ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The Polish entry for the Best International Film Feature is among the eight films being presented during this year’s Polish Film Festival in Rochester April 7-14.

The Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies at the University of Rochester is teaming up with The Little Theatre to present the films virtually.

Randall Stone, the Director of the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies, discussed the Polish Film Festival lineup Wednesday during News 8 at Noon.

“We’ve got eight current films,” said Stone. “These are fresh off the presses, so to speak, from Poland and they’re a wide range of things from historical films to contemporary dramas to a couple of adventure pieces. There’s even a murder mystery.”

The Film Festival will begin with a showing of ‘Never Gonna Snow Again,’ which was among the foreign films considered for an Oscar nomination by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “Today’s film ‘Never Gonna Snow Again’ is the Polish nominee for this year’s Oscar,” Stone explained. “It didn’t win but it’s a very intriguing film. Let’s see, on Friday we have ‘Icarus: The Legend of Mietek Kosz’ who is kind of a forgotten jazz great of Poland in the 70s. He was blind. He had a fascinating life. And there’s a gorgeous score by Leszek Mozdzer who is the leading jazz pianist in Poland right now. That’s a wonderful film. And on Saturday we’re showing ‘Pilsudski’ which is a historic retrospective on one of Poland’s most controversial heroes who led the Polish drive for independence during World War I, then became Head of State, stepped back from politics, and then led a coup against the democratic government. So he’s a controversial figure. It’s a very interesting film that shows him with a lot of his warts on but emphasizes the early part of his career.”

Use this link to preview all of the films and buy your virtual tickets:

http://www.sas.rochester.edu/psc/CPCES/polish-film-festival/2021/index.html

The Polish Film Festival dates back to 1997. Stone said each year there is much to be learned from what is portrayed on the screen. “We think that film is a unique window into a culture and so we want to share films that Rochesterians wouldn’t normally have access to and particularly we’re interested in the latest, most interesting, innovative things that are happening in Polish cinema.”