The Short History of Polish Cinema - film review: Aria for an Athlete
The Short History of Polish Cinema - film review:
ARIA FOR AN ATHLETE (dir. Filip Bajon)
Monday, September 4th 2023, 6.00 PM
Kino Pod Baranami
ARIA FOR AN ATHLETE (dir. Filip Bajon)
Monday, September 4th 2023, 6.00 PM
Kino Pod Baranami
An impressive, critically-acclaimed debut that radically departs from the aesthetics of Kino moralnego niepokoju (the Cinema of Moral Anxiety) movement. Award-winning film Aria for an Athlete by Filip Bajon will be screened at Kino Pod Baranami on Monday, September 4th. The screening is a part of the Short History of Polish Cinema review (in Polish cinemas until November).
Short History of Polish Cinema is a review of Polish film classics that takes place in 72 arthouse cinemas in 58 cities across Poland. The event, which started in February, features monthly screenings of ten films selected by Tomasz Kolankiewicz. All films are digitally remastered and presented with English subtitles. Each screening is preceded by a video lecture prepared by the review's curator.
Aria for an Athlete by Filip Bajon will be screened at Kino Pod Baranami on Monday, September 4.
The film begins in the 1930s, when Władysław Góralewicz - an admirer of opera music and also a former world wrestling champion - donates his impressive prize collection to the opera. On this occasion, he gives an interview and recalls his own life. His story takes the audience back to the 19th century, when Góralewicz, as a young Galician boy, began performing in fair booths and inferior circuses. In addition to Krzysztof Majchrzak, who plays the role of Góralewicz, the film stars are: Wojciech Pszoniak, Roman Wilhelmi and Pola Raksa.
Filip Bajon's debut delighted audiences and critics with its irrepressible imagination, plasticity of vision and a style, which was very different from the aesthetics of the popular film movement - Kino moralnego niepokoju (Cinema of Moral Anxiety). The movie evoked the style of turn-of-the-century painting and graphic art and reminded many of Federico Fellini’s and Ken Russell’s films. Aria for an Athlete was seen as a reference to important philosophical currents of the modern age. The film was also regarded as a story about cultural breakthroughs - about a world in which inventions such as the cinematograph, radio and the automobile were playing an increasingly important role.
The curator of the Short History of Polish Cinema review and the author of the videolectures before the films is Tomasz Kolankiewicz - film expert and film historian. Lecturer at the Lodz Film School and Warsaw Film School, programmer working with television, film festivals and theaters. Between 2008 and 2017, program editor in the film department of TVP Kultura. Publisher, director and host of TV cultural programs. Between 2020 and 2023 artistic director of the Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia.
PROGRAM:
Monday, September 4th 2023
6.00 PM ARIA FOR AN ATHLETE | ARIA DLA ATLETY
(Filip Bajon) PL 1979, 99’
introduction: Tomasz Kolankiewicz (video)
NEXT SHORT HISTORY OF POLISH CINEMA SCREENINGS:
October 2023
FEVER | GORĄCZKA
(Agnieszka Holland) PL 1981, 122’
November 2023
BLIND CHANCE | PRZYPADEK
(Krzysztof Kieślowski) PL 1981, 122’
TICKETS: 15 PLN
ABOUT THE FILM:
ARIA FOR AN ATHLETE | ARIA DLA ATLETY
(Filip Bajon) PL 1979, 99’
Władyslaw Góralewicz (Krzysztof Majchrzak), former world wrestling champion, donates his impressive collection of awards to the opera. On this occasion, he gives an interview and recalls his own life. At the end of the 19th century, as a young Galician boy, he began performing in fair booths and inferior circuses. His incredible strength and surprising fighting elegance, helped him climb up in the wrestling hierarchy.
Film screened with English subtitles.
ORGANISER:
Stowarzyszenie Kin Studyjnych
PARTNERS:
WFDiF
35mm
DI Factory
GRAPHIC DESIGN:
Ewelina Gąska
SPOT:
Sergio Chao
The review is co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.
