Festivals are not only about stars and special guests from the front pages of newspapers and portals. They are also the ones who let us know what's happening in the cinema, what titles are hitting the screens, what and who to pay attention to, and what productions should not be missed.
We are at the Kino na Granicy review, so some questions come to mind. I asked my interlocutors to answer two questions: Should cinema cross any boundaries? Are there any boundaries in cinema? What am I looking for in the cinema as a viewer? What did they answer? Check it out!
– Crossing boundaries must be accompanied by courage. And let's remember that cinema came from courage, because people decided that they would compete with technology and achieve things that seemed impossible. In my field, film music, courage is also of great importance. Without it, all music sounds the same, often decent, but not amazing. The creators we remember after several dozen years are artists who knew how to do something differently than others and asked uncomfortable questions. At the beginning of the existence of sound films, it was a trivial question about the presence of music under the dialogue – something unthinkable for producers at that time! Someone proposed it, someone else agreed, and that's how it developed. That is why crossing boundaries is essential to art. Are there any limits in cinema? The limits are where talent and imagination end. However, I am not a fan of crazy head dives without checking the bottom. That's why I'll answer with a movie quote, probably from “Back to the Future”, that speed should have wisdom as a guide. The cinema must be like the strongest spell Mr. Kleks taught to children at his academy, seen this year in Cieszyn. It reads: “What if…?”
– What am I looking for in the cinema as a viewer? Many viewers will probably answer the same way – emotions. We go to the cinema for emotions. Sometimes we happily accept surprising and even uncomfortable emotions, such as fear or sadness. Sometimes we watch a movie to soothe ourselves. Sebastian Stankiewicz talked beautifully about it at a meeting after the screening of the film “Mad Men” by Jan Jakub Kolski. He said that Kolski still manages to retain in his films those little particles visible when the lights went off and the projector was turned on. Maybe it's just dust, or maybe it's really magic dust that takes us to another world for an hour and a half. The greatest mystery of cinematography is that emotions are created by various means and there is no single effective recipe for it.
– I treat cinema as an idea that transcends borders. After all, it is an invention in itself that destroyed the existing order. It was revolutionary and should remain so. There was a time when people never dreamed of telling stories through moving images and being able to hear their characters. For many years, films have been New Wave manifestos, dogma, or ones showing moral anxiety. We need film resources to understand wars, changes, and our emotions. If directors can tell stories that are so experimental that they sometimes don't know what they wanted to convey, and they resonate with viewers, if there are creators who make films so that the viewer can close their eyes, if a fictional story lives in viewers and turns into reality means that there are no limits. I think that the perspective of the big screen shows that the impossible does not exist, and creators are only limited by their imagination. If there are limits in cinema, they are only those set by the creators themselves.
– I go to the cinema for emotions. I am not ashamed of tears and loud laughter. I think I not only watch movies, but also listen to them. Sound in the cinema is underestimated, but before we see, we hear. I often go to the cinema for inspiration. On the radio he also deals with audio reporting, i.e. a documentary film without images. I take a lot of conceptual, formal and also sound solutions from cinema, which inspire me in my work. I love stories told in an original way. I respect creators who can create tension so that viewers can talk about the film for hours. I believe that there is no waste of time category in the cinema. As a last resort, you can sleep and, as Brodka sang, have fictional dreams.
– Cinema must cross borders because it is a space where it can be done safely and with impunity. I miss – especially in Polish cinema – creators whose goal is to destroy boundaries, even decency. Because although Polish cinema is interesting and diverse, few people allow themselves to make a film that will piss off or maybe even offend someone. We make safe films that should appeal to everyone, because a potential viewer is everywhere. And as the commercial success of Agnieszka Holland's “The Green Border” or the spectacular popularity of Wojciech Smarzowski's “The Clergy” show, cinema that is disliked by part of society just because it touched on the issue of refugees and pedophilia among priests finds both artistic fulfillment and audience interest. Such films are remembered, they spark social debate. And the task of cinema is also to destroy the boundary between the cinema screen and reality. A good movie has an impact on real life.
– What am I looking for in the cinema as a viewer? Movements. Any. I appreciate creators who entertain and move me, but I also respect those who manage to piss me off. Today, we live in such a rush that we jump from activity to activity, we don't have time for long-term reflection, which is why I really appreciate cinema that forces me to think.
– Lars von Trier once said that a film should stick like a stone in your shoe. And if we talk about film art, its task is not to provide the viewer with pleasure, but rather topics for reflection. This “pinching” can be implemented in several ways. It can have a thematic, aesthetic dimension… be a provocation, a manifesto, an original vision, etc. The most important thing, however, is how a given work will resonate within us.
– In the cinema, I look for both interesting stories and a fresh, non-obvious look. It doesn't matter if it's a feature or a documentary. What matters is whether and how exposure to a given work of art will expand or change my perception of reality.
– Cinema, by its nature, should deal with what is beyond the norm and non-standard. Crossing boundaries is subjective, purely “subjective”. What may seem pure perversion to some will be children's reading material to others. Maybe that's why cinema as a medium is so fascinating.
– What am I looking for in the cinema as a viewer? The topic of the river – entire essays could be written on this subject. The problem is that I like to be surprised and I'm not looking for anything special in the cinema, certainly not intentionally. And what I'm looking for depends largely on the state I'm in. Sometimes I look for comfort, sometimes suspense, sometimes provocation.
The 26th Kino na Granicy Film Festival takes place on May 1-5, 2024 in Cieszyn and Czech Cieszyn. All details on the festival website. INTERIA is the media patron of the festival.