Festival audiences in both Trutnov, Czech Republic, and Świdnica, Poland, can look forward to plenty of great films, meetings with creators, experiences in the premiere XR zone, and accompanying events. Attendees will have the chance to watch over 70 titles, including short films from around the world and feature films from the biggest film festivals of the year. To celebrate the festival’s anniversary, a concert, DJ sets, bingo, and a local version of Familiada are planned at the Bolko club in Świdnica. All this will take place in October – from October 11 to 13 in Trutnov and from October 22 to 27 in Świdnica.
The Świdnica edition of Spektrum will open with Simona Kossak, directed by Adrian Panek. After the screening, the audience will have the opportunity to meet Sandra Drzymalska, who plays the lead role. The closing gala and award ceremony will feature the first screening in Poland of Fremont, directed by Babak Jalali, which won an award at Sundance.
A new addition to the program is the International 1,2 Competition for feature-length debuts and sophomore films. The competition includes bold titles that stand out with fresh perspectives on cinematic language. Five films will compete for the Audience Award: Toxic – the brilliant winner of the Locarno Film Festival, making only its second appearance in Poland, a story of growing up under brutal and harsh conditions; Armand (dir. Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel) – winner of the Camera d’Or at Cannes, an unsettling and piercing exploration of relationships between parents, teachers, and students; Afterparty – a strong Czech entry (with a Q&A session featuring director Vojtěch Strakatý during the festival), offering a shifting, engrossing analysis of the strained relationship between a debt-ridden father and his son; Two Polish films, both recently showcased at the Gdynia Film Festival: Next to Nothing directed by Grzegorz Dębowski and Rzeczy niezbędne by Kamila Tarabura.
Spektrum is the heart of the festival. This section features six films—both Polish and international—ranging from light-hearted stories to those that leave a lingering chill. Świdnica’s audience will have the chance to see The Girl with the Needle directed by Magnus von Horn, an award-winning film from the Gdynia Film Festival, ahead of its theatrical release, as well as Explanation for Everything, directed by Gábor Reisz, the Grand Prix winner at this year’s New Horizons. This section will also showcase films such as La Cocina (dir. Alonso Ruizpalacios)—a bold, dynamic, and vibrant tale about the multicultural dreams simmering in New York’s kitchens—and It’s Not My Film (dir. Maria Zbąska)—a surprisingly funny story about fading love, which stands a chance of redemption if the couple can complete a challenging winter hike along the Baltic Sea coast.
As every year, the festival will include a film screening at the Świdnica Remand Centre as part of the Open Prison section. The Świdnica audience will watch the documentary The Last Expedition (dir. Eliza Kubarska), a film about the first woman in the world—and the first person from Poland—to conquer the highest peaks on Earth.
After a one-year break, VHS HELL returns to Spektrum. This Tricity-based collective screens films originally distributed on VHS tapes in Poland during the 1980s and 1990s, reviving the most bizarre and spectacularly failed, yet strangely captivating titles once found in video rental stores. Świdnica’s audience will have the unique opportunity to watch Tammy & the T-Rex —a delightfully odd comedy inspired by Jurassic Park—on the big screen. Even better, the film will feature live dubbing with improvised dialogue, performed by Mateusz Gołębiowski.
The festival program also includes the SPEKTRUM KIDS and SPEKTRUM SENIOR sections. The former will feature family-friendly screenings accompanied by introductions. Over the weekend, the youngest residents of Świdnica will enjoy two animated films: Robot dreams and Titina. The latter section is dedicated to older festivalgoers, who will have the chance to watch a hit from this year’s New Horizons—My Favorite Cake (dir. Maryam Moghaddam, Behtash Sanaeeha)—a film that portrays love both mature and wild, as intense as teenage romance.
One of the main pillars of Spektrum is the international The Youth Perspective competitions, featuring categories in Short Fiction, Documentary, Animation, and Amateur. Once again, Świdnica will host short films by young, independent creators, ranging from professional productions to debuts made outside of film schools. During the 10th edition of the festival, audiences will have the chance to watch 41 films from various corners of the world.
While the Spektrum Festival is primarily about films and meetings with creators, it also offers conversations, discussions, and shared festival evenings. From Thursday to Saturday (October 24–26), Club Bolko will host a special entertainment program for the Świdnica audience. Highlights include a local version of Familiada, a concert, DJ sets, and the legendary bingo games.