14/10/2022 - The annual gathering in the Polish capital offers 156 films from 57 countries, plus the Odesa-Warsaw Ukrainian Competition section

The 38^th edition of the Warsaw Film Festival will unspool in the Polish capital from 14-23 October. The opening film is the Polish extravaganza Dangerous Men [+see also:
interview: Maciej Kawalski
film profile], set during the interwar period and featuring legendary Polish artists and intellectuals, such as painter Witkacy, anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski, and writers Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński and Joseph Conrad (born Józef Korzeniowski). Directed by newcomer Maciej Kawalski, Dangerous Men will celebrate its world premiere at Warsaw. On the programme, there are many more titles being presented for the first time: specifically, 22 out of the 88 feature-length films, in both the narrative and documentary competitions.

Apart from the newly introduced Odesa-Warsaw Ukrainian Competition, the festival also offers its regular five competitive sections: the International Competition, 1-2 Competition, Documentary Film Competition, Free Spirit Competition and Short Film Competition. In the event’s International Competition, 15 titles will be vying for prizes. The world premieres are As the Sun Rises by Dito Tsintsadze (Georgia), Ademoka's Education by Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan/France), The Kiss [+see also:
interview: Bille August
film profile] by Bille August (Denmark), Where Nothing Grows by Peter Zhiguo Zuo (China) and What Remains by Ran Huang (Finland/Hong Kong/UK).

There are also five international premieres in this section: Shadowplay by Peter Bebjak (Czech Republic/Slovakia), Rock.Paper.Grenade [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Iryna Tsilyk (Ukraine), Mother [+see also:
film review
interview: Zornitsa Sophia
film profile] by Zornitsa Sophia (Bulgaria/Germany/Croatia), Bethlehem Light by Jan Svěrák (Czech Republic/UK), May Labour Day [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Pjer Žalica (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and APAG by Brillante Mendoza (Hong Kong/Philippines). The International Competition contenders also include New Normal by Jung Bum-Shik (South Korea), Shreds by Beata Dzianowicz (Poland), January [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Viesturs Kairiss (Latvia/Lithuania/Poland) and Dad by Anna Maliszewska (Poland/Ukraine).

On top of that, the festival offers several events dedicated to industry professionals, including Warsaw-Next, a workshop for young Polish filmmakers, and Wajda School New Talents, a presentation of projects developed at the institution during its fiction-feature and documentary film courses, as well as the scriptwriting one. The presentation will be held in Polish but will also include works by filmmakers from Belarus. Doc Lab Poland, a workshop targeted at documentary filmmakers who have projects at different stages of production and post-production, will take place in Warsaw as well, along with a series of lectures, available for the general public to attend. For the 16^th time, the festival is also hosting the FIPRESCI Warsaw Critics Project, dedicated to up-and-coming film critics from Central and Eastern Europe.

There will also be two online events: Warsaw Screenings (a presentation of new Polish films to international film professionals) and Warsaw Works-in-Progress (a pitching session for selected Eastern European works in progress).