English Section

Polish cinema showcased in UK

04.02.2026 09:30
An annual festival of Polish cinema, known as Kinoteka, opens in London on Wednesday with a screening of Andrzej Wajda's iconic 1958 film "Ashes and Diamonds," one of the finest achievements of the Polish Film School of the 1950s and '60s.
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The screening is part of a Wajda retrospective marking the centenary of the director’s birth.

It also includes his first feature, A Generation (1955); Man of Marble (1977), which foreshadowed Poland's Solidarity movement; the French Revolution drama Danton (1983); and the Oscar-nominated Katyn (2007), about the 1940 execution of Polish army officers by the Soviets.

Kinoteka’s tribute to Wajda also features talks, Q&As and an exhibition titled Andrzej Wajda: Portraits of History and Humanity.

Kinoteka is also marking the 30th anniversary of the death of Krzysztof Kieślowski with a programme featuring the filmmaker’s early documentary shorts, alongside landmark feature films A Short Film About Killing (1988), A Short Film About Love (1988) and The Double Life of Véronique (1991).

The latest offerings by Polish directors include Jan Komasa’s Polish-British co-production The Good Boy, Agnieszka Holland’s Franz, Michał Kwieciński’s Chopin: A Sonata in Paris, and Wojciech Smarzowski’s Home Sweet Home.

Organised by the Polish Cultural Institute in London, Kinoteka is now in its 24th year and runs until March 29.

In addition to London venues such as the British Film Institute, ICA, Ciné Lumière, Barbican, Southbank Centre, The Garden Cinema and Ognisko Polskie/ The Polish Hearth Club, festival events are also being held in several other cities, including Edinburgh, Newcastle and Oxford.

(mk/gs)