Last Journey (Ostatnia Podróz)

Poland 1999, 40 min, Dir: Mariusz Malinowski

This biographical film portrays the few months long journey of Chopin to London and Scotland which took place a year before he passed away. It focuses on his social life, visits paid to London's writers, his participation in musical events and the recitals he performed in the homes of aristocrats. In spite of the cold and humid climate and Chopin's progressing lung disease, he traveled all over England, visited Edinburgh and became enraptured by the Scottish mountainous landscape.

With:  

Color Studies of Chopin (Utwory Chopina w Kolorze)

Poland/USA 1944, 11 min, Dir: Eugeniusz Cekalski

Cękalski, a leading representative of the pre-war left-wing avant-garde cinema, presents three works by the great composer a very different visual settings: the stirring, melancholic Nocturne is illustrated by changing images of nature, the vigorous Mazurka in F minor is set against a folk dance performed by members of the Russian Ballet, Natalia Krassowska and Jerzy Łazowski, and the "Revolutionary Etude" combines elements of an abstract play on shapes and lights with shots of explosions, screaming and contorted faces, planes with flames of fire devouring symbolic icons of Poland.

A Chopin Festival in Duszniki Resort (Recital Chopinowski w Dusznikach)

Poland 1947, 12 min, Dir: Tadeusz Makarczynski

Tadeusz Makarczyński immortalized on a tape the first Chopin Festival which took place in Duszniki Zdrój on the 25-26 August 1946. Sixteen-year-old Chopin visited this Silesian health resort in 1826 and it is also where he gave his first public charity concert. 120 years later, to commemorate this event, a festival was staged and since then has been held there regularly every August.

Mazurkas by Chopin (Mazurki Chopina)

Poland 1949, 12 min, Dir: Tadeusz Makarczynski

The production by Tadeusz Makarczyński combines the quality of a cultural documentary with his own artistic ambitions. The film presents 5 of Chopin's Mazurkas performed by pianists of different nationalities from the 4th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition. Photos are used from this first postwar Chopin piano competition which was held in 1949 on stage at the Theater Roma in Warsaw. The filmmakers' motto was: "The genius work of Chopin grows out of the tune of Polish folk which, thanks to him, has become the property of all nations.”

Chopin in Paris (Chopin w Paryzu)

Poland 1969, 15 min, Dir: Stanislaw Grabowski

Although Chopin's grave is located in the Parisian cemetery of Père-Lachaise, his heart rests in the Warsaw’s Holy Cross church. This biopic presents the indelible traces of Chopin's presence in Paris, which became his second home after the famous composer left his homeland in 1830.                                                     
Oct 1 @ 7pm

Young Chopin/Chopin's Youth (Mlodosc Chopina)

Poland 1951, 121 min, Dir: Aleksander Ford

This monumental film covers a period of five years of Chopin's life, starting from his studies at the Warsaw School of Music under the direction of Professor Elsner until the autumn of 1830 when he left Warsaw. These years had a crucial impact upon Chopin's compositions, greatly inspired by his fascination with the landscape of the Mazovian countryside, folk music and Polish tradition. Simultaneously, young Chopin's sensitivity was shaped by his notions of patriotism and dreams of independence, as well as the prevailing romanticism of the time.

The outcome is an extensive biographical epic, full of pathos, focused on the inspirations for Chopin's musical genius and at the same time recapturing the period vividly. Young Chopin was also the largest production of Polish cinematography in the early post-war years. The photos took a year to create, 1500 extras were hired, 2000 costumes were made and 19th century Poland was reconstructed in minute details.

Oct 1 @ 9pm

Chopin: Desire of Love (Pragnienie Milosci)

Poland 2002, 123 min, Dir: Jerzy Antczak

Chopin: Desire of Love depicts the composer as a genius musician and a hyper-sensitive person, providing insight into Chopin's personality through the relationships he had with the people closest to him, his attempts at building an ersatz family with George Sand, the female French author, and his great longing for his fatherland.

The film's score consists of many of Chopin's pieces (lasting from several seconds to a few minutes), hand-picked with great care by the director, often from among his less played and less known works. Work on the soundtrack took over two years. Most of the music is played by Janusz Olejniczak, a Polish virtuoso, with the accompaniment of The Polish Symphonic Orchestra; other performers include Yukio Yukoyama, Vadim Brodski and Emanuel Ax. To meet the needs of the film, the protagonist Piotr Adamczyk, learned to play the piano.

In 2003 the film was awarded the best picture prize at WorldFest in Houston, as well as the Platinum Prize for best movie.

Oct 2 @ 6:45pm

Impromptu

UK/France 1989, 108 min, Dir: James Lapine

Through its comic form, this film tells the story of a composer enmeshed in intrigues and the love affairs of Bohemian Paris and its aristocracy. The plot focuses on George Sand's endeavours to start a romance with Chopin at the summer residence of the Duchess d'Antan. The presence there of other great artists of the time: Liszt, de Musset and Delacroix, surrounded by their mistresses, triggers a series of misunderstandings and stirs up vehement emotions.

Oct 2 @ 9pm

...Warsaw-born... Memories of Warsaw's Chopin Piano Competitions (...Rodem Warszawianin... Wspomnienia z Warszawskich Konkursów Chopinowskich)

Poland 1996, 56 min, Dir: Maria Kwiatkowska

This documentrary features newsreels of International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competitions that have been held in the capital of Poland since 1927. In the introduction, the filmmakers briefly outline the start of Chopin's career and his connection with Warsaw. They then present the history of the competition itself, starting from its very beginnings and ending up with the 13th edition that took place in 1995.

The major triumph of this documentary is its music – a viewer can listen to fragments of Chopin's works performed by prize winners and participants of virtually all editions of the competition, i.e., Yakov Zak, Fou Ts'Ong, Maurizio Pollini, Martha Argerich, Krystian Zimerman and Stanislav Bunin. Scenes from the concert halls are accompanied by what is unfolding behind the curtains, in vestibules, hotel lobbies and in the streets of Warsaw.

With:

Color Studies of Chopin

See film description above

A Chopin Festival in Duszniki Resort (Recital Chopinowski w Dusznikach)

See film description above

Mazurkas by Chopin (Mazurki Chopina)

See film description above

Chopin in Paris (Chopin W Paryzu)

See film description above

A Song to Remember

USA 1944, 112 min, Dir: Charles (King) Vidor

This American biographical film revolves around the life of Chopin and the people around him in a way that strays far from the facts about his life. The storyline shows a young Chopin who cancels his concert because of a Russian governor's presence in the audience and then does not restrain himself from proceeding to insult him. Encouraged by Professor Elsner, he escapes to Paris, fleeing the duress of the Russian occupants, where he then embarks on his romance with George Sand. At first he forgets about his fatherland but his patriotic feelings are eventually stirred up by the outbreak of November Insurgency.

The actor starring as Chopin had spent a few months learning to play the piano, whereas it is Shura Cherkassky's virtuosic hands that are shown in the close-ups. Chopin's pieces were performed by José Iturbi, a Spanish pianist popular in Hollywood at the time. A Song to Remember received six Oscar nominations including nominations for best colour movie and for best actor (Cornel Wilde).

Oct 3 @ 6pm