The festival, also known as the Camera of David, runs from November 3 to 9 at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and Kino Luna in Warsaw.
Founded in 2003, the Camera of David is Poland’s oldest and largest event dedicated to films exploring Jewish themes –culture, history, the Holocaust, identity, and contemporary Jewish life around the world.
Opening gala
This year’s edition will open with a special event dedicated to the memory of Marian Turski, a Holocaust survivor and a tireless advocate for promoting Polish-Jewish relations, who died in February at the age of 98.
Its programme includes a screening of the 2013 documentary directed by Michał Bukojemski in which Turski recalls the key moments in his life, as well as a performance of a musical tribute to Turski by saxophonist and composer Mikołaj Trzaska.
The film portrays Turski’s journey from a boy surviving the Łódź Ghetto and Nazi concentration camps to a journalist devoted to preserving historical memory.
The screening will take place at the POLIN Museum Auditorium at 7 p.m. local time on Monday.
Programme
The programme includes an international competition for narrative, documentary, and short films, with awards presented in four main categories: Grand Prix for Best Film, Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Short, as well as an Audience Award.
A retrospective section includes the 1963 film by Polish director Andrzej Munk entitled The Passenger.
Based on the Auschwitz-set prose of Zofia Posmysz, its action, as the festival writes on its website, "unfolds on two timelines: the contemporary setting of the 1960s, where former overseer Liza spots her prisoner, Marta, during a transatlantic cruise; and extensive flashbacks from the camp."
The description continues: "The two young women were engaged in a psychological game where Liza, holding the power of life and death, 'educated' Marta, unsuccessfully trying to break her. The former SS guard, despite confiding in her husband, whitewashes her role in Auschwitz."
Also, a retrospective of acclaimed Polish director Marcel Łoziński will begin on Wednesday with screenings of Seven Jews from My Class and Witnesses.
In total, 13 films will be presented, along with two Shorts WJFF screenings.
Many of this year’s titles have been featured at major international film festivals, including Berlinale, Cannes, Venice, Karlovy Vary, Sundance, Toronto, and several Jewish film festivals worldwide.
The closing gala and award ceremony, followed by a screening of Sabbath Queen, will take place on Sunday at 7 p.m. in the POLIN Museum Auditorium.
Following the in-person programme, an online selection of films will be available across Poland from November 10 to 30 on the TVP VOD platform.
The POLIN Museum is the festival’s main partner, and the event is co-financed by the City of Warsaw.
(ał/mk)
Source: PAP, wjff.pl/en/
Click on the audio player above for a report by Agnieszka Bielawska.