Spektrum Film Discussion Club

The love for cinema is very evident in Świdnica during each edition of the Spektrum Film Festival. And what if we were to nurture this passion all year round? Why not! In April, the Świdnica Cultural Center will launch the Spektrum Film Discussion Club under the theme 'Close Strangers'.

The people of Świdnica love cinema, especially cinema that moves them. The Wrocław Film Foundation and the Świdnica Cultural Center want ambitious cinema to be present in the city throughout the year. Importantly, the Spektrum Film Discussion Club is not just about watching together, but also discussing, debating, and sharing.

The first three screenings will be under the theme ‘Close Strangers,’ which refers to the ‘Closer’ competition known from the Spektrum Festival. Through the films shown in this section, the organizers emphasized how important local stories and small homelands are to the event. ‘The fact that Spektrum takes place in a small and beautiful town in Lower Silesia, away from large urban agglomerations, has been turned into an advantage. The competitive word Closer, thanks to an immensely sensitive and warm audience, has seamlessly transformed into closeness,’ says Paweł Kosuń, the artistic director of the festival.

This year, for the first time, Spektrum will become an international event. In October, the festival will also take place in the Czech city of Trutnov and will become a real bridge for the exchange of sensitivities, ideas, culture, and art on both sides of the border, and above all, a better understanding of our neighbors.

Each of the three films to be presented at the FDC Spektrum under the theme ‘Close Strangers’ will tell about a different feeling of foreignness. Some are strangers in their own country, some are strangers because they come from a different cultural circle, and some are strangers in the place where they were born.

The screenings will take place at the Świdnica Cultural Center, and tickets priced at 10 PLN can be purchased at: www.sok.com.pl.

25.04, 6:00 PM | "Minari", dir. Lee Isaac Chung

In pursuit of the American dream, Jacob Yi (Steven Yeun) moves with his family from California to (seemingly) idyllic Arkansas. His dream is to create his own farm, whose produce could supply the local Korean shopkeepers. The rest of the family is not happy with the move, especially when it turns out that their new home is so frail it might not survive a collision with the tornadoes that frequent the area. As if that weren’t enough, a feisty grandmother from Korea moves into their modest home. Although her parenting methods are quite unusual, she manages to establish a bond with 6-year-old, mischievous David against all odds, and teaches the rest of the family how to create a new connection with America while simultaneously nurturing their own tradition.

Minari is the undisputed winner of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival (Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize). The film was nominated for Oscars in six categories, won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, and Yuh-Jung Youn won an Oscar and a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress.

9.05, 6:00 PM | "The Beasts", dir. Rodrigo Sorogoyen

Vincent (Denis Ménochet) and Olga (Marina Foïs) are a tranquil French couple who have settled in one of the Galician villages. They lead a leisurely life there, engaging in vegetable farming and renovating abandoned houses. However, their daily idyll also has its darker sides.

The couple’s relationship with the locals has never been as they would have wished. A neighborhood conflict with the impetuous brothers Xan and Lorenzo escalates in strength when the couple decides to make an unpopular decision in the area. To their surprise, what seemed like a not-so-significant difference of opinion has much greater consequences than they could have anticipated. The tension in the village dangerously mounts, reaching a point of no return.

27.06, 6:00 OM | "Nostalgia", dir. Mario Martone

Rione Sanità, a district of Naples dominated by the Camorra and one of the poorest yet most spectacular areas, is the main protagonist of a moving story about fate and encountering the shadow—both hidden in the labyrinth of the city and lurking in the soul.

After 40 years, Felice Lasco returns to his hometown and his aging mother. Driven by guilt and longing, he fails to notice that the district of catacombs, graveyards, wretched basements, and tangled streets is pulling him in like a swamp. Allied with a local priest fighting against the mafia and unreconciled with his own dark past, the man searches for his old friend in Sanità, forgetting that nostalgia can be a trap.