20/07/2005

Cinema critics are unanimous, the Era Nowe Horyzonty festival in Cieszyn is one of the best Polish showcases of the most interesting contemporary global cinema. This has been confirmed by the 2004 edition's attendances which gathered 93,000 spectators.

Roman Gutek, the biggest Polish arthouse films distributor (Gutek Film), is organizing the Era Nowe Horyzonty Festival (New Cinema Era ) for the fifth year in a row on the border between Poland and The Czech Republic. The Festival will this time open with the 2005 Palme d’Or winner The Child [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne
film profile], in presence of the film directors Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne.
As from tomorrow and for eleven days (21-31 July), the public will be able to attend more than 300 film screenings, from 42 countries, of which three-quarter are European films. Only the original Polish Films will be exclusively selected in the official competition.
"The list of selected films is the result of a subjective choice. Thus, we are not talking about a competition between the "best" films but between particular, unconventional and original films," said Roman Gutek to Cineuropa. "It's a festival for quality cinema, sometimes a difficult one. But the public is great, and we trust it to judge the films and to award the best film."

Besides international competition, the festival organizers are for the first time proposing a national competition for documentaries and animated films. The festival programme includes many cycles: global cinema panorama, documentaries/screen tests, particularly from Central Europe, Latin-American cinema. Indian cinema will hold a place of honour with more than 20 films, including a few Bollywood blockbusters as well as artistic films and several titles by classic directors.
The festival will provide its experts with retrospectives of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Gabor Bódy, a Hungarian director who died prematurely in 1985, and Edward Żebrowski, scriptwriter and Polish filmmaker, currently cooperating with Krzysztof Zanussi and Krzysztof Kieslowski, who will celebrate his 70th birthday during the festival. Andrzej Wajda will offer a personal cycle: he will present a selection of his less well-known films and of his favourite films. Cieszyn will also present the Moviemiento project, the short-length film festival for young directors, throughout Europe.

(Translated from French)