5 – 26 March 2026
The 24th KINOTEKA Polish Film Festival returns, presenting a curated selection of the most important contemporary and classic Polish films, documentaries and special events.
This year’s edition is anchored by a major retrospective of films by Andrzej Wajda, Academy Awarded auteur, marking the 100th anniversary of the director’s birth. One of the most influential filmmakers of post-war Europe, Wajda understood cinema as a moral, civic and political act. His films confront the defining experiences of the twentieth century: war, occupation, totalitarianism and the struggle for freedom while asking enduring questions about individual responsibility, com- promise and resistance. In a time of renewed geopolitical tension and historical revisionism, Wajda’s work remains urgently relevant.
The 24th KINOTEKA Polish Film Festival returns, presenting a curated selection of the most important contemporary and classic Polish films, documentaries and special events.
This year’s edition is anchored by a major retrospective of films by Andrzej Wajda, Academy Awarded auteur, marking the 100th anniversary of the director’s birth. One of the most influential filmmakers of post-war Europe, Wajda understood cinema as a moral, civic and political act. His films confront the defining experiences of the twentieth century: war, occupation, totalitarianism and the struggle for freedom while asking enduring questions about individual responsibility, com- promise and resistance. In a time of renewed geopolitical tension and historical revisionism, Wajda’s work remains urgently relevant.
Programme
Thursday 5 March, 6.30pm
Home Sweet Home + Q&A
How well do we know the person we love? From the director of Clergy and Rose, an intense psychological drama that uncovers issues of domestic violence within Polish society, winning awards in Poland and abroad.
Sunday 8 March, 6.30pm
Danton + Introduction
Two riveting performances are magnificent anchors for Wajda's historical drama of the great conflict between two chief architects of the French Revolution, a moderate and a radical.
Sunday 15 March, 2pm
A Generation
Set in 1942, on the outskirts of Nazi-occupied Warsaw, Wajda’s striking feature debut centres on Stach, and a group of young, anti-German underground fighters, as they prepare for a new mission.
Wednesday 18 March, 8.30pm
Kanal
A unit of Polish freedom fighters goes underground to escape German troops, in the final stages of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. Wajda’s claustrophobic, nightmarish masterpiece employs haunting images to convey their struggle as they journey through the city’s sewers.
Thursday 19 March, 8.40pm
Ashes and Diamonds
In the last days of the Second World War, Maciek, a Polish resistance fighter, is tasked with the assassination of a Communist official. When he meets Krystyna, he is offered a glimpse of a world beyond war and destruction, and questions his assignment.
Saturday 21 March, 6.30pm
LARP: Love, Trolls and Other Quests
First time feature film maker Kordian Kadziela has created an action packed comedy following the story of Sergiusz, whose passion for LARP (live-action role playing) makes him a victim of bullying until a new student arrives at school.
Tuesday 24 March, 8.40pm
Pilate and the Others
Made for West-German television in 1972, this loose adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's cult novel The Master and Margarita (published posthumously in 1967) is perhaps the most experimental feature in Andrzej Wajda's oeuvre.
Thursday 26 March, 8.40pm
A Love in Germany
Based on a novel by Rolf Hochhuth (and co-scripted by Agnieszka Holland), this surprising entry in Andrzej Wajda's body of work made outside of his native Poland is a full-scale melodrama of sensual obsession, sometimes compared to the erotically charged cinema of Nagisa Oshima.
Thursday 5 March, 6.30pm
Home Sweet Home + Q&A
How well do we know the person we love? From the director of Clergy and Rose, an intense psychological drama that uncovers issues of domestic violence within Polish society, winning awards in Poland and abroad.
Sunday 8 March, 6.30pm
Danton + Introduction
Two riveting performances are magnificent anchors for Wajda's historical drama of the great conflict between two chief architects of the French Revolution, a moderate and a radical.
Sunday 15 March, 2pm
A Generation
Set in 1942, on the outskirts of Nazi-occupied Warsaw, Wajda’s striking feature debut centres on Stach, and a group of young, anti-German underground fighters, as they prepare for a new mission.
Wednesday 18 March, 8.30pm
Kanal
A unit of Polish freedom fighters goes underground to escape German troops, in the final stages of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. Wajda’s claustrophobic, nightmarish masterpiece employs haunting images to convey their struggle as they journey through the city’s sewers.
Thursday 19 March, 8.40pm
Ashes and Diamonds
In the last days of the Second World War, Maciek, a Polish resistance fighter, is tasked with the assassination of a Communist official. When he meets Krystyna, he is offered a glimpse of a world beyond war and destruction, and questions his assignment.
Saturday 21 March, 6.30pm
LARP: Love, Trolls and Other Quests
First time feature film maker Kordian Kadziela has created an action packed comedy following the story of Sergiusz, whose passion for LARP (live-action role playing) makes him a victim of bullying until a new student arrives at school.
Tuesday 24 March, 8.40pm
Pilate and the Others
Made for West-German television in 1972, this loose adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's cult novel The Master and Margarita (published posthumously in 1967) is perhaps the most experimental feature in Andrzej Wajda's oeuvre.
Thursday 26 March, 8.40pm
A Love in Germany
Based on a novel by Rolf Hochhuth (and co-scripted by Agnieszka Holland), this surprising entry in Andrzej Wajda's body of work made outside of his native Poland is a full-scale melodrama of sensual obsession, sometimes compared to the erotically charged cinema of Nagisa Oshima.
no. 236848.