Ann Arbor Polish Film Festival

Ann Arbor, MI

NOVEMBER 11TH, SATURDAY

STATE  THEATRE

 

CHILDREN’S PROGRAM
ages 7 and older

Screening Room 3

10:00 am

Opening of the Children’s Program

Announcement of the AAPFF Poster Contest Winner
and Awards Ceremony.

10:15 am
Dzień czekolady/The Day of Chocolate, dir. Jacek Bławut, family, 2018, 80 min.

Through the window, Dawid watches a new neighbor move into a house next door. The girl is his age. She’s wearing a strange skirt. Later, Dawid finds out it’s a Hawaiian hula skirt and the girl’s name is Monika. He also learns why Monika’s grandma has gone away to Hawaii. Most probably, he’s going to tell her that his sister is a cat now. For sure, the boy and the girl will be brought closer together by their strength to save their precious memories about the loved ones who departed this life. The mad Time Hopper will help them cross the gate in an old clock that leads to a place where time rules are completely different. Yet, to pay him, is chocolate enough?

ages 3 and older
Screening Room 1

10:00 am 
Opening of the Children’s Program

10:05 am
Kicia Kocia/Kitty Kotty, reż. Marta Stróżycka, animation, 2019, 49 min. 

A clever cat together with her understanding owners and three faithful friends bravely discover the world, learning vital rules and patterns of daily life. Her adventures reflect everyday life of children and show their typical behaviour. The world presented here is full of warmth, revealing joys and worries of daily life.

11:00 am – 12:00 am
CHILDREN’S BOOK FAIR

DOCUMENTARY FILMS PROGRAM
Screening Room 1

A2PolishFF_UntilTheLastDrop_1080x450

1:00 pm
Do ostatniej kropli/Until the Last Drop dir. Ewa Ewart, documentary, 2023, 70 min.

It is a film about rivers and people, their relationship and interconnectedness. The documentary exposes the global cost and consequences of the destruction of nature “in the name of progress”. Rivers have been especially badly hit. The film conveys a strong message about one of the greatest threats to human civilization: the growing freshwater crisis. It tells a story of despair and desperation but also one of determination and hope.

2:15 pm
INTERMISSION

All About My Life 6

2:30 pm
Wszystko o moim życiu/All About my Life dir. Piotr Jacoń, documentary, 2022, 81 min.

Michael is a truck driver and a Mathematics Engineer. Kacper wants to be a film director. Hektor and Luba make a patchwork family. Maja is an activist and Małgosia is an artist. What do they have in common? Their gender identity – different from the one assigned at birth. This reportage is a collective portrait of young Poles expecting one thing – a sense of dignity. Dignity in diversity.

EVENING PROGRAM
Screening Room 1

5:30 pm
Strzępy/Shreds dir. Beata Dzianowicz, drama, 2022, 100 min.

The Pateroks are a loving, multi-generational family. Their lives are peaceful and humorous. Suddenly a crack appears in this harmonious reality: Grandpa Gerard begins to act strangely, breaking social conventions and norms. It turns out that these are the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
Q&A
with Agnieszka Radzikowska &  Alina Chechelska

 

7:40 pm
INTERMISSION

8:00 pm
Tam, gdzie płaczą ptaki/Where the Birds Cry
dir. Jakub Wenda, short narrative, 2023, 16 min.

Fourteen-year-old Szymon lives in a seaside village. The boy is going through one of the most turbulent stages in his life – puberty. The boy’s monotonous life is interrupted by an unexpected visit from his childhood friend. An ordinary meeting on a cliff turns into his first summer romance.
Q&A
with dir. Jakub Wenda

8:40 pm
INTERMISSION

9:00 pm
Tata/Dad dir. Anna Maliszewska, comedy/drama, 2022, 110 min.

Michał, is a Europe-crisscrossing truck driver, who is also a single father of pre-teen Miśka. When on the road his daughter is left in the care of Galina, an illegal Ukrainian immigrant, who lives with him along with her granddaughter Lena. The girls go to school together and treat each other like sisters. The disaster strikes when the Ukrainian babysitter dies suddenly and Michał has to rush home to take care of the girls and a dead body. He manages to swap his route from London to Kiev, allowing him to take Lena to her family and perhaps also solve “the other problem.” The three of them travel together, experiencing unique life at highway truck stops, befriending drivers, hitchhikers and sex workers.