Szapołowska, Szczepkowska, Baka, Zanussi and Zamachowski on The Golden Lions of Krzysztof Kieślowski. Celebrating 50 years of PFF in Gdynia! To mark the 50th anniversary of the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, we have included a special section – The Golden Lions of Krzysztof Kieślowski, featuring three films by the outstanding director that were honored with this prestigious award. The screenings will be accompanied by an open meeting with Krzysztof Kieślowski’s family and friends. More »

Katarzyna Warnke to receive the FLISAK Award from the President of Toruń at the 23rd edition of the BellaTOFIFEST International Film Festival! Katarzyna Warnke — a film and theatre actress, film director and screenwriter, an unconventional and rebellious artist — is this year's winner of the oldest award given at the BellaTOFIFEST IFF! More »

Kazik Staszewski to Receive the Golden Angel Award for Artistic Insolence! At the 23rd BellaTOFIFEST International Film Festival, the Golden Angel for Artistic Insolence will be presented to a bold, outspoken and uncompromising artist who possesses a remarkable ability to capture the mood of his audience and translate it into art. More »

Masters: Jim Sheridan

“The Irish Film Institute (IFI) is delighted to work with IFF TOFIFEST to present this retrospective of the work of Irish filmmaker, Jim Sheridan — a key figure in contemporary Irish cinema. We wish the TOFIFEST team every success with this season and hope that Polish audiences will enjoy the chance to see these films again. We would also like to take the opportunityto acknowledge the support of Culture Ireland who support of all of our activities in this area.”

A storyteller who has taken Irish stories and given them global resonances, Jim Sheridan’s voice is as familiar as his films. With a career running from radical theatre to Hollywood glamour, the unifying thread of Sheridan’s work is his interest in people. Some of these are ordinary folk caught up in extraordinary events; others are mythic figures, drawn from legend or fairytale and propelled into a new modernity; many are victims of conflict. At the heart of Sheridan’s filmic world, whether he is telling American stories or Irish ones, lies the family, bonded by love and achingly flawed. The other unmistakeable trait of a Jim Sheridan film is the performances he elicits from his actors, from Academy Award winners to very young children. This season is a celebration of that achievement, spanning 30 years of Jim Sheridan’s unique and compassionate address — whether as actor, scriptwriter, director or producer — to us and to the world.

Ruth Barton