Martin Scorsese-Curated Series of Polish Films to Screen at Film Society

The Film Society of Lincoln Center will host a 21-film retrospective of Polish masterpieces that span from 1957 to 1987 starting in February of next year, and it features a few filmmakers and films in the Criterion Collection. The series is curated by the one-and-only Martin Scorsese, and came about when the director was in Łódź, Poland to receive an honorary doctoral degree from The Polish National Film, Television, and Theatre School.

The Polish organizers of the series, Jędrzej Sabliński (a digital restoration expert with DI Factory) and Grzegorz Molewski (KINO RP), approached Scorsese with a short list of digitally restored Polish films and discussed how he and his Film Foundation could possibly help get them seen. The Film Foundation then recommended Milestone Films to help distribute the personally-selected-by-Scorsese titles in the series to North American audiences in the U.S. and Canada in 2014 and 2015.

In regards to his selections in this Polish series Scorsese said “There are many revelations in the ‘Masterpieces of Polish Cinema’ series and whether you’re familiar with some of these films or not, it’s an incredible opportunity to discover for yourself the great power of Polish cinema on the big screen in brilliantly restored digital remasters.”

I’m definitely eager to check out some of these titles, especially since the Scorsese seal of approval hasn’t steered me wrong with the amazing recent Criterion release of the first volume in his World Cinema Project.

More details about the series, including showtimes and prices, will be revealed later this month. Here is the list of the Scorsese-approved films:

 

Eroica, Andrzej Munk, 1957

Ashes and Diamonds, Andrzej Wajda, 1958

The Last Day of Summer, Tadeusz Konwicki, 1958

Night Train, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 1959

Black Cross, Aleksander Ford, 1960

Innocent Sorcerers, Andrzej Wajda, 1960

Mother Joan of the Angels, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 1960


The Saragossa Manuscript, Wojciech Jerzy Has, 1964

Jump, Tadeusz Konwicki, 1965


Pharoah, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 1965

The Illumination, Krzysztof Zanussi, 1972

To Kill this Love, Janusz Morgenstern, 1972

The Wedding, Andrzej Wajda, 1972

The Hour-Glass Sanatorium, Wojciech Jerzy Has, 1973

The Promised Land, Andrzej Wajda, 1974

Camouflage, Krzysztof Zanussi, 1976

The Constant Factor, Krzysztof Zanussi, 1980

Blind Chance, Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1981


Man of Iron, Andrzej Wajda, 1981

Austeria, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 1982

A Short Film About Killing, Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1987