2025

This year, the 14th edition of the festival will take place from August 29 to 31!

The “Hommage à Kieślowski” Film Festival is a nationwide and cross-border event, whose 14th edition will once again be held in the picturesque town of Sokołowsko (August 29–31, 2025). The festival is symbolically dedicated to the figure of the highly esteemed Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski, whose childhood and early youth are strongly connected with Lower Silesia and Sokołowsko. However, the event’s purpose is not solely to popularize the person and works of the director of The Decalogue. Kieślowski’s figure has been a valuable starting point and inspiration for us for years, but it should be emphasized that the entire film selection is evidence of the organizers’ broader perspective on contemporary cinema, cinema by masters, and young creators, often unjustly forgotten classics.

Every year, the main theme of the event focuses on an important social idea, closely related to the reality surrounding us. This reflects the values that the festival particularly strives to nurture and which align with the “philosophy of social mindfulness” of its titular patron, Krzysztof Kieślowski. In recent years, the mottos have included: “Cinema Interventions”, “Generations”, “Stories from the Forest”, and “We Must Help Each Other”. This year, the organizers have chosen the slogan “Ends and Beginnings”, which refers both to the famous concept of the cyclicality of history by Giambattista Vico and to the title of one of the awarded short films during the first edition of the nationwide short film competition held during the 2024 festival (“Ends and Beginnings,” dir. Klaudia Fortuniak; Prod. Łódź Film School).

According to the Italian philosopher, art is one of the most important elements of human mentality; it becomes the most appropriate tool for understanding both human nature and the historical type of culture associated with it. Reflecting the shapes of the human spirit, through art we most fully express our dreams, desires, and pains. Among these is the desire for a new beginning, rebirth, and restart. The longing for a “second chance,” but also the desire to escape and dissolve one’s own boundaries. Similar qualities can be attributed to many characters from Kieślowski’s rich repertoire, including the heroine Julie, played by Juliette Binoche in Three Colors: Blue (1993). It is this Polish director’s film that we will discuss more extensively during this year’s edition, with guests including Sławomir Idziak, Krzysztof Wierzbicki, and Jacek Ostaszewski. In the selected films, we aim to follow the theme of “Ends and Beginnings” so that the screenings become a kind of shared “film therapy” for the audience.

Among this year’s sections, there will be a retrospective of films by Czech artist Drahomíra Vihanová (1930–2017). She was an outstanding Czech screenwriter and director of feature and documentary films, known for her bold approach to cinema and critical view of contemporary society and its problems (alienation, loneliness, the heartlessness of social institutions). She was one of the first women in the Czechoslovak film environment to gain recognition for her independent and uncompromising work. For years, she lectured at the famous Prague Film School FAMU. Her works remain largely unknown, and her remarkable figure is worth celebrating (2025 marks the 95th anniversary of her birth!). The retrospective will include titles such as A Squandered Sunday (1969), Fugue on Black Keys (1964) and Questions for Two Women (1985).

This year will also feature meetings focused on the latest Polish cinema, including important debuts. Confirmed guests in Sokołowsko include Korek Bojanowski (Utrata równowagi / Loss of Balance), Justyna Mytnik (Lany Poniedziałek / Wet Monday), Maria Zbąska (To nie mój film / This Is Not My Film), and Monika Majorek (Innego końca nie będzie / There Will Be No Other End). The creators of the acclaimed Minghun, featuring a great role by Marcin Dorociński—director Jan P. Matuszyński and screenwriter Grzegorz Łoszewski—will also visit Sokołowsko.

A new addition to this year’s edition is a special section presenting selected films from the Millennium Docs Against Gravity Festival – an event we have long admired for its consistent commitment to combining the art of documentary filmmaking with active social and intellectual dialogue. The screenings in Sokołowsko will serve as a bridge between two festivals that – although different in format – share the same core value: a belief in the power of cinema as a tool for change, reflection, and fostering sensitivity. The program includes the moving Letters from Wolf Street, a deeply personal story of childhood and violence, and Riefenstahl, a cinematic journey into the past that reopens questions about artistic responsibility and the ethical boundaries of creation. The section is completed by Passenger Andrzej Munk, a portrait of a remarkable director seen through the eyes of his collaborators, and the nostalgic Trains, which delicately weaves together human stories and landscapes from a vanishing world of railways.

In 2024, for the first time in Sokołowsko, the Short Film Competition was held. The Grand Prix of the 1st edition of the Short Film Competition in Sokołowsko (worth 3000 PLN) was awarded to the documentary My Sister directed by Mariusz Rusiński / Studio Munka. The jury, chaired by director Magdalena Łazarkiewicz and screenwriter Marta Hryniak (Kieślowski’s daughter), wrote in their justification: “For a moving portrayal of loneliness among loved ones in a situation where there are no easy recipes for healing relationships, yet such an attempt is made—in the name of love. For a camera that observes loved ones immersed in a family crisis with tenderness and insight, without crossing boundaries.” The tradition of the film competition will continue at HAK in 2025, and a Audience Award will be added to the competition prizes and distinctions.