Warsaw Film Festival
May 15, 2008
4-14.10.1991
cinemas: Relax, Luna, Atlantic, Bajka
number of admissions: no data available
Audience Award Winner: "Podwójne życie Weroniki", by Krzysztof Kieślowski, France / Poland
The name was changed to the Warsaw Film Festival.
The event’s organizer is Film Art. Foundation.
Stefan Laudyn, who worked for the Festival for several years, becomes its director. Roman Gutek decided to leave the Festival and to concentrate on distribution – first at the Film Art Foundation, then shortly with IMP, and later at Gutek Film.
The Chairman of the State Committee of Cinema and the Mayor of Warsaw become the patrons of the festival.
The first grand opening, organised with Goethe-Institut at the Opera House – “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” by Robert Wiene with chamber orchestra playing live. Dr Stephan Nobbe was director of Goete-Institut in Warsaw at that time.
A very rich programme: over eighty feature films, shorts and student films from the Lodz Film School, a retrospective of Nicolas Roeg, organised with The British Council.
The festival guests are Agnieszka Holland, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Paul Cox and his actress Gosia Dobrowolska, Michael Verhoeven, Unni Straume, Anka Schmid, Bogdan Dumitrescu-Dreier, Ann & Eduardo Guedes, and Paul Joyce (who directed a document about Nicolas Roeg).
The visit of EFDO representatives – President Dieter Kosslick (since 2002 director of Berlinale) and General Secretary Ute Schneider – marks beginning of the collaboration, which will result in November 1992 with signing the agreemnt between Poland and EFDO (European Film Distribution Office, supported by MEDIA programme of EU).
The first festival studio at the national Channel 2 of Polish Television, hosted by Alicja Resich-Modlińska.
We start collaboration with Victoria Inter-Continental hotel (currently Sofitel Victoria).
The “electronic revolution” starts at the festival office – the first fax, the first computer...
Ryszard “Richi” Miętkiewicz starts making the festival catalogue layout – and he does it ever since. Richi also designs all festival posters since 1994.
For the closing we show “Thirty Door Key” by Jerzy Skolimowski, who arrives at the Capitol Cinema in a stretched limousine, rising emotions.
