Bengaluru: With two astronauts of the young generation namely Shubhanshu Shukla from India and Staswosz Uznanski-Wisniewski taking part in the mission to Cosmos, India and Poland have come together. Such meetings would be organised through culture in the coming days’ says Malgorazata Wejsis Golebiak, Director of Polish Institute of New Delhi.
Malgorzata participated in an interaction during a special press conference ahead of the special panel discussion about Polish Cinema and the Andrej Wajda Legacy: Art, History, Cinema and Identity which was organised at the Open Forum as a part of the 17th Bengaluru International Film Festival.
Malgorzata said she was happy about the ongoing, understanding, exchange and cooperation between Poland and India. ‘As diplomats, we are here to represent our country and then represent our culture as well, in a very broad sense of what we understand our culture. Not only films, theatre, literature, but through this media as well, we like to tell Indian audience the story of how Poland is, what was the Polish history? What were in the Polish relations and based on that story, we dream to complete our task in bringing people from India and Poland together’ said the Director of Polish Institute of New Delhi.
Malgorzata said she was honoured to be invited by the festival and by the state of Karnataka, ‘as a focussed country, for this year’s edition of International Film Festival here, we did our best to bring what we believe would be not only interesting to Indian public, but the most valuable,’ said the director.
C R Raghu, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Bengaluru said he was happy about Polish films being screened at the 17th edition of Bengaluru International Film festival. ‘We are going to have, about 14 Polish films to be screened in the Film Festival. I invite the people from Bangalore and Karnataka to watch the Polish films’ said C R Raghu.
Speaking about the films to be screened this year, Film festival curator Murtaza said, “Specifically this year, we are celebrating the birth centenary of the giant of Polish cinema, Andrzej Wajda. In his memory, we have organized a special retrospective featuring seven of his finest films. We are also joined this year by Joanna Łapińska, the Artistic Director of the Polish Film Festival, who is serving as a jury member for the Asian Cinema Competition. Her presence has been instrumental in bringing both the best of contemporary Polish cinema and legendary classics to this festival.”
He further detailed the lineup, stating, “We have a biopic on the life of the world-renowned composer Frédéric Chopin. A biopic on Franz Kafka, directed by the legendary filmmaker Agnieszka Holland. Under the Volcano’ by Damian Kocur, which was Poland’s official entry for the Oscars. Damian will be visiting in person to conduct a ‘Directing Masterclass’ over the coming days. The screening of a significant documentary titled ‘Letters from Wolf Street’. Concluding his remarks, he noted, “We have brought a comprehensive range of cinema for the audience, including modern innovative films, timeless classics, and insightful documentaries.”
Speaking as the moderator, Vidyashankar, the former Artistic Director of the Bengaluru International Film Festival, said, ‘For nearly the last 40 years, Polish films have always held a prominent place in film festivals of countries like ours. Through Polish cinema, we have understood their culture as well as the existential crises and dilemmas that Eastern Europe faced in the past.
Polish films have not only informed us about these issues but have also helped us perceive them deeply. They have been immensely helpful in understanding the political transitions that occurred in Eastern Europe over the last 30 to 40 years. These changes have become more relatable to us specifically through the medium of cinema. In a sense, we share a significant cultural bond with Eastern European countries, as those nations have faced and overcome various challenges across diverse cultural contexts.’
