Polish Film Festival in America,

About the event

The 29th Polish Film Festival in America, one of Chicago’s premier film events, will take place from November 4 to 19, 2017 in two premier cinematic venues in the Chicagoland Area. Over seventy feature, documentary, and animated films made by Polish filmmakers will be presented, most of them with English subtitles.

The Polish Film Festival in America (PFFA) is organized by the Society for Arts, a 503 (c) 3 non-for-profit organization established in 1981 with an objective to promote European arts and film in the United States. The festival was launched in 1989 after a collapse of communism in Poland when official contacts with the country were again possible. The event was founded by Christopher Kamyszew, a film and art executive, educator and philanthropist.

The PFFA is the most extensive annual showcase of Polish cinema outside of Poland. Hailed by the New York Times as one of the best programs promoting European film in the States, called a “Chicago Success Story’ by the Chicago Tribune and ranked as the best foreign film festival in Chicago by New City Magazine, the PFFA remains one of the largest and oldest film events in the Midwest.  The festival attracts 30,000+ national and international guests.

Through the Society for Arts and the Society Films, the PFFA is effectively involved in distributing Polish films nationwide.  The PFFA’s educational programs include various panels on multiple aspects of Polish cinema, classes for students, panel discussions with filmmakers and teachers of film, presentations of Polish film classics and retrospectives of Polish film masters.

Furthermore, in the recent years the festival has become increasingly focused on promulgation of films from other Central and Eastern European countries in the United States, and promotion of American film in these countries as well.

The Opening Night Gala Screening is scheduled for Saturday, November 4, 2017 in one of the country’s most outstanding and elegant cinema multiplexes AMC Rosemont 18 (9701 Bryn Mawr Ave., Rosemont). The Opening Night Gala Reception with stars of Polish film in attendance will take place at The Society for Arts.

Throughout the Festival, audience members will vote for the most interesting feature and documentary film. The winners will receive the “Golden Teeth” Award.

The Closing Night Gala and Award Ceremony will take place in AMC Rosemont 18 on Sunday, November 19th. For all special screenings and receptions separate invitations are required.

Single admission to movie screenings (except Opening, Closing and Special Screenings) is $15.00 for feature, and $10.00 for documentary programs. We recommend the purchase of Festival Passes at the reduced rate, our audience’s favorite buy in recent years. The Pass admits one person to any seven screenings and costs $80.00. The Opening, Closing Nights and Special Screenings are excluded from the pass. The Opening Night guests and pass buyers will receive a complimentary copy of the Festival’s program book.

Why should you sponsor?

The 29th Polish Film Festival in America will feature over 70 new films directed by Polish filmmakers. Numerous celebrities of Polish film will come as the Official Guests to meet a general public. Expected audience is estimated at 30,000. Many Chicagoans remain unaware of cultural benefits coming from international art programs.

Since Polish films rarely receive any broader distribution in the States, the festival creates the only occasion to learn first-hand about most inspirational cinematography in Europe. The movies not only increase cultural awareness but also contribute to understanding a complexity of one million Polish American community in Illinois and nearly ten million in the country.

Sponsors can strengthen their ties to the market of multi-billion purchasing power through a prominent support to the efforts of the Society for Arts and its Annual Polish Film Festival. In addition to it, the sponsorship contributes to their business image. Have a brand to build? A product to move? A service to sell? Whatever your advertising objective, you can’t afford to miss Chicago. With the business and consumer buying power of the nation’s 3rd largest market, Chicago is a mecca of marketing opportunity. The PFFA OFFICIAL PROGRAM GUIDE reaches the sophisticated film lover who enjoys the arts, culture and living the good life.

Used as a reference tool, this guide offers schedules, film descriptions, film photos, credits and helpful resources to our festival attendees. Therefore, this GUIDE is used again and again by every festival participant during and after the event.

Emily Beanblossom

The Polish Film Festival in America (PFFA) is organized by the Society for Arts, a 503 (c) 3 non-for-profit organization established in 1981 with an objective to promote European arts and film in the United States. The festival was launched in 1989 after a collapse of communism in Poland when official contacts with the country were again possible. The event was founded by Christopher Kamyszew, a film and art executive, educator and philanthropist.

The PFFA is the most extensive annual showcase of Polish cinema outside of Poland. Hailed by the New York Times as one of the best programs promoting European film in the States, called a “Chicago Success Story’ by the Chicago Tribune and ranked as the best foreign film festival in Chicago by New City Magazine, the PFFA remains one of the largest and oldest film events in the Midwest.

The festival and its organizers have been honored with a number of prestigious awards, including Presidential Gold Medal of Merit and Cavalier’s Cross of Merit from two Presidents of Poland, twice awards of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Copernican Award, the City of Chicago Award, Genius Award, the Kosciuszko Foundation Award, the Polish Film Institute Award, Gloria Artis, TVP Polonia Award, the Committee of Cinema of the Republic of Poland, among many others.

In a span of nearly twenty five years, the PFFA has shown thru its programs over 1,500 films made by filmmakers of Polish descent worldwide, from the silent film era until today. The programs hosted nearly 600 film professionals who met the Chicago audiences. The organization has provided scholarships to young filmmakers, supported Polish-U.S. co-productions. Allso, it inspired and participated in the campaigns for the Academy Awards, including launching a campaign and organizing a series of retrospectives of films by Andrzej Wajda, taking a major part in promoting achievements of nominated and winning film professionals: Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, Agnieszka Holland, Marcel Lozinski, Tomek Baginski.

The festival was privileged to offer a great number of world, international and North American premieres of films by eminent Polish filmmakers, including Roman Polanski (Bitter Moon, The Pianist), Agnieszka Holland (The Third Miracle, Copying Beethoven), and Krzysztof Kieslowski (Short Film About Killing, Short Film About Love). With a support of the Polish Film Institute, the PFFA organizes a summit which creates a meeting platform for Polish producers and American distributors and film promoters.

The PFFA has assisted in establishing a number of branch annual film events which promote Polish cinema in many other cities of the United States and Canada.

Through the Society for Arts and the Society Films, the PFFA is effectively involved in distributing Polish films nationwide (The Deluge by the Oscar-nominated Jerzy Hoffman, Spring to Come by Filip Bajon, Quo Vadis by Jerzy Kawalerowicz), restoring prints of Polish movies (The Manuscript of Saragossa by Wojciech J. Has), supporting collections of Polish films in the U.S. universities and publications on Polish motion pictures, particularly in English.

Through its Wings Award, the PFFA recognizes and honors film artists of Polish descent who contributed to the art of film in the world. The Lifetime Award recipients include such artists as directors Krzysztof  Kieslowski, Agnieszka Holland, Roman Polanski, Jan Lenica, Andrzej Bartkowiak; cinematographers Janusz Kaminski, Dariusz Wolski, Pawel Edeleman, Slawomir Idziak,; composers Wojciech Kilar and Jan A.P. Kaczmarek; art director Allan Starski; inventor Stefan Kudelski, and other giants of cinematic arts.

The PFFA’s educational programs include various panels on multiple aspects of Polish cinema, classes for students, panel discussions with filmmakers and teachers of film, presentations of Polish film classics and retrospectives of Polish film masters.

Furthermore, in the recent years the festival has become increasingly focused on promulgation of films from other Central and Eastern European countries in the United States, and promotion of American film in these countries as well.

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