Warsaw Film Festival Kicks Off

MOSCOW– The 27th edition of the Warsaw International Film Festival is to kick off on Oct. 7, featuring films from 59 countries, but with a traditional focus on Central and Eastern Europe.

Organizers hope that the parliamentary campaign in Poland won't overshadow the country's main cinema event. "We start two days before parliamentary elections in Poland and our opening night is the last night of the campaign, but I'm happy to say that despite the politics we are getting a very big media attention," Stefan Laudyn, the festival's director, told "The Hollywood Reporter."

He added that the festival received a record number of submissions this year, 90 percent of which the selection committee had to turn down.

According to Laudyn, this year's festival's program is a combination of films by established filmmakers and first-time directors, while over 50 percent of the films in the International Competition are European, International or World premieres.

Among the highlights of the international competition are "Rose" by Polish director Wojtek Smarzowski, "Beast" by Denmark's Christoffer Boe, the Romanian-Polish co-production "Crulic – The Path to Beyond" by Anca Damian, and Tomas Lunak's "Alois Nebel," jointly produced by the Czech Republic, Germany and Slovakia.

The international competition's jury is presided by British director Antonia Bird. The winners are to be announced at the closing ceremony on Oct. 15. David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method" will be the festival's closing night film.

The CentEast Market is to be held as part of the festival on Oct. 14-16, showcasing recently completed films and works in progress by Central and Eastern European directors, including Kasia Roslaniec, Andrzej Jakimowski, Bohdan Slama, Boris Khlebnikov, and Ivan Vyrypaev.

– The Hollywood Reporter