This is a new book club for people who'd like to read and discuss Polish literature in English (yes!), organized by indomitable Paulina Phung. The book to discuss at this meeting is Ashes and Diamonds by Jerzy Andrzejewski, a controversial 1948 book about moral dilemmas of anti-communist resistance in 1945 Poland that was made into the world famous movie by Andrzej Wajda in 1958. Andrzejewski (1909-1983) was one of the writers skewered in Czeslaw Milosz's Captive Mind as a supporter of the regime; he later left the party and became a dissident. The book is available on Amazon.

Where: on Zoom; please contact Paulina for the Zoom invite or more info

More: about the book, about the movie

The book to discuss is  Tajemnica Domu Helclów by Maryla Szymiczkowa published by Znak in 2018. Maryla Szymiczkowa is the pen name of Jacek Dehnel and Piotr Tarczyński. This fin-de-siècle mystery book has been praised by none other than the Nobel prize winner Olga Tokarczuk as “an ingenious marriage of comedy and crime”. This event is in Polish.

Where: on Zoom; please contact Paulina for the Zoom invite or more info

More: about the book and the author (PL)

The UW Polish Studies Endowment Committee invites you to an online lecture Why Did Socialism Fail in Poland by Brian Porter-Szutz. Prof. Porter-Szutz teaches history at the Univ. of Michigan Anne Arbor and specializes in economic and intellectual history of capitalism and socialism as well as of the Roman Catholicism and Poland. The  lecture examines goals and means of the socialist transformation in Poland after WWII and highlights why many Polish economist concluded the system couldn't be reformed and embraced neoliberalism in 1980s and 1990s.

Where: this lecture is on Zoom; you need to register here, and a link will be send to you

More: detailed info about the lecture at the UW PSEC site

The UW Polish Studies Endowment Committee invites you to a discussion of the book Ukraine's Quest for Identity: Embracing Cultural Hybridity in Literary Imagination, 1991-2011 by Maria Rewakowicz. Dr. Rewakowicz teaches Ukrainian literature at Rutgers University New Brunswick and is also affiliated with the UW Slavic Dept. This award winning book examines how the dilemmas of Ukrainian identity manifested themselves in the literature in the first two decades of Ukraine's independence.

Where: this lecture is on Zoom; you need to register here, and a link will be send to you

More: detailed info about the lecture at the UW PSEC site

The embassies of the Visegrad Group countries (Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary) in the United States present the 9th edition of the Visegrad 4 Film Series. Each country contributed one outstanding recent movie to the program that can be streamed from the PFF Miami website:

   Oct 15-22   Corpus Christi / Boże Ciało (2019), Poland, 116', dir. by Jan Komasa

   Oct 15-22   Amnesty / Amnestie (2019), Slovakia, 130', dir. by Jonáš Karásek

   Oct 22-28   Havel (2020), Czechia, 103', dir. by Slávek Horák

   Oct 22-28   Kincsem - Bet on Revenge (2017), 122', dir. by Gábor Herendi

Movie Corpus Christi starring Bartosz Bielenia has been showered with awards at different festivals and was nominated to the 2020 Oscars in the Best International Feature Film category. This based on a true story film shows how a freshly converted juvenile ex-convict can bring a true Christian spirit in people while impersonating a priest.

Where: PFF Miami site, free streaming in the United States during indicated timeframe

More: 2020 Visegrad 4 Film Series, Corpus Christi Oscar poster, about the film

The embassies of the Visegrad Group countries (Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary) in the United States present the 9th edition of the Visegrad 4 Film Series.  Each country contributed one outstanding recent movie to the main program described in the separate message above. However, the series also has the Kid Corner with the following children movies that can be screened from the PFF Miami website:

   Oct 15-28   Bolek and Lolek (1972), 2 episodes from the Wild West series, Poland

   Oct 15-28   Joey's Space Adventure (1990), Joey's Fishing (1981), both Czechoslovakia

   Oct 22-28   A Cartoon Selection from the Czech National Film Archives (1959-1987)

   Oct 22-28   Rabbit and Deer (2013), Hungary

Where: PFF Miami site, free streaming in the United States during indicated timeframe

More: 2020 Visegrad 4 Film Series Kids Corner, PFF Miami site

Oct 7, 11 am: Mistress of the Brush: Olga Boznańska a KF webinar

Boznańska's self-portrait

The Kosciuszko Foundation Online Programs present the webinar A Polish Mistress of the Brush: Olga Boznańska by Ewa Bobrowska. Dr. Bobrowska is an art historian based in Paris with interest in the 19th c. and the 20th c. Polish artists working abroad. Olga Boznańska (1865-1940) was one of the most renowned Polish women artists, who after studies in Cracow and Munich settled in Paris in 1898 and was active there.

Where: on Zoom by the Kosciuszko Foundation, free registration here

More: Detailed webinar description

Oct 7, 14, 21, 28 at 12:30 pm: Flavor of Poland on KCTS9

This series was originally broadcast on KCTS from April to June 2020 - if you missed it, this is your second chance!.

Flavor of Poland is a culinary-travel PBS television weekly series presenting the country of Poland to American viewers like they've never seen it before. Hosted by Aleksandra August, the series shows off not only distinctly Polish dishes (check out the sorrel & crayfish soup recipe!) but also the most beautiful and interesting aspects and landscapes of Poland.

Where: On the KCTS9 channel in the Seattle area on Wednesdays at 12:30 pm

More: Flavor of Poland website

Wypasiony raj

The Polish Film Festival Miami and the Podkarpackie Film Commission present four documentaries exploring the Podkarpackie region - the south east highland corner of Poland with the Beskidy Mountains and Bieszczdy.

All movies available for streaming at your convenience till November 18, 2020

  Open Range / Wypasionay Raj  (2017) by Rafał Gużkowski

  The Residents of Moczary / Moczarowi mieszkańcy (2016) by Rafał Gużkowski

  Master and Apprentice / Mistrz i uczeń (2020) by Katarzyna Mazurkiewicz

  The Armorer Must be a Musician / Płatnerz musi byc muzykiem (2017) by Katarzyna Mazurkiewicz

Where: PFF Miami site streaming is free but you need to create an account there

More: once you log in, you can stream movies