03/07/2025 - The jubilee edition of the Wrocław-based event will offer 272 films, including 129 Polish premieres; the Cannes-awarded The Secret Agent by Kleber Mendonça Filho opens proceedings

BNP Paribas New Horizons, which celebrates its 25th edition between 17 and 27 July this year, will open with The Secret Agent [+see also:
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film profile], which is set to be presented in person by its director, Kleber Mendonça Filho. Offering 272 movies from emerging and established filmmakers (including 129 Polish premieres), and also comprising a carefully curated retrospectives programme, a flourishing industry event, art exhibitions and concerts, the Wrocław-based festival is a key event for cinephiles in Poland. Over the years, it has built up an audience hungry for arthouse films, also outside of the festival itself, creating a cultural phenomenon that has led to the coining of the phrase “a New Horizon film”, meaning a movie that is experimental in form and content. This year’s 600 screenings will take place in the biggest arthouse cinema venue in Poland, the New Horizons Cinema, as well as in the Lower Silesian Film Center and the cosy Wroclaw Market Square.

The jury, comprising Marija Kavtaradze, Lucile Hadžihalilović, Yorgos Krassakopoulos, Barbara Wurm and Damian Kocur, will choose the winner from among the 12 films picked for the New Horizons competition. They are Glorious Summer [+see also:
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interview: Julia Kowalski
film profile] by Julia Kowalski (France/Poland), Holy Electricity [+see also:
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interview: Tato Kotetishvili
film profile] by Tato Kotetishvili (Georgia/Netherlands), Kingdom by Michał Ciechomski (Poland), One Girl Infinite by Lily Hu (USA), Punku [+see also:
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film profile] by JD Fernández Molero (Peru/Spain), The Chronology of Water [+see also:
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film profile] by Kristen Stewart (USA/France/Latvia), The Devil Smokes (and Saves the Burnt Matches in the Same Box) by Ernesto Martínez Bucio (Mexico), The Message [+see also:
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interview: Iván Fund
film profile] by Iván Fund (Argentina/Spain/Uruguay), The Shipwrecked Triptych by Deniz Eroglu (Germany/Netherlands/Denmark), The Sparrow in the Chimney [+see also:
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interview: Ramon and Silvan Zürcher
film profile] by Ramon Zurcher (Switzerland) and Twelve Moons by Victoria Franco (Mexico).

The retrospectives will shed light on the achievements of a range of different directors, such as Korean helmer Lee Chang-dong, French director Anne-Marie Miéville (whose works revolve around the theme of communication), Brazilian auteur Glauber Rocha (who co-created the famed Cinema Novo), Greek Weird Wave alumna Athina Rachel Tsangari and, last but not least, Polish filmmakers and visual artists Anka Sasnal and Wilhelm Sasnal. A section aptly dubbed Masters will feature recent works by Christian Petzold, Hlynur Pálmason, Hong Sang-soo, Lucile Hadžihalilović and Jennifer Todd Reeves. The most eagerly awaited films from Cannes and Berlin – such as the Palme d’Or winner, It Was Just an Accident [+see also:
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interview: Dag Johan Haugerud
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Audiences can be sure that they’ll be making new discoveries if they attend the screenings within the Waves, Discoveries, Special Screenings, Lost, Lost, Lost, Midnight Madness, Oslo/Reykjavik, Shortlist and Visual Front sections. Third Eye will focus on mummy issues, showing films that focus on the theme of motherhood. Meanwhile, Creatures of the Night will offer British flicks revolving around the theme of nightlife. Smart 7 – which is being organised for the third time – will bring films shown at seven European festivals: Kino Pavasaris (Lithuania), IndieLisboa (Portugal), Filmadrid (Spain), Transilvania IFF (Romania), Reykjavik IFF (Iceland), Thessaloniki Film Festival (Greece) and BNP Paribas New Horizons (Poland). 

Last but not least, the festival will close with Harris Dickinson’s directorial debut, Urchin [+see also:
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film profile], which earned Frank Dillane the Best Actor Award in Un Certain Regard on the Croisette in May. Once again, New Horizons will hold an online edition offering selected films from the physical iteration between 17 July and 3 August.