Film Festival
“The death of Krzysztof Kieślowski in 1996, at 55, was a great loss to his admirers and to all those who believe, as he did, that film can and should entertain the highest philosophical and artistic ambitions. The man who made the "Three Colors" trilogy and the incomparable Decalogue will not produce any more masterpieces. But a screenplay he wrote in the 1970's has recently been uncovered, and now it has been adapted, by Jerzy Stuhr, into a small and marvelous film called The Big Animal. Mr. Stuhr, an actor who worked frequently with Kieślowski and who plays the main character in this film, honors his old friend's memory, producing a minor but nonetheless charming footnote to his oeuvre.”
(A. O. SCOTT, New York Times)
homeland. The music
, based on traditional chants rooted in the Polish Catholic Church, reflects Górecki’s deep love of his country and its musical traditions.The National Cathedral in Washington provided a splendid ambiance for the performance, titled Mystics Ancient and Modern, where widely recognized performance groups, such as Anonymous 4 and the Cathedral Choral Society, offered unique interpretations of Górecki’s music and chants, as well as those of other composers.Jewish Popular Culture
in Poland and Its Afterlife
In March, the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland Przemyslaw Grudziński and American
Association for Polish-Jewish Studies hosted an symposium titled: Jewish Popular Culture
in Poland and Its Afterlife.
The symposium marked the publication of Volume 16 of Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry,
published by the Littman Library of Jewish Civilization.
This volume, devoted to the flourishing of Jewish popular culture in Poland from the late
nineteenth century to mid-twentieth century and its complex reverberations today, covers a
broad range of cultural activities in pre-World War II Poland associated with the texture
of everyday life, including klezmer music, Yiddish theatre, Yiddish folksong, Jewish
postcards, wedding celebrations and the popular Jewish press. It also looks at the
interplay of Jewish and Polish culture during the prewar period and current resurgence in
Poland of interest in Jewish culture. The symposium featured the editors of the volume,
Professors Antony Polonsky (Brandeis University, Massachusetts) and Michael C. Steinlauf
(Gratz College, Pennsylvania); music specialist Brett Werb; Yiddish scholar and writer
Elen Ellman, as well as Michał Buchowski, professor of anthropology at universities in
Poland and Germany.
The Polish American Historical Association
The Polish American Historical Association, organization devoted to the study of Polish American history and culture, held an annual meeting in Washington, D.C. in January 2004.
This year's event, affiliated to the annual convention of the American Historical Association, offered well attended academic sessions. Lively discussions considered a wide range of topics including the role of Polish American politics, history, literature, polka music, and documentary film. Ambassador Grudziński addressed the members of the eminent forum and hosted a gala reception for PAHA members at the Polish Embassy. The event was also the venue for the Annual Awards ceremony and banquet.
Róża Nowotarska receives an award of Polish Minister of Culture
On February 26, 2004 Róża Nowotarska, eminent Polish American writer and journalist, received the Zaslużony dla Kultury Polskiej award (Medal of Merits for Polish Culture) -the highest recognition of the Minister of Culture in Poland. Following the honoree’s wish, Cultural Attaché Anna Niewiadomska presented Madame Róża with the award at the private ceremony, which took place in Nowotarska’s residence in McLean, Virginia, in the presence of her family and closest friends.
In
early January this year, The Big Animal opened a festival of Kieślowski’s movies at the AFI Silver Theater and Cultural Center. The presentations before the Washington audience also included other Kieslowski’s masterpieces, such as Decalogue and Three Colors. Music in WashingtonIn March, the music of Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki filled two spectacular performances.
In a concert at the Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, a hymn to the Virgin Mary, Totus Tuus, by the famous Polish composer was performed, together with the works of Zoltán Kodály, Anton Dvorak, Arvo Pärt and Leoš Janácek. The Totus Tuus, written in 1987, celebrates the third visit of John Paul II to his
