut feature Kill It and Leave This Town, a surrealist reflection on memory and loss.

Throughout the subsequent four weeks, the programme will explore the richness of modern Polish cinema, with two strands dedicated to masters from the 20th and 21st centuries. The Undiscovered Masters strand at Second Run On Demand highlights five lesser-known films from, amongst others, Jerzy Skolimowski, Andrzej Żuławski and Agnieszka Holland; whilst the Modern Polish Cinema strand on BFI Player brings together documentary and fiction from directors including Krzysztof Krauze, Paweł Łoziński and Agnieszka Smoczyńska. The Kinoteka x Walter Presents strand at POSK Cinema premieres the first two episodes of two recent breakout Polish TV productions. Meanwhile, the Kinoteka x IOTF strand shares on stage performances, bringing live theatre to the festival programme for the first time. We also mark the 80th anniversary of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s birth, with the 80 Years of Kieślowski strand on the ICA Cinema 3 platform which commemorates the great Polish auteur’s life and legacy.

KINOTEKA 2021 will also showcase Cannes 2020 Official Selection - Magnus von Horn’s sophomore feature Sweat, a challenging tale about a celebrity fitness influencer, which emerges as particularly prescient at a time when many of us are yearning for meaningful human interaction and intimacy.
 

Detailed programme available on the Festival's website.