For years, there has been an increase in foreigners in major European cities. But do foreign residents have the opportunity to learn about the film culture of the country they are in? We asked ourselves this question at the turn of 2010 and 2011, and the answer was no, also in relation to the capital of Lower Silesia. We started to think about launching a project that would bring a solution to this problem. This is how the idea of a film club was born, where foreigners could get to know Polish cinema.
When Wrocław won the bid to become European Capital of Culture 2016 in June 2011, the city was flooded with a great wave of creative energy. Almost all the cultural animators in the largest city in Lower Silesia began looking for new ideas that could fit into the city’s several-year strategy. The loose idea of a film club for foreigners was developed by Adam Kruk and Lech Moliński into a project of cyclical meetings in the formula of a lecture-show-discussion, where both introductions and discussions after screenings were to be held in English, and films screened with English subtitles. Already in March 2012, the long journey began, which is still ongoing – despite the end of the ECOC celebrations – and does not seem to be ending. In the meantime, a project called ‘Polish Cinema for Beginners’ became part of the programme of the aforementioned celebrations, and in 2016 it brought the Wrocław Film Foundation an award from the Polish Film Institute in the ‘Film Education’ category.
Our team
Adam Kruk
events programmer & host
Polish film critic, journalist and programmer curating various festivals and cultural events. His work has appeared in numerous magazines (‘Kino’, ‘Film’, ‘Newsweek’, ‘Images’), as well as in several books on film, art and culture. Speaker at University of Wroclaw, member of European Film Academy, International Federation of Film Critics FIPRESCI, Wroclaw Film Foundation, and Dante Alighieri Association.
In 2023 he will be one of the international voters for the 81st Golden Globe Awards.
Lech Moliński
project coordinator, events programmer, foundation president & founder
Film journalist, cultural animator and organiser of many cultural events. Founder and president of the Wrocław Film Foundation. Co-founder of many projects: Polish Cinema For Beginners, MIASTOmovie, Dolnośląskie Spacery Filmowe. A co-author of books„Stanislaw Lenartowicz- twórca osobny” and “Nikt nie woła, każdy pamięta. Filmowy Dolny Śląsk” (“Nobody’s Calling. Film in Lower Silesia”) Winner of the Scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for 2018 & 2020 in the field of “Animation of culture and cultural education” & 2023 in the field of “Literature”. He also lectures at the Warsaw Film School.
Kuba Żary
events programmer
Communication specialist, cultural journalist, art curator living in Wrocław. Head of communication and promotion at the Wrocław Institute of Culture, previously (among others) coordinator of promotional activities for the European Capital of Culture Wrocław 2016 and the Culture Zone Wrocław, spokesperson and press officer for numerous cultural events. Editor-in-chief of “Wrocławski Niezbędnik Kulturalny” (“Wrocław Cultural Guide”), regular contributor to “Contemporary Lynx” magazine, former editor-in-chief of the cultural website G-punkt.pl and Head of Music at Wrocław’s Radio LUZ. Curator of exhibitions and artistic projects focusing especially on urban space (carried out, among others, in the Wrocław Contemporary Museum, BWA Wrocław, Museum of Architecture in Wrocław, TIFF Center, ECC Wrocław 2016, ZODIAK Warsaw Architecture Pavilion). Member of the programme board of MIASTOmovie Festival of City and Architecture Film and of the artistic board of the Wrocław Film Foundation. Long-time radio host, author of the show “Siódmy Kontynent” (“The Seventh Continent”) dedicated to the music of Australia and New Zealand.
Agnieszka Smutek
producer & coordinator of PCFB in 2023
Graduate of the Institute of Cultural Studies at the University of Wrocław. During her studies, she researched urban space and its cultural transformations in Wrocław, Lviv and Tomsk. She cooperated with the TIFF Collective Foundation, Be Together, Festival of High Temperatures, Strefa Kultury Wrocław, and the Wrocław Film Foundation. She worked for the cultural institution OP ENHEIM, where she was responsible for project coordination and communication. Member of the FLOWLAND Foundation. Since 2022, she is now working at the Culture and Art Centre in Wrocław as a specialist in the Visual Arts Department. An amateur roller-skater and avid collector of potted plants. She travels the world with her dog Imbir (Ginger).
Hanna Mokijewska
social media manager
Graduate of Visual Communication at the University of Wroclaw, Master of Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts with a specialization in Art Mediation, co-founder of the Wezbranie Festival, social media coordinator of the Warsaw HER Docs Festival. Head of media for New Visions in Berlin. She is also in charge of media communications at infopoint, cafe and bar Barbara. Photographer and film editor.