Kinoteka on Tour - Lancaster

KINOTEKA ON TOUR
LANCASTER, 11 APRIL - 22 APRIL

Running alongside the main festival in London, the Kinoteka Polish Film Festival, organised by the Polish Cultural Institute in London, is touring the UK with a stunning retrospective line-up of films by Andrzej Wajda. Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the iconic film director's birth, the festival will be in Lancaster from 11 April - 22 April.

In 2026, the festival continues its tradition of retrospectives of grand film directors, celebrating the centenary of Andrzej Wajda's birth with a retrospective that spans six decades of the filmmaker's work. The retrospective will present and analyse the Academy Award-winning director's politically engaged filmmaking career from his early years making films under post-war communism to his work during the Solidarność movement.

Spearheading Kinoteka on Tour is Wajda's revered classic Ashes and Diamonds (Popiół i diament, 1958), which will be screening alongside a number of other films from the director's illustrious career.

'Wajda had a long, creative career and left behind an extraordinary legacy. His works were inspiring around the world.' - Martin Scorsese

LANCASTER LINE-UP

ASHES AND DIAMONDS
In the last days of the Second World War, Maciek, a Polish resistance fighter, is tasked with the assassination of a Communist official. When he meets Krystyna, he is offered a glimpse of a world beyond war and destruction, and questions his assignment. Wajda's classic drama, which cemented his position as a world-class filmmaker, features an iconic central performance by Cybulski – the 'Polish James Dean' – who contributes immeasurably to this probing look at the complex post-war future for a new nation and its people. It's essential viewing.

MAN OF MARBLE
In the 1970s, young filmmaker Agnieszka investigates the life of a 1950s bricklayer and worker's hero. When she learns that the facts behind his story were suppressed, she has to decide whether to pursue the truth or not. Man of Marble is a thought-provoking examination of the moral responsibility of an individual and art in challenging dominant ideology, censorship and oppressive authorities. It's a powerful milestone in Polish cinema.

MAN OF IRON
The Palme d'Or-winning follow-up to Man of Marble sees Winkel, a Communist-friendly radio journalist, charged with finding compromising information about a Solidarity opposition leader. But in witnessing protesting workers' fight against political propaganda and commitment to overturn a repressive regime, Winkel questions his own beliefs. Directly addressing the contemporary political situation as Poland entered the 1980s, Man of Iron combines fact and fiction to stunning effect, resulting in one of Wajda's most profound artistic achievements.

Kinoteka on Tour takes place at Lancaster's The Dukes cinema from 11 April - 22 April

For further information: https://kinoteka.org.uk/

Facebook: @PolishFilmFestivalKinoteka

X: @PLInst_London

Instagram: @polish_culture

About the Polish Cultural Institute in London

The Institute's focus lies in promoting Polish culture and heritage to British audiences, as well as developing collaborations and building bridges between key cultural or academic institutions in Poland and the UK.Through nurturing these relationships, providing access to essential cultural resources and supporting through funding, PCI London is able to successfully showcase the best of Polish art, film, theatre, music, literature, science, and heritage to culturally diverse residents of the UK. More on: www.instytutpolski.pl/london.