The Madison Polish Film Festival is back! This year, the festival will take place on November 10 and November 17 at the Marquee Cinema (located in Union South) on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. All screenings are FREE and OPEN to the public. Join us to again celebrate Poland’s vibrant and universally recognized cinematic tradition, with English subtitles. Everyone is welcome – Zapraszamy na festiwal!
The 2024 edition of the Madison Polish Film Festival will take place on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus on two subsequent Sundays – November 10 and November 17. Traditionally, all screenings will be FREE and open to the wider public and local community beyond UW-Madison students, faculty, and staff. All films will be screened with English subtitles.
2024 MADISON POLISH FILM FESTIVAL (November 10 and November 17)
(click here to download the official 2024 Madison Polish Film Festival poster)
This year, the selection for the Madison Polish Film Festival includes:
Sunday, November 10, 2024
The Secret of Little Rose / Różyczka 2 (dir. Jan Kidawa-Błoński, 2023)
Running time: 106 min
Sunday, November 10 at 3 pm
Marquee Cinema, Union South
Room 245 (2nd floor), 308 W Dayton St, Madison
Trailer:
Synopsis:
Joanna Warczewska, daughter of an eminent writer, is at the peak of her life. Her thriving political career and family happiness are instantly destroyed by a terrorist attack in which her beloved husband is killed. When fate gives her a new chance in life, another blow hits her. Someone sends her photos and documents undermining her family ties and suggesting that her mother has collaborated with the Security Service in the past.
The Scarborn / Kos (dir. Paweł Maślona, 2023)
Running time: 120 min
Sunday, November 10 at 5:15 pm
Marquee Cinema, Union South
Room 245 (2nd floor), 308 W Dayton St, Madison
Trailer:
Synopsis:
Spring of 1794, Poland is in a state of unrest. General Tadeusz ‘Kos’ Kościuszko returns to the country, planning to ignite an uprising against the Russians by mobilizing Polish gentry and peasants. He is accompanied by his faithful friend and former slave, Domingo. Kościuszko is being tracked down by a merciless Russian cavalry captain, Dunin, who wants to do whatever it takes to capture the general before he starts a national revolt.
Sunday, November 17, 2024
Doppelgänger. Double / Doppelgänger. Sobowtór (dir. Jan Holoubek, 2023)
Running time: 120 min
Sunday, November 17 at 3 pm
Marquee Cinema, Union South
Room 245 (2nd floor), 308 W Dayton St, Madison
Trailer:
Synopsis:
Hans and Jan Bitner live on opposite sides of the iron curtain. Hans lives in France, he leads a quiet life. Bitner is a Pole, involved in the fight for a free Poland. Their lives are different, but there is one detail that links them.
Feast of Fire / Święto ognia (dir. Kinga Dębska, 2023)
Running time: 94 min
Sunday, November 17 at 5:30 pm
Marquee Cinema, Union South
Room 245 (2nd floor), 308 W Dayton St, Madison
Trailer:
Synopsis:
Two sisters struggle with their own bodies. One, pushed by ambition, seeks the limits of its possibilities, for the other the body is a prison. One believes that ballet will save her from her memories. The other watches the world from her balcony with such attention that she sees and hears more. Their father flees to the only place where he feels he is truly alive. Each of them is dishing out the past and taming the present.
Location and parking
The Marquee Cinema is located in Room 245 on 1308 West Dayton Street in Madison. Parking is available on lots 80 (Union South Garage), 17, and 20, in addition to numerous UW and City of Madison parking options. The Marquee is located close to bus routes 2, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 28, 38, 44, 48, 70, 72, and 80.
For more information on South Union parking, visit this guide. For a guest user guide, see this booklet. To find the best bus route, visit the Madison Metro Transit trip planning guide.
Celebrating Polish cinema at UW–Madison since 1991
The annual Madison Polish Film Festival is co-organized by the UW–Madison Polish Studies program and the Polish Student Association in collaboration with the Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic+ (GNS+), Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia (CREECA), Wisconsin Union Directorate (WUD) Film Committee, and the Polish Heritage Club, Madison–Wisconsin. Inaugurated in 1991 by our longstanding Polish language lecturer Dr. Ewa Miernowska, the festival has quickly become an annual celebration of Polish cinema. Since then, it has attracted hundreds of viewers each year and is now a major cultural event at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Greater Madison Area. In 2021, the Festival’s longstanding director Dr. Miernowska received a prestigious distinction from the Chicago Society for Arts for her outstanding merits in promoting Polish cinema in North America. The award ceremony took place at the Polish Film Festival in America in Chicago.
Donate to UW–Madison Polish Studies program
The UW–Madison Polish Studies program is actively involved in researching, teaching, and promoting Polish film, language, literature, and culture. Since its establishment more than 80 years ago, our faculty has trained hundreds of students in these areas and disciplines, in addition to organizing numerous events such as the annual Madison Polish Film Festival. If you would like to help us continue our rich tradition of promoting Polish culture in Wisconsin and beyond, consider donating to our program using the Donate banner below. You can also consider setting up a fund to support our students or faculty in their studying, teaching, research, or outreach activities. To learn more about our program and what we do, click here.
Questions? Email Rebecca Forbes Wank, our Financial Specialist, or Dr. Łukasz Wodzyński, our Professor of Polish, to start the conversation today.
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UW–Madison Polish Studies Program
Educating the Wisconsin public about the Polish language, literature, and culture since 1936.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison Polish Studies Program is the oldest academic program in the United States focused on the study and teaching of the Polish language, literature, and culture. UW–Madison Polish studies offer a comprehensive package of Polish language, literature, and culture courses, a generous scholarship program designed exclusively for its students, and various extracurricular activities each academic year.
The program, dating back to 1935, offers beginning, intermediate, and advanced Polish language courses, in addition to intensive Polish courses for heritage speakers and (under)graduate students. In 2011, the program received the prestigious Award Distinction from the University of Warsaw for its achievements in promoting the Polish language and knowledge about Polish culture and history. The UW–Madison Polish program also offers a broad range of Polish culture courses on Polish film, contemporary Polish culture, Polish migration to the Americas, a survey of Polish culture from the Middle Ages to modern times, Polish comedy culture, and post-communism.
Each year, the UW Polish program awards scholarships for tuition through the Lapinski fund to undergraduate and graduate students studying the Polish language, literature, and culture. The Polish Student Association (PSA) provides a space for all students interested in events, activities, and learning about Poland and Polish culture. In collaboration with the Polish program faculty, the PSA also co-organizes the Madison Polish Film Festival, an annual celebration of Polish cinematography in Madison, Wisconsin, now in its fourth decade of existence.