April 23 - May 1, 2005

Entertainment & the Arts: Friday, April 22, 2005

Seattle Polish Film Festival kicks off

By Moira Macdonald

Seattle Times movie critic

One of Seattle's longest-lived film festivals gets under way tomorrow, newly relocated to spring: The Seattle Polish Film Festival, now in its 13th year, has its opening-night gala at Seattle Art Museum and continues through May 1 with a total of 17 features, one documentary and one animated short film. Visiting directors include Artur Wiecek ("Angel in Love," the opening-night film), Magdalena Piekorz ("The Welts"), Lech Majewski ("Garden of Earthly Delights") and Janusz Zaorski ("Saved by a Miracle"), along with actor Krzysztof Globisz ("Angel in Love"). All will lead post-screening discussions after their films.

The festival is produced by the Seattle-Gdynia Sister City Association, and this year's festival reflects its close ties with the Gdynia Film Festival. Judges at the 2005 GFF this year will give a special award on behalf of the Seattle Polish Film Festival; the winning film will be featured in Seattle next year. "The Welts," winner of the best-film award at last year's GFF, is featured here at the Seattle fest.

All screenings in this year's festival will take place at Seattle Art Museum, ñ00 University St., Seattle. Tickets, which can be purchased at the door, are $8 for regular seating; $10 for special guest appearance seating; $5 for children; $25 for a one-day pass; and $75 for a five-day festival pass. For more information, see the festival Web site: www.polishfilms.org.

Entertainment & the Arts:

Friday, April 29, 2005,

At a Theater Near You
At SAM: Polish film fest ends, film-noir series continues

By Moira Macdonald
Seattle Times movie critic

The Seattle Polish Film Festival concludes this weekend with a full schedule of films at Seattle Art Museum. Guests include director Janusz Zaorski, who will introduce his film "Saved by a Miracle" tomorrow night, and Lech Majewski, who will close the festival Sunday night with his film "Garden of Earthly Delights."

Also on the weekend schedule is the Oscar-nominated short documentary "The Children of Leningradsky," a look at post-Soviet Russia, screening tomorrow at 4 p.m. Tickets are $8 for regular screenings, $10 for screenings with guests; a one-day pass is $25. For a full schedule and additional information, see www.polishfilms.org; all events take place at SAM, 100 University St., Seattle.