FINA Presents: Faces of Interwar Poland and Genre Fantasies at the 3rd Edition of Timeless Film Festival Warsaw
Timeless Film Festival Warsaw is not only about journeys to faraway corners of the world, but also about returning to what is closest to home – even if it has at times been forgotten or undervalued. Two sections co-organised with the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute cast new light on the history of Polish cinema. Thanks to digital restoration and the unique initiative of the Polish Film Heritage List, these works return to the screen in a quality that allows the artistry of their makers to be fully appreciated.
FINA Presents: Faces of Interwar Poland
The interwar period was a time of extraordinary cultural flourishing, though in cinema it is often associated mainly with light entertainment. Curated by Karolina Hołub, this section shows that the cinematic landscape of those years was far more diverse. It was a cinema capable of formal ambition, social boldness and remarkable technical sophistication.
The section includes:
- Halka (dir. Konstanty Meglicki, Poland, 1929) – a silent film that searched for new formal solutions for the national opera.
- Is Lucyna a Girl? (dir. Juliusz Gardan, Poland, 1934) – a cult comedy of mistaken identity, featuring a bravura performance by Jadwiga Smosarska and playfully challenging gender conventions.
- The Ghosts (dirs. Eugeniusz Cękalski, Karol Szołowski, Poland, 1938) – a distinctly socially engaged film revealing another face of pre-war reality.
FINA Presents: Genre Fantasies
Polish genre cinema rarely imitated Western models. Instead, Polish filmmakers developed their own distinctive strategies, combining the grotesque, dreamlike moods and magical realism. Curated by Alicja Nowacka, this section invites audiences on a journey through Polish fantasy – where genre convention becomes a tool for thinking critically about the world.
The section includes:
- Ewa Wants to Sleep (dir. Tadeusz Chmielewski, Poland, 1957) – a surreal comedy full of dreamlike lightness and humour, striking for its visual inventiveness.
- O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization (dir. Piotr Szulkin, Poland, 1984) – a bleak and deeply personal science-fiction vision, offering a piercing diagnosis of the human condition.
- Medium (dir. Jacek Koprowicz, Poland, FRG, 1985) – one of the rare successful examples in Polish cinema of a fully realised occult horror, steeped in the atmosphere of interwar Sopot.
- Escape from the “Liberty” Cinema (dir. Wojciech Marczewski, Poland, 1990) – a masterpiece of magical realism, in which screen reality itself rebels against censorship.
The sections are co-organised by the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute.
Festival passes and accreditations are now on sale. The full programme of the upcoming edition of Timeless Film Festival Warsaw will be announced on 1 April, and tickets for individual screenings will go on sale on 9 April.
The festival is co-financed by the City of Warsaw, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and the Polish Film Institute.
The festival’s main partners are the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute (FINA), the Gutek Film, and the New Horizons Association.
The festival is co-organized by the Documentary and Feature Film Studios (WFDiF) and the Mazovia Institute of Culture.