HISTORY IN CINEMA/HISTORY OF CINEMA: JERZY KAWALEROWICZ

In 2022, Jerzy Kawalerowicz would celebrate his 100th birthday. Simultaneously, next year would be the 15th anniversary of his death. He is one of the most recognizable Polish filmmakers. To commemorate this outstanding movie director, we have prepared a retrospective of his work. Piotr Kotowski, who is the curator of the program, chose 3 canonical titles. We will present all of them in digitally restored versions.

Austeria, dir. Jerzy Kawalerowicz (Poland) 1982, 102’, 15+
1914. The very first day and night of World War I. On the road to a small Galician town there is an inn run by a wise old Jew, Tag. The first refugees threatened with a Cossack slaughter find shelter there. There are rich, emancipated Jews from the town among them and there are also  mystics and fanatics of Hasidic religion who are barely aware of what is happening around them. Making a contrast to this community, there is a distinct figure of Tag, a philosopher and free-thinker, aware of the impending catastrophe. Despite a dose of skepticism, he greets with warmth and cordiality all those who have visited his inn that night. He senses though that doom will come at the dawn of the day. Grand Prix at the Polish Film Festival in Gdańsk in 1984.