The Room Next Door, dir. Pedro Almodóvar
22/10/24

The program of 15. American Film Festival is revealed

US in Progress panels and participating Polish producers announced

This year’s festival draws inspiration from the Alaskan wilderness, reflected in its visual identity, which follows the path of the northernmost part of the U.S. The journey through the 15th American Film Festival will take us across the country, from remote, lesser-known corners (both geographically and cinematically) to the bustling metropolises and key political arenas – especially significant during an election year. While Alaska dominates the posters, we’re turning up the heat today: the full program of the festival is now available!

The festival will showcase 116 films (105 features and 11 shorts), with 51 of them premiering in Poland. In total, viewers will experience 24,021 minutes of screenings. Ticket sales for on-site and online screenings will begin tomorrow, October 23, at 12:00 pm, exclusively through americanfilmfestival.pl.

View the program

For the fifth time, the American Film Festival will be held in a hybrid format. The on-site edition runs from November 5 to 11 at Wroclaw’s New Horizons Cinema, while select films will be available online on the New Horizons VOD platform until November 17. Titles available online are marked accordingly in the program.

We also invite you to listen to a podcast featuring Ula Śniegowska, the festival’s director, in conversation with Patrycja Mucha-Smolińska, discussing this year’s program highlights.

Listen to the podcast (available only in Polish)

The opening and closing films (or Venice Lions in Poland): The Brutalist and The Room Next Door

The artistic patrons of the opening and closing of the 15th AFF are none other than Venice Film Festival selections. This year’s American Film Festival will open with Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, winner of three awards at Venice, and close with Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door, which took home the Golden Lion.

At the heart of The Brutalist is the story of fictional architect László Toth (played by Adrien Brody in a brilliant performance). Yet, more broadly it is a story about the rise and fall of the American Dream and the creation of monumental art. This epic film (215 minutes with an intermission!) was a standout at this year’s Venice Film Festival, where it won three awards, including Best Director for Corbet.

The festival’s top honor, the Golden Lion, went to Pedro Almodóvar for The Room Next Door, his first feature-length film in English. Though he stepped away from his native Spanish, Almodóvar maintained his signature auteur style: the film bursts with vibrant colors and dynamic female characters, portrayed by the exceptional Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton. Shot in New York and along the East Coast, The Room Next Door is perhaps the most mature work of Almodóvar’s career, exploring themes of passing, departure, friendship, motherhood, and the profound love for life. It’s a poignant reflection told on the director’s own terms. The film will headline the festival’s awards gala on Sunday, November 10, and will be brought to Polish cinemas by Gutek Film.

Hits from world festivals

We’re rolling out the red carpet and together with mBank, the section’s partner, we invite you to screenings of hits brought to Wroclaw from the world’s most significant film festivals. This year’s Highlights section includes: Sean Baker’s Anora, winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes IFF; Pablo Larraín’s Maria Callas, with the phenomenal Angelina Jolie in the role of the legendary opera singer; Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl, which rediscovers the talent of Pamela Anderson; Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ Heretic, with the diabolical Hugh Grant in the foreground; or Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night, the story of the crazy beginnings of the cult TV show.

Anora, dir. Sean Baker

Special guest and recipient of the Indie Star Award: Jesse Eisenberg

One of the most compelling figures in contemporary cinema, Jesse Eisenberg, sets his film in Poland, so it’s only fitting that we invite him to join us in person. The 15th American Film Festival will showcase A Real Pain, the latest work from Eisenberg, who appears both behind and in front of the camera. Even more exciting, he will be in Wroclaw, taking part in a conversation at the New Horizons Cinema and receiving the Indie Star Award given to filmmakers who embody a strong personal vision and an independent spirit in their work.

Politics on screen and election night

The presidential campaign in the United States has entered a decisive phase, and Election Day coincides with the opening of the 15th American Film Festival. With politics in the air, we’ve teamed up with Podkast amerykański (The American Podcast) to present a special Politics on Screen section, exploring how U.S. cinema has portrayed and critiqued the country’s political landscape over the years. The lineup includes classics like Elia Kazan’s A Face in the Crowd (1957), Sidney Lumet’s Network (1976), and Barry Levinson’s Wag the Dog. Piotr Tarczyński and Łukasz Pawłowski, the creators of Podkast amerykański, will be in Wroclaw and introduce the contexts of selected films and more broadly: screen versions of political events.

On the festival’s opening night, we also invite you to an election night event, hosted by Jan Pelczar of Radio RAM. From 10:30 p.m. to midnight in one of the New Horizons Cinema halls (free admission), we’ll discuss the campaign, the election, and potential outcomes for America and the world with special guests, including renowned writer and Americanist Jakub Żulczyk, and Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer, Phd, a sociologist and researcher of political discourse in online tabloids.

Altman the versatile

Every cinephile’s dream – a body of work so rich and varied that you can explore it for several years. Robert Altman remains one of the most important directors of the second half of the 20th century, and we have the pleasure of presenting his films for the third year in a row. This time, the director will reveal himself to us not only as a critic of American mythology and a perceptive portraitist of women, but as an experimenter with genres and aesthetics, who gave his whole heart to every project. The program for the final part of Altman’s retrospective will include The Long Goodbye (1973), Popeye (1980), and Gosford Park (2001).

