All screenings free at Polish Film Festival

For decades Polish directors were at the forefront of world cinema with such names as Krzysztof Kieslowski, Andrzej Wajda, Roman Polanski, Jerzy Skolimowski or Jerzy Hass and were honoured with multiple awards including Oscars, Cannes, Berlinale and Venice prizes. Functioning in the communist era they managed to push the boundaries of cinema and develop revolutionary ways of telling stories.

The struggle for freedom in Poland had much in common with what was taking place in South Africa. The enemy was different, but the goals were the same. In an attempt to bring South Africa closer to Poland there will be two modern movies that show this connection. One of them ("Beats of Freedom") deals with the power of music, its meaning as a powerful weapon of opposition - Poland's own Amandla! The other ("Black Thursday") shows a traumatic and historically symbolic tragedy, which helped shape the struggle for freedom, much like the Soweto Uprising in South Africa.

Struggled to find a new voice

Unfortunately, since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Polish cinema has struggled to find a new and important voice with which to tell the world about the brave new journey that the former communist state has embarked on. For years, new directorial talents were few and far between, while worthy and memorable movies were almost non-existent.

However the landscape of Polish cinema is once again changing and a whole new generation of directors are stamping their presence not only in Poland, but globally. This is a new distinct voice that manages to capture the soul of this new "capitalist" Poland still knee-deep in the remnants of the old system.