Bengali, Polish cinema connect over social issues: Polish filmmaker
The Statesman | 13 November 2025
Eminent filmmaker Michal Kwiencinaki from Poland drew a parallel between Bengali and Polish cinema saying that movies of both countries share a connection as they highlight serious social subjects rather than just being a commercial content.
The noted filmmaker is here in the city to attend the 31 Kolkata International Film Festival, where Poland has been selected as the focus country this year. During a conversation at the ongoing film festival, Kwiencinaki praised the Bengali cinema and its filmmakers for taking up thought provoking subjects that reflect the society.
“Bengali Cinema is not so commercial like Bollywood films. The makers of Bengali cinema deal with more difficult subjects more seriously,” said the Polish director.
The director also reiterated that unlike many Indian films that are more commercial and all about money, Bengali cinema is more about local issues. “It is not a big budget and the filmmakers try to do it more expressively. This is a connecting point between the Bengali and Polish cinema, which are also not so commercial and are more intellectual,” added the director.
Kwiencinaki’s much acclaimed film, Chopin, A Sonata in Paris Is being screened at the KIFF venues and is a part of the Contemporary Polish Cinema in the bunch of films from the focus country. The film is a period biographical drama portraying the life of a music composer in the 1830s. The film, based on the life of the Polish musician Frederick Chopin, highlights the highs and lows of the life of one of the greatest geniuses of all times in Paris.
Notably, with Poland as the focus country, a total of 19 films from the country that also has a rich culture and history. Three Polish films, The Hourglass Sanatorium, The Saragossa Manuscript and The Doll by veteran Polish filmmaker, Wojciech Jerzy have been screened as The Centenary Tribute at the ongoing film festival. One of the highlights of the bunch of handpicked Polish movies is Indo-Polish cultural ties documentaries. Two films, Enlightened Soul: The Three Names of Umadevi portraying the life of Polish theosophist, Wonda Dynowsaka by director Tonmoy Das and Chitranjali: Stefan Norblin In India, a documentary on the Polish artist who found a safe haven in India during World War II, by Malgorzata Skiba were screened at Rabindra Sadan during the festival.