Popeye, dir. Robert Altman

Ruler of the gaze: Dorothy Arzner and rulers of sound: Zuzanna Wrońska with Maja Laura

Arzner worked in Hollywood for nearly 25 years, spending 15 of them as a director and completing 16 films. Known as Columbus (for her discoveries), Napoleon (for her short stature and triumphs), and Cinderella (for starting with the simplest of jobs), Arzner’s name ultimately became its own brand. She was one of the key directors of the great studio era, alongside legends like Frank Capra or John Ford. And above all: she had already developed her own style and her own place in a male-dominated industry in the 1920s and 1930s. Dorothy Arzner – a thoroughly Hollywood filmmaker and at the same time an Auteur with a capital “A” – is another heroine of this year’s retrospective. The cinema screens will present the most important films from her oeuvre, Wild Party (USA 1929) and Dance, Girl, Dance (USA 1940).

Of special note is the only screening of Get Your Man (1927): a production from the silent film era that inspired Zuzanna Wrońska and Maja Laura to compose songs specifically for the movie. So watch the film and listen to their music on Thursday, November 7, at the New Horizons Cinema.

Many changes in the (Wild) West: Women of the American Frontier

The Wild West – what comes to mind? John Wayne, Monument Valley, the cavalry, John Ford... Hold on! This year, at the American Film Festival, we are turning our gaze away from the familiar tropes and directing it towards brave, adventurous, causal, stereotype-breaking women. The West was full of heroines, whose portraits will be shown as part of the festival. The program includes The Furies (1950), with Barbara Stanwyck, and The Misfits (1961), featuring the last role of Marilyn Monroe’s career. The program was inspired by a photographic exhibition by Lora Webb Nichols, created in cooperation with BWA Wroclaw (more information below).

Breakthrough and American Docs: competition sections

One of the hallmarks of the American Film Festival is its competition sections. Feature narrative competition, now called Breakthrough (including 9 movies), continues the tradition of Spectrum, by serving as a platform for discoveries – highlighting first and second films and emerging talent expected to make a breakthrough on the scene. The selection includes Tyler Taormina’s Christmas Eve in Millers Point, presented at Cannes, Rachel Wolther’s The French Italian, a hit at the Tribeca Film Festival, and Sarah Friedland’s Venice Award-winning Familiar Touch, alumna of the AFF’s US in Progress program. The American Docs section (6 titles) will showcase documentaries that explore different aspects of American life absent from mainstream movies or media. Among them are Michael Premo’s Homegrown, shown at the Venice IFF, and Contessa Gayles’ Songs from the Hole, which premiered at SXSW festival.

Young Americans: growing up the American way

Coming-of-age films are practically a national pastime in the U.S., and this year has brought an exceptional crop of titles that capture the essence of this genre. The 15th American Film Festival features numerous stories centered on the lives of young people, with a noteworthy selection in the Young Americans section. Four standout films headline this category: Sean Wang’s Didi, Morrisa Maltz’s Jazzy, Nicholas Colia’s Griffin in the Summer, and Alessandra Lacorazza’s In the Summers. Beyond this section, other festival categories, including retrospectives and competitions, also offer films focused on youth. We encourage you to explore the program and discover more gems!

Didi, dir. Sean Wang

15 greats for the 15th anniversary of the festival

This year, the American Film Festival celebrates a milestone anniversary: for the fifteenth time, we’ve journeyed through the roads and wilderness of American cinema together. To commemorate the occasion, we’ll be revisiting past winners of the festival’s feature competition – from Debra Granik’s groundbreaking Winter’s Bone (2010), which launched Jennifer Lawrence’s stellar career, to last year’s champion, Lisa Steen’s Late Bloomers.

Supermen (and a Woman): ordinary-extraordinary superpowers

Christopher Reeve famously wore the cape as the iconic Superman and became a real-life hero off-screen, as a philanthropist who, despite a tragic accident, gave people a tremendous amount of hope and strength to fight paralysis. This year’s American Film Festival shines a spotlight on this inspiring figure with the moving documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story. The film is featured in the special section Supermen (and a Woman), which brings together stories of American cultural icons whose fame and significance transcend mere celebrity.

Even more states of cinema

Documentary films remain a cornerstone of the AFF, with the Special Docs section showcasing American documentaries transformed by a wide array of forms and styles. This year’s program includes War Game by Tony Gerber and Jesse Moss, a gripping exploration of potential scenarios for the outbreak of a new internal conflict in the U.S.

As always, audience favorites from festivals around the world are featured in the Festival Favorites section. We’re confident that Sing Sing, Ghostlight, Between the Temples or Thelma will win over the crowds at the New Horizons Cinema.

Our collaboration with CINEMAFORUM – the International Short Film Forum – continues, bringing a dynamic selection of short films that prove the form can express a vast range of ideas. All of these can be found in the American Shorts section.

