Przystanek Dłużek

“Returns” / a retrospective of documentary films

curator: Krzysztof Gierat
film screenings: “Two Rembrandts in the Garden,” “The Last of the Krasuckis,” “Pizza in Auschwitz,” “The Cupboard,” “Dłużek Station”
Krzysztof Gierat will introduce the films before the screenings

“Returns” is the overriding motif of these films about the Jewish Diaspora. Their protagonists are returning to their memories, coming up against their imaginings of the land of their fathers, trying to unravel the mysteries in their families and comprehend why Poland is perceived as a cemetery of the chosen nation, and a country still filled with anti-Semitism. They return to Poland (Łódź inclusive): those spared by the Holocaust, and the exiles of March 1968. Though the local sights lead to some friction, and even to the effacement of stereotypical ways of thinking, there is suffering along the way. But not always, or exclusively. Returns also help us to forgive and to understand, to remind us how important the family,  friends and homeland are. The curator of the project is the director of the Krakow Film Festival, one of Europe’s oldest events (since 1961) devoted to documentaries, animation  and short fictional films; he is also the founder of the Krakow Film Foundation (2003), which presently organizes the festival.