Each year, the Polish Film Festival in Los Angeles screens the finest selection of contemporary Polish cinema, including features, documentaries, as well as live-action and animated shorts. The Festival’s goal is to provide an exciting venue for Polish filmmakers and actors to share their talents with American audiences. The Festival’s jurors and special guests bring together some of Poland and Hollywood’s finest talent.

This year’s festival will begin on Thursday, April 24, 2008, with an Opening Night Gala held at the prestigious Directors Guild of America Theatre. The evening will feature an awards ceremony, including the debut of the Pola Negri Award and, fresh off its Polish premiere, a screening of Tomasz Konecki’s Lejdis. The Opening Night’s ceremonies will be followed by an exciting week of screenings at Laemmle's Sunset 5 and the festival’s last three days will be dedicated to a slate of documentaries at the Egyptian Theatre (in collaboration with the American Cinemateque) and a series devoted to Polish Television Theater (in collaboration with the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television).

Also awarded during the Opening Night Gala will be the Hollywood Eagle Award, Hollywood Documentary Eagle Award, Hollywood Animation Eagle Award and Kodak Student Award. This year’s jury panels are as follows. Features and Student Etudes: Bernard Hiller, David Ward, Mark Harris, Ron Masak and Theodoer Bikel. Documentaries: Betsy McLane, Elaine Archer, Sandra Ruch. Animation: Benjamin Cinelli, Bill Diaz, Maksymilian Naporowski.

This year’s lineup will include *(world premiere), +(in memoriam):

Death of a President by Jerzy Kawalerowicz + (with cinematography by Witold Sobocinski)

Expecting Love by Lukasz Karwowski

Extras and Tomorrow We're Going to the Movies * by Michal Kwiecinski

Forgiveness * by Mariusz Kotowski

God's Little Garden by Jacek Bromski

Hope by Stanislaw Mucha

Immensity of Justice by Wielslaw Saniewski

Jasminum by Jan Jakub Kolski

Katyn by Andrzej Wajda

Preserve by Lukasz Palkowski

Sandcastles and Dustclouds by Filip Jan Rymsza

Savior Square by Krysztof & Joanna Krauze

Testersterone and Lejdis by Tomasz Konecki & Andrzej Saramanowicz

Time to Die by Dorota Kedziersawska

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julian Schnabel (with cinematography by Janusz Kaminski)

Amongst this year’s guests from Poland, the festival will welcome Agnieska Grochowska, Tomasz Kammel, Dorota Kedzierzawska, Tomasz Konecki, Tomasz Kot, Lukasz Palkowski, Krzysztof Pieczynski, Arthur Reinhart, Andrzej Saramanowicz, Witold Sobocinski, Danuta Stenka, Danuta Szaflarska and Artur Zmijewski, as well as student filmmakers from Katowice and Lodz.

Lastly, we are proud to announce the addition of Ed Harris to our Honorary Committee, which already boasts notable Academy Award winners and nominees Agnieszka Holland (writer, director: Europa Europa), Ronald Harwood (writer: The Dresser, The Painist, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Janusz Kaminski (cinematographer: Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Zbigniew Rybczynski (animator, director: Tango), and Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (composer: Finding Neverland).

The Polish American Film Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting a higher level of understanding of Polish culture through film. We are proud to showcase outstanding achievements in Polish cinema right in the heart of Hollywood. Each year, the Festival continues to grow in the number and quality of its films and in the crowds that it attracts.