Washington DC Polish FIlm Festival

Schedule:

3:00 PM - If I Were You

Short: Beautiful Wildflower Meadow

We would all, it seems, like to know what life is really like for the opposite sex. Kasia and Krzysiek, a young, quite normal married couple, get a chance to do just that. But are they truly ready? Krzysiek works hard at a corporate job, while neglecting his family. Kasia toils away at a kindergarten, taking care of their son and home, at the same time neglecting herself. They drift apart, until fate gives them an unusual opportunity. IF I WERE YOU is a bold comedy about a husband and wife who discover they’ve switched bodies and end up learning a lot of good and bad things about one other. A comedy for everyone, teaching us how the most important thing in any relationship is communication – and also how everyone, like it or not, has some kind of role to play in life.

5:30 PM - Scarborn

Short: Do Raju

Scarborn is a saber-rattling, thrilling, modern, action-packed, and universal emotional story about people who overcome prejudice and differences in the name of freedom and equality.

Spring of 1794, Poland is in turmoil. General Tadeusz “Kos” Kościuszko (Jacek Braciak) returns to Poland and plans to start an uprising against the Russians by mobilizing the Polish nobility and peasants. He is accompanied by his faithful friend and former slave, Domingo (Jason Mitchell). Kościuszko is followed by a ruthless Russian captain, Dunin (Robert Więckiewicz), who wants to capture the general at any cost before he triggers a national rebellion. Meanwhile, a young peasant, Ignac (Bartosz Bielenia), a noble *******, dreams of receiving his coat of arms and property from his illegitimate parent, Duchnowski (Andrzej Seweryn), who includes him in his will just before his death. When his father dies, the boy has to flee from his half-brother Stanisław (Piotr Pacek), who wants to prevent the execution of his father’s will. Ignac steals the will and has just two days to appear in court to prove his title of nobility. In his escape, Ignac meets Domingo. The men have a strong bond of understanding, even though they do not speak each other’s languages. They end up at the manor house of the Colonel’s Wife (Agnieszka Grochowska), where Kościuszko hides while waiting for negotiations with the magnates. Kos is distrustful of Ignac and keeps him under arrest. Still, at the decisive moment, the fate of the uprising will lie in the hands of the inconspicuous noble *******. When the moment of trial arrives, Ignac must choose whether to follow his dream of nobility or join “Kos” Kościuszko and fight for the highest stakes with him.

8:45 PM - Woman of  (Kobieta Z) 2023 Drama

Short: The Dress

Premiering at the Venice Film Festival this Polish film breaks new ground and confronts perhaps the most controversial social subject of our time.  Staring Malgorzata Krzysztofik-Hajewska and Joanna Kulig (Cold War), Woman of… is a sensitive and intelligent story of gender identity in a cruel world that cannot accept it and the personal love that ultimately does.  Another remarkable first for Polish cinema.

Set against the landscape of the Polish transformation from communism to capitalism, Woman Of spans 45 years of the life of Aniela Wesoly and her journey to find personal liberty as a trans woman.

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