Films are very close to Polish ambassador Piotr Switalski’s heart. With Poland being the focus country at the ongoing Kolkata International Film Festival's (KIFF) 31st edition, the Polish delegation made their strong presence felt at the festival. In many of his interactions at the festival, the ambassador regaled the audience by mentioning his routine of watching one film a day. In the seminar titled ‘Polish Cinema: Then and Now’ at Sisir Mancha on November 8, the ambassador emphasised on how he considers the platform of culture to be one of the most important elements in strengthening the bond between the two nations — India and Poland.
Appreciating the festival’s theme of ‘Where cinema connects the world’, Switalski said: “In these very conflicting times, where we have so many misunderstandings and prejudices, where the tension between different parts of the world are so vividly palpable, cinema is the uniting factor. It is the element, the instrument for building understanding and confidence. I believe that Poland and India can do more, and we can reinforce our cooperation also in the movie industry. I hope that you attending the showings of our movies from different periods of our time will better understand the way we feel about our own history, about the world and about our relationship with the past and also the future.”
He also informed that the ups and downs, the tragic as well as the heroic chapters of Polish history has been a natural inspiration for the country’s filmmakers. Reflecting on cinema’s role with a personal anecdote, he said: “Cinema always played a role during the communist period. It was a window to see the world as we were isolated. So going to the movies was probably, before television started, the only possibility to see how other people live, what their mentality is, and identity.” He concluded by sharing that like India, Poland is looking ahead with great hope and its economy is doing well to support this vision. “We look boldly to the future and I hope that part of the future will be new movies, new pieces of art that will consolidate our friendship,” said Switalski.
Taking the discussion forward, Joanna Lapinska, the artistic director of Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, focused on the diversity of the Polish cinematic landscape and the difference that contemporary filmmakers are making with their innovative approaches. “Diversity is the key word to discuss here. We have genre cinema, developing in a very nice style in the last years. We have arthouse cinema, although we struggle a little bit for their production. As for the challenges Polish industry faces these days, we have a very good balance of commercial films and I’m really proud of the youngest generation, about how brave these filmmakers are,” she said.
Speaking of the challenges the Polish film industry is encountering, Lapinska highlighted financing of films, budgeting and distribution. “Young directors really reach for awards and their cinema travels very much. If we talk about challenges, the landscape for the film releases in Poland has changed significantly since the OTT platform came and started operating in Poland on a large scale. Now, there are not many viewers in Polish cinemas. The regular distribution, the regular film release struggles. We still are trying to look for new ways of distributing, but that’s not very easy,” she said. She further shared how the country fared in making films for children. “We proved that we know how to make films for the youngest, and how to attract them to cinema. We proved that we understand the importance of film education,” said Lapinska.
Filmmaker Michal Kwiecinski, whose film Chopin, Chopin! is being shown at the festival, spoke about the promises that the young filmmakers hold, and the crisis of financing and budgeting. “I’m 74 and have worked with all the big Polish geniuses in cinema. I must underline that the new generation is very interesting, and they want to treat very different subjects. My generation was under the influence of the Second World War. And a lot of our films are about the socialist and our history. I think the younger generation wants to forget the history a little and wants to create a new subject connected with today. And it’s very interesting, because we don’t know how the young people live now. In their film, we can see what is the picture of our contemporary life,” said Kwiecinski.
Delving into the problem of financing, he explained the role of the film institute in Poland, private money, television and streaming platforms. “The base is the Polish Film Institute. We present the script and they can help us... the authority of this institution is so big that if we have to have acceptance by the expert and by the direction of the Polish Film Institute to continue our way to collect the money. Of course, two televisions, Polsat and TVN, give the money for more commercial projects. The TVP and Polish National Television are for more ambitious projects. And other sources are the new streaming platforms, but they give the money only for their own production. It means it’s impossible to see the film at the festivals… it limits the release a little. With the private money, it’s very strange, because the private people don’t go to the cinema in such big numbers,” he said.
He further emphasised on the role of tax incentives, drawing comparison with other European countries. “In other countries in Europe, 30 per cent of the budget can be covered by tax incentives, and it’s very helpful in production. But in our system, it’s not perfect up to now. We have a big quantity of money, but not enough for all the films. The government wants to change the system, and transfer this matter from Minister of Culture to Minister of Finances, and maybe everyone can have this money without limits,” he said.
Malgorzata Skiba, a filmmaker specialising in short films and documentaries, spoke about working in both the Polish and Indian film industries, the role of film festivals in growing her film sensibilities, and the possibilities of various institutions that can come forward in film funding. “It is so important just to attend such festivals if you aspire to make something in the future. The first thing is to attend and receive the inspirations, like this wonderful platform of the film festival we have. I was lucky because making documentaries is on a grant basis, it means it was not in the private hands and I did not have to fulfil certain obligations. Though the budgets were modest in that way, I was lucky to make it in Poland for Polish television and Polish institutions, then I came to India, and I was lucky to make the films here, for Indian audiences on Indian television. All countries preserve this option of supporting films. Even our last film, which was shown today, was sponsored or produced by the Polish embassy in New Delhi. So, even those platforms exist. The variety of institutions that can help in film production is pretty limitless, and we must be brave and explore them. This is my experience. Obviously, it is documentary and short films, which are much smaller in budget. I believe they have a very strong voice and opportunity to speak out on very substantial, important subjects.”
Film critic Murtaza Ali Khan spoke about his introduction to the world of cinema through Polish films and summed up the discussion by giving the audience an overview of the contemporary scene in Polish filmmaking. He pointed out the highlights from the selected films for screening at KIFF this year and brought to the audience's attention the new rage in the Polish film industry — biopics. Film enthusiasts visiting KIFF can watch two such biopics selected for screening — Chopin, Chopin! based on the life of Frederic Chopin, and Franz based on Franz Kafka. He further highlighted some landmark works of recent times in Polish cinema, mentioning films like The Girl with the Needle that won a nomination at the Oscars. Kwiecinski made a final comment on the use of technological innovation in the Polish film industry by the new generation. Lapinska remarked on the transnational nature of contemporary Polish cinema as a concluding statement.
