SATURDAY, November 2, 2024
State Theater
Ann Arbor
Children’s Program
AAPFF
Children Poster Contest
Award Ceremony
10:00 am | Room 3 | For ages 7+
O psie, który jeździł koleją/The Dog Who Travelled by Train
dir. Magdalena Nieć, 2023, family, 95 min.
A 10-year-old girl named Zuzia, who struggles with a heart condition, befriends a white Swiss shepherd named Lampo. Renowned for traveling by train, Lampo becomes an internet sensation. However, the envious railway director has him removed, and Zuzia’s health begins to deteriorate. Only Lampo can save her. Set in modern times, this story is inspired by the real-life adventures of the dog Lampo in 1950s Italy.
10:00 am | Room 1 | For ages 3+
Basia/Basia
dir. Marcin Wasilewski, 2022, animation 45 min.
Basia is every preschooler’s favorite. She has quite a character. She loves jelly beans, striped clothes and her special plush friend, the Teddy Bear. Each day brings a new idea – today she wants to become a ballerina and tomorrow a wild animal tamer. Everything is an adventure in Basia’s world – whether it’s a pirouette lesson, cooking with her family or supermarket shopping. You can’t never get bored with Basia!
Children’s Book Fair
Michigan Theater
Ann Arbor
Ukrainian Program
11:00 am | Screening Room
Slovo House. Unfinished Novel
dir. Taras Tomenko, 2021, drama, 120 min.
The film presents a story about a generation of Ukrainian artists persecuted by the totalitarian system, unfolding against the backdrop of one of the largest genocides of the 20th century: the Holodomor, which caused the death of almost 7 million people.
1:30 pm | Screening Room
Droga do piekła/Highway to Hell
dir. Filip Polczak, 2023, documentary, 22 min.
If they have heard an explosion, it means they are alive. Clad in vests and helmets, they are saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers fighting on the front lines. Their reality is shrapnel, headshot wounds, and falling rockets. Polish medics give a detailed account of their mission on the Ukrainian front.
2:00 pm | Screening Room
Metaliczny posmak/Metallic Taste
dir. Ivan Krupenikov, 2023, short, 20 min.
A teenage boy emerges from the cellar where he’s been hiding to search for water and supplies for his sick mother. To save the person closest to him, he must confront his greatest fear—the very thing he has been escaping from.
2:30 pm | Screening Room
A jeśli jutro wojna się skończy/What if the War Ends Tomorrow
dir. Martyna Wojciechowska, 2023, documentary, 54 min.
The film tells the stories of four Ukrainian women who don’t want to be called victims. Iryna, Galyna, Yulia, and Ludmila were held captive by the Russians – Iryna was taken from her home in Donetsk in 2014, Ludmila was “arrested” in 2019, Yulia in 2021, and Galyna in 2022. They endured torture and rape, yet they survived and are determined to live on. They are heroines in real life and have become heroines in film.
Michigan Theater
Ann Arbor
Evening Program
6:00 pm | Screening Room
Kuba/Kuba
dir. Marcin Strauchold, 2024, documentary, 77 min.
Q&A with director Marcin Strauchold
Janusz “Kuba” Morgenstern came from a Jewish family, which he lost in the Holocaust. He made films that left a permanent mark on Polish cinematography, including See You Tomorrow, To Kill This Love and The Yellow Scarf. The viewers also owe him popular TV series such as More Than Life At Stake, Polish Roads or Columbuses. Morgenstern’s portrait is woven from interviews, broadcasts, photos and his own films – a means of escape from the trauma experienced during the war. His loved ones, along with actors and colleagues, reflect on his artistic legacy.
8:30 pm | Screening Room
Święto ognia/Feast of Fire
dir. Kinga Dębska, 2023, drama, 94 min.
A heartwarming film about happiness, ambition and secrets. Two devoted sisters struggle with very different constraints imposed by their bodies. Nastka, who has cerebral palsy and communicates nonverbally, starts to expand both her experience and her potential for joy when a neighbor becomes involved in their lives. Meanwhile Łucja, a leading ballerina, considers a future without performing. Balancing laugh-out-loud comedy with deep seated emotional trauma this is a film that asks us to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and encourages us to become better advocates for our desires.