2017 Schedule

October 20

*Comedy

The Eccentrics: On the Sunny Side of the Street 6:30PM SIFF Cinema Uptown

The Eccentrics is an incredible story of a jazzman, Fabian, who comes back to Poland from England at the end of the 1950s. With a group of eccentric musicians he starts a swing big-band.

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*Animation

Loving Vincent 9:00PM SIFF Cinema Uptown

The world's first fully oil painted feature film, brings the artwork of Vincent van Gogh to life in an exploration of the complicated life and controversial death of one of history's most celebrated artists.

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October 21

*Drama

Cursed 12:00PM SIFF Cinema Uptown

Set in the second half of the 1940’s, the film follows a small band of underground paramilitaries as they attempt to fight back against the Soviet-backed security ministry in post-war Poland.

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*Independent

Shorts & Independents Pt. 1 2:10PM SIFF Cinema Uptown

We’ve selected some of the best films from the submissions we received from independent filmmakers and emerging artists both locally and internationally and have crafted two very special programs.

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*Drama

Karbala 3:55PM SIFF Cinema Uptown

Karbala, Iraq, was the largest battle fought by Polish soldiers since the end of World War II.

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*Thriller

Humble Servants 6:05PM SIFF Cinema Uptown

A young German girl jumps off a Wroclaw church tower. She is a member of a women's Gregorian Choir, which the community disapproves of. What connects the suicide of a German student, a German police officer's investigation, and a Vatican envoy arrival? To find an answer to this question, Ana Wittesch and Superintendent Warski will have to learn how to cooperate and trust each other. In the meantime another girl jumps off the Wroclaw church tower....

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*Comedy

The Art of Loving 8:00PM SIFF Cinema Uptown

Michalina Wislocka, the most famous and recognized sexologist of communist Poland, fights for the right to publish her book, which will change the sex lives of Polish people forever.

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*Family

Opening Weekend Party 10:30PM Ten Mercer

Join other Polish film festival goers at ten mercer for free hors d'oeuvres and drinks. There'll also be some sweet tunes by Borys Kossakowski. Admission is free to everyone with either an SPFF pass or tickets to any of this year's screenings.

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October 22

*Short

A Celebration of Yiddish Film and Klezmer Music 12:00PM SIFF Cinema Uptown

Experience the Golden Age of Yiddish film with a special screening of a classic Yiddish talkie with a live musical performance by Klezmer Local #206!

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*Documentary

Don’t Cry When I Am Gone + Exodus 2:55PM SIFF Cinema Uptown

Don't Cry When I'm Gone: The film is about Wanda Sieradzka, the author of many Polish pop hits. The film’s title comes from the popular song, performed by the Italian singer Marino Marini, who visited Poland in the 60s.
Exodus: A theatre company faces a highly contentious and politicized climate when they decide to stage a controversial play in the public square.

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*Short

The Tenants + First Pole on Mars + Best Fireworks Ever 4:25PM SIFF Cinema Uptown

Three great shorts. One that'll scare you, one that'll inspire you, and one that'll captivate you.

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*Thriller

Convoy 6:30PM SIFF Cinema Uptown

A murder of a convict held in custody seems to be connected with dark and mysterious events from two years back. Can a crime justify a crime?

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*Drama

The Crystal Girl 8:30PM SIFF Cinema Uptown

The film follows a few people in their twenties experiencing young love – Adrian, Jacus, Wasyl, and Wiesia, the Crystal Girl.

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October 24

*Drama

Bodo 8:00PM Polish Home

What could be a better way of depicting a biography of a cabaret and movie star than a musical drama?

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October 25

*Short

Shorts & Independents Pt. 2 7:30PM Polish Home

We’ve selected some of the best films from the submissions we received from independent filmmakers and emerging artists both locally and internationally and have crafted two very special programs.

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October 26

*Animation

70 Years of Polish Animation 8:00PM Polish Home

The 70-year jubilee of Polish animation is an opportunity for celebration, and there is a lot to be proud about as it has been a well-known brand since the late fifties and sixties of the last century, the birth of what is known as the Polish school of animation, as evidenced by the two Oscars won – for "Tango" by Zbigniew Rybczyński in 1983 and for "Peter and the Wolf" by Suzie Templeton (a Polish-British co-production) a quarter of a century later.

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October 27

*Drama

Volhynia 8:00PM AMC Pacific Place 11

Despite being in love with a Ukrainian boy from the same village, Polish girl, Zosia, is forced to marry a wealthy widower. Soon World War II begins, and ethnic tensions arise. Amidst the chaos Zosia tries to survive.

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October 28

*Documentary

Autor Solaris + Layer Cake 12:00PM SIFF Film Center

Autor Solaris, a biographical documentary about Stanislaw Lem.

Layer Cake (Przekładaniec), Stanisław Lem's collaboration with Andrzej Wajda in transposing his own hilarious radio play to the screen.

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*Short

Unstoppables 1:40PM SIFF Film Center

Unstoppables The story of the Seahawks that play American football representing the Polish city Gdynia.

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*Thriller

Amok 3:45PM SIFF Film Center

Based on the true story of Krystian Bala, an ambitious novelist who becomes the central suspect of a police cold case after it's discovered his book "Amok" includes hidden details of a brutal murder identical to those of a man killed in Wroclaw years earlier.

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*Drama

Stars 8:15PM SIFF Film Center

"Stars" is the story of Jan Banaś - the famous Polish national team right-wing midfielder whose goal gave Poland the lead against England and helped them secure passage to the 1974 World Cup.

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October 29

*Drama

I, Olga Hepnarova 12:00PM SIFF Film Center

On July 10, 1973 20-year-old Olga Hepnarova deliberately drove a rented truck into a tram station in the center of Prague. Eight died and eleven were severely injured.

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*Documentary

Brother Karel 2:00PM SIFF Film Center

This is the story about Karel Kryl, the bard of two Czech revolutions – The Prague Spring in 1968 and The Velvet Revolution in 1989.

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*Drama

The Reconciliation 3:50PM SIFF Film Center

A love triangle in early 1945, Poland. In the newly liberated areas, the Communist Security Service eliminates its enemies under the pretext of punishing "national traitors." It organizes a labor camp for Germans, Silesians and Poles at the site of a former Nazi concentration camp, named Zgoda (Reconciliation). Franek, who is in love with a Polish prisoner, Anna, joins the camp crew to rescue her. He doesn't know that one of the inmates is Erwin, his German friend, who, like himself, has also loved Anna for a long time.

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*Thriller

A Simple Story About Murder 6:00PM SIFF Film Center

Jacek is a young policeman who tries to protect his mother and brothers from their despotic father, also a policeman but with illegal business dealings. When the father is murdered, Jacek becomes the main suspect. While trying to prove his innocence, he discovers, to his horror, that he is becoming more and more like his father.

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*Drama

The Last Family 8:00PM SIFF Film Center

The story of the Beksinski family. The father, Zdzislaw, a Polish surrealist painter famous for his eerie post-apocalyptic works; his suicidal son, Tomasz, a radio DJ and translator; and the mother, Zofia Beksinska, a devoted Catholic. As the parents try to prevent their son from hurting himself, their lives are defined by painting, a series of near-death experiences, funerals, and changing trends in dance music.

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