Immersive cinema and history: VR at the festival

The New Horizons Cinema space will also feature a VR zone that will present Chloé Rochereuil’s JFK Memento. This Emmy-nominated virtual reality experience recreates the events of and after President Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963, and the subsequent investigation. Across five chapters, narrated by the last living witnesses, journalists, and investigators who lived through the events, this documentary is a historically accurate record of the 48 hours that changed the world. Produced in collaboration with the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, and supported by Meta, JFK Memento is an immersive educational experience.

I Wish I Was a Yellow Dog: exhibition at BWA Wroclaw

Nearly twenty-four thousand photographs documenting the lives of pioneer families from Encampment, a town in southern Wyoming, have been preserved in the archives of Lora Webb Nichols. This unique testimony to a time and place in the early 20th century in the Wild West has been rescued from oblivion by Nancy Anderson. Set in three different eras and following the lives of three women, the exhibition blends elements of a photo album, reportage, letters and diaries, and a fact-based novel. We invite you to explore this extraordinary exhibition, which serves as a starting point for the Women of the American Frontier film section, in collaboration with BWA Wroclaw. The exhibition opens Friday, November 8, at Studio BWA Wrocław, curated by Dominika Prejdová and Łukasz Rusznica.

Festival: a place for meetings and conversations

If cinema is a conversation, then the AFF truly embodies this spirit. From November 5 to 11, we invite you to join a series of meetings and Q&As with filmmakers. Guests from the United States (including the previously mentioned Jesse Eisenberg) will visit Wrocław, along with local talents like Paweł Mykietyn, who will share insights into composing the music for War Game. Prepare for lively exchanges during two film club meetings: after a screening of Johnny Guitar (Women of the American Frontier section), the Pełna Sala team will lead the discussion, and following an Oh, Canada screening (Festival Favorites section), the microphones will be handed over to the Immersja team.

Good cinema likes the company of good literature, so this year we are continuing the Reading America series. Together with the Wrocław Literature House, we invite you to meetings with authors and writers of excellent books about the USA. Our guests and visitors will be: Ewa Winnicka (author of Miasteczko Panna Maria. Ślązacy na Dzikim Zachodzie, Czarne Publishing House), Piotr Tarczyński (the starting point for the conversation will be the book Uwierz w plan. Skąd wziął się QAnon i jak namieszał w Ameryce by Will Sommer, Czarne Publishing House), Maciej Jarkowiec (author of Na bulwarach czyhają potwory. Filmowa historia Ameryki, from Agora), Łukasz Pawłowski (author of Stany podzielone Ameryki, Znak). In addition, we invite you to literary meetings at the New Horizons Cinema: with Jan Dzierzgowski, translator of the book The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story by Sam Wasson (Marginesy; after the screening of the film Megalopolis); around the book Missoula. Gwałty w amerykańskim miasteczku uniwersyteckim (Czarne Publishing House; with experts from the Sexed organization), and Kasia Czajka-Kominiarczuk, author of Filmy na życie. On November 6, we recommend the opening of an exhibition of Polaroids by the late Marcin Giżycki entitled Marcins America in the space of the New Horizons Cinema and a meeting around the author’s books: Kino artystów i artystek. Od Mélièsa do Maciunasa and Limeryki presented by his lifelong partner and author herself, Agnieszka Taborska. The meetings will all be conducted in Polish.

Oh, Canada, dir. Paul Schrader

More than just movies: accompanying events

After a full day of festival experiences, we invite you to the festival club, which this year has found haven in two locations: Texico and Rumbar, in the charming space of Pasaż Pokoyhof (Passage Pokoyhof). Musical delights and a special offer at the bar, among other things, will await all festival-goers. On November 8, we invite you to our birthday Silent Disco – we will be dancing in the heart of Wroclaw, i.e. at the New Horizons Cinema. We also encourage you to check out the extensive list of recommended places – with spots where you’ll be able to take advantage of AFF offers and discounts (the full list will be available on the festival’s website).

Speaking of food: On November 10, we invite you to a special screening of the film Sideways (on its 20th anniversary) by Alexander Payne, as well as an event titled DelicioUS!, a food presentation of American delicacies. On Festival Wednesday, and the last day of the American Film Festival, we will treat audiences to a smile: after the Group Therapy screenings by Neil Berkeley, we will hold a Group Joke Session, a stand-up special by Dolly and Martina Podwysocka.

US in Progress

Once again, the US in Progress industry event returns, during which Polish post-production companies help complete independent American films, while producers have the opportunity to learn about Polish co-production conditions, and connect with potential partners in the Polish film industry. This year, the director of the Polish Film Institute has funded a $50,000 prize to one selected project to support its post-production in Poland.

 

The on-site portion of the 15th American Film Festival runs from November 5 to 11, with the online program available through November 17 (limited to viewers in Poland). For the full festival program, including a schedule of screenings and film synopses, visit americanfilmfestival.pl. Tickets for on-site screenings, as well as individual and package access to online films, will be available for purchase on the festival website starting tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. From November 5, at 9:00 a.m., tickets can also be purchased at the New Horizons Cinema box office.


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