APFF 2020 Press Release

We invite you to the 15th Annual Polish Film Festival in Austin. As a result of the ongoing pandemic, we are taking a hybrid approach to offer the festival near and dear to us all to more viewers than ever. While most of the screenings will be held on-line, there will be a select few of them available at the GALAXY cinema ("Death of Captain Pilecki", "Legions", "I Never Cry"). Despite changing conditions, we are pleased to present the same, high quality, contemporary Polish cinema as always. You will be able to see both feature and documentary films, as well as a selection of short films prepared by the Warsaw Film School and the Munk Studio. We are excited to show three films in partnership with the Austin Jewish Film Festival (https://austinjff.org/). The film "The Day of Wrath,” is based on Roman Brandstaetter's Television Theater production, with an excellent cast (Radosław Pazura, Daniel Olbrychski). Jacek Raginis-Królikiewicz, a director from Poland, will join us in a special online Q&A session, which will take place on November 9 at 2 pm, (https://austinjff.org/). In cooperation with AJFF, we will also show two beautiful documentaries. "The Neurosurgeon" is about the outstanding pioneer of Polish neurosurgery in Warsaw, Professor Mirosław Ząbek, who is being sought by both patients from all over the world and doctors who want to learn about modern methods of gene therapy. And "Bridging Urban America" is a documentary made in California by Basia and Leonard Myszynski about the famous American bridge engineer and builder, Ralph Modjeski. He was the son of the Polish-American actress Helena Modrzejewska. Feature films presented during this year's festival will include the historical film "Piłsudski" which shares the story of this legendary Polish independence activist, politician and statesman, the creator of Polish military force Legions which was the first active Polish army in generations, established in August 1914. Pilsudski led the Legions in the fight for Polish independence after 123 years of partitions. To set 

the stage of history, we are honored to have Polish historian Dr. Łukasz Jasina to give context to films "Piłsudski", "The Death of Captain Pilecki” and "Legions."A fan of action-packed cinema? Join us for "Code Name: Challenge" and "Servants of War.” Lookingfor a glance through the lens of social issues? Check out "All For My Mother" and "I Never Cry.”And in the realm of science-fiction, we are offering "I am Ren.” To round out our various genres, we will present the biographical film "Proceder”—a film about the late, legendary rapper Tomasz Chada, his difficult choices, how the right paths weren’t always followed, and the environment of the "underworld" from which he came. As a part of our documentary selections, we are screening a film about the outstanding actress Helena Modrzejewska, who in the 19th century came from Poland—a country not existent on the maps of the time—and conquered America's stages by introducing Shakespeare to American theaters. "Modjeska - Woman Triumphant.” Maybe you caught it, but it was her well-educated son, who built America's most famous bridges. It’s connections like these that breathe vibrance, culture, and connection into the selections we bring you! We will also present the documentary film "Tony Halik" about the Polish traveler, journalist, writer, cinematographer, and author of television programs, who for 30 years was a correspondent of the American television station NBC—Mr. Tony Halik. In 1976, Halik, together with Elżbieta Dzikowska, reached the legendary capital of the Incas - Vilcabamba. Let’s just say his biography would be more than suitable for a series of adventure films too. During the communist era, when the borders were closed, he brought exotic cultures and a distant world to the living rooms of Polish citizens around Poland. The documentary film "House of Writers" shows the microenvironment of Polish writers who, after the war, lived in one tenement house at 22 Krupnicza St. in Krakow. This house was unique in the world, because for half a century, from 1945 to 1996, 101 writers lived in it successively. Sparked from the creativity of the tenets, the film itself will surely inspire the same in you—the festival attendees. There will also be documents about Poland and the changes that took place after the fall of communism in the 1990s, featured in "My Nation" and "Amnesia". And during the Thanksgiving period, as we share in the warmth and joy of our loved ones, we are pleased to screen a delightful family movie "Triple Trouble" in our family cinema series. The 15th Annual Polish Film Festival poster—a tradition of excellence and artistic vision—was designed by an outstanding Polish poster artist from the Polish School of Posters...Andrzej Pągowski.From November 5 and through December, we invite you to experience as many of these groundbreaking, inspiring, and beautiful films as possible. For more detailed information, visit our website: www.austinpolishfilm.com