The festival, known in Poland and among Krzysztof Kieślowski’s friends as Hommage à Kieślowski, was founded by the In Situ Contemporary Art Foundation, the artist’s family, and his friends.
From the very beginning, the aim of the organizers, friends, and the Program Council (composed of Ajka Tarasow and Stanisław Zawiśliński, and since October 2015, Dorota Paciarelli) was to create a place where invited festival guests, audiences from Lower Silesia and other parts of Poland, lovers of Kieślowski’s cinema, and—quoting Stanisław Zawiśliński—”cinema after Kieślowski,” including the generation debuting in Polish and European cinema since 2000, as well as film school students, could meet and watch Kieślowski’s films for three days, alongside works by directors who have something significant to say.
Krzysztof Kieślowski, in an interview published in Kazimierz Karabasz’s book Without Fiction – From the Notes of a Film Documentarian (WAiF 1985), said:
“There is no place where we could meet. And this is the material we work with – so that we can meet. On the level of conveying information, thoughts, views, moods. There must be a screening room… So if I think of anyone when I create, I think of myself. Then it expands. Naturally, I think of a few colleagues, a few acquaintances, a few people in the industry. It expands a little more because there’s some film discussion club that suddenly wants to see something. There are a few people from some institute. Some from sociology, a few from philosophy. Then suddenly, from mathematical machines… So it later expands.”
We believe that little has changed since then. Young Polish filmmakers today may have even fewer such places—screening rooms or cinemas of their own. There are fewer and fewer places where creators can meet a “normal” audience, especially in so-called rural areas. In the periphery, culture is a crucial element in forming regional identity and a sense of connection with others, while opportunities to discuss films are becoming scarcer. That is why one of the ideas guiding us is creating a place.
Sokołowsko, located far from the big city, away from the noise and media buzz, yet close to cultural hubs like Wrocław and culturally rich towns such as Wałbrzych and Świdnica, provides an opportunity to meet well-known actors, directors, and promising European talents, engage in discussions with them, and feel part of the vibrant and fascinating community of filmmakers and cinephiles.
Another essential idea that Hommage à Kieślowski has successfully pursued since 2015 is HERITAGE: preserving, maintaining, recalling, and discussing the artistic, educational, and even spiritual legacy of the artist. Thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the National Audiovisual Institute, the help of the artist’s friends, and the enormous commitment of Maria Kieślowska, the In Situ Foundation holds unique archival materials from the family and Kieślowski’s many friends, including documents, photographs, and various versions of screenplays. As in previous years, during the 2017 festival, guests will see fragments of the archive and a multimedia exhibition.
A particularly crucial aspect of the team’s work in preparing this year’s edition of Hommage à Kieślowski is the DIALOGUE WITH EUROPEAN CINEMA in the spirit of respecting cultural diversity and European ideals—especially liberty, fraternity, and equality—and their expression through film, in the context of the ethical and moral challenges of the 21st century, where the central focus is the human being.
Since 2016, the film program has been divided into three sections:
- “Without Fiction!” – documentary cinema,
- “Re: Interpretations” – narrative films from Poland and Europe that, in their search for narrative, aesthetic, and thematic expression, refer to Kieślowski’s cinema or engage in a social and cultural dialogue with it,
- “Hommage à Kieślowski” – screenings of 3–4 Kieślowski films, contextualized within the periods in which they were made, exploring—through discussions with film scholars, philosophers, filmmakers, and the audience—previously unnoticed meanings.
For three festival days, we offer discussions, introductions to films inspired by the spirit of film discussion clubs (DKF), and the promotion of cinema as a space for broadening intellectual horizons and questioning our own, often mistaken or outdated, opinions.
In 2017, the festival will follow a unique, gentle piece of advice and a wise recommendation that Krzysztof Kieślowski often gave to his students in Poland and across Europe:
Live and look carefully.