The Full Programme Is Out!

The 11th edition of the Spektrum Film Festival is fast approaching. The festival audience — both in Polish Świdnica and Czech Trutnov — can look forward to plenty of great cinema, meetings with filmmakers, and accompanying events. Viewers will be able to see over seventy titles in total, including short films from around the world and feature films from the most important festivals of the year (such as The Altar Boys, Franz, Dreams (Sex Love) or It Was Just an Accident). After the screenings, there will also be concerts, DJ sets, and the legendary bingo nights. All this already in October — between 21 and 26 October in Świdnica (at the Auditorium of the First High School) and at Kino Vesmir in Trutnov.

Opening and Closing

This year’s edition of Spektrum (21 October) will open with the film LARP, directed by Kordian Kądziela, known for the TV series 1670. The action-packed and humorous comedy tells the story of a teenage technical school student misunderstood by his family and bullied by his peers for his passion for fantasy and… playing an elf in LARP games. After the screening, the audience will have the opportunity to meet Filip Zaręba, who plays the main role.

The Closing Gala and Award Ceremony (25 October) will be highlighted by the screening of the documentary debut The Queen and the Smokehouse directed by Iga Lis. It tells the story of Miecia — the Queen of Łeba — who runs a legendary fish smokehouse and has a character as sharp as the smoke from her oven and a sense of humour as strong as the seaside wind.

Competition 1,2

The festival’s film programme also includes the International 1,2 Competition for first and second feature films. It is through their first full-length works that filmmakers often break down the doors of established reality. The competition features bold titles distinguished by a fresh approach to cinematic language.

Six films will compete for the award: Glorious Summer (dir. Helena Ganjalyan, Bartosz Szpak) — winner of the Sapphire Lions at this year’s Gdynia Film Festival, a surreal exploration of the boundaries between freedom and safety; Życie dla początkujących (dir. Paweł Podolski) — a comedic twist on Polish vampire cinema, warmly received in Gdynia; Fwends (dir. Sophie Somerville) — an insightful portrait of female friendship; Growing Down (dir. Bálint Dániel Sós) — a moral crime drama presented at this year’s Berlinale; Loss of Balance (dir. Korek Bojanowski) — a psychological thriller about violence at art schools; and Where Do We Begin (dir. Monika Majorek) — an emotional story about hope, rebuilding family bonds, and the power of memory.

The winner of the 1,2 Competition will be chosen by the festival audience.
 

Spektrum Section

SPEKTRUM is the heart of the festival. This section includes six titles — Polish and international — from films that make you smile to those that send shivers down your spine. Before their official premieres, audiences will have the chance to see The Altar Boys directed by Piotr Domalewski, winner of the Golden Lions for Best Film at the Gdynia Film Festival, as well as Father, directed by Tereza Nvotová, Slovakia’s Oscar candidate (and only its second screening in Poland!). The section will also feature Sirât (dir. Olivier Laxe), which triumphed in Cannes and has been hailed as a total film; Dreams (Sex Love) (dir. Dag Johan Haugerud), which won at Berlinale and tells a Scandinavian story about the ambiguity of first love; and It Was Just an Accident (dir. Jafar Panahi), by the legendary Iranian filmmaker, which will hit Polish cinemas only in 2026. The Spektrum section closes with State of Emergency, a new film by Czech comedy master Jan Hřebejk, tackling the highly relevant topic of misinformation and fake news.

The Spectrum of Czech Cinema

The Polish–Czech nature of Spektrum is reflected not only in the two cities hosting the festival but also in its programme. Audiences will see a wide range of Czech cinema: feature, documentary, animated, both short and full-length. In Trutnov, screenings will include sports documentaries that explore the world of judo as well as the story of an attempt to swim across the English Channel.

Younger viewers will also find something for themselves: on Sunday, there will be a screening of the animated film Tales from the Secret Garden, which won the Crystal Bear from the Children’s Jury at this year’s Berlinale.

On the final day of the festival, 26 October, the Świdnica audience will have the opportunity to visit Trutnov. Festival buses will take film fans on the Świdnica–Trutnov route to Kino Vesmir. The Sunday programme will include, among others, a screening of Franz, directed by Agnieszka Holland, awarded the Silver Lions at the Gdynia Film Festival. The trip can be booked at the Festival Centre located in the auditorium of the First High School in Świdnica.

Special Screenings

As every year, the festival will also host a special screening at the Świdnica Detention Centre as part of the Open Detention section. The Świdnica audience will see the documentary Escape to Alcatraz (dir. Artur Pilarczyk, Bartłomiej Kosiński), telling the story of the legendary street basketball team from Wałbrzych. After the screening, there will be a meeting with director Artur Pilarczyk and Michał Borzemski, one of the film’s protagonists.

The festival will also feature the audience’s favourite evening event. On Friday, Świdnica will host VHS HELL — the cult collective from Tricity that organizes screenings of films distributed on VHS tapes in Poland in the 1980s and 1990s, bringing back the most bizarre yet fascinating titles from old video rentals. Spektrum audiences will have a unique opportunity to watch Ator on the big screen, presented with a live voice-over improvising the dialogues.

The Youth Perspective

One of the main pillars of Spektrum is the international The Youth Perspective competitions — in Short Fiction, Documentary, Animation, and Amateur categories. Świdnica and Trutnov will once again host short films by young, independent filmmakers — from professional productions to debuts created outside film schools. During the 11th edition of the festival, audiences will be able to see 49 films from across the globe.

Accompanying Events

The Spektrum Film Festival is not only about films and meetings with filmmakers — it is also about conversations, discussions, and spending festival evenings together. In Klub Bolko in Świdnica, audiences can look forward to a lively entertainment programme featuring concerts (including a performance by Filip Zaręba, the lead actor in LARP), DJ sets, and the festival’s legendary bingo nights.

Meanwhile, in Trutnov, the programme will include a concert by the band Lye, who will take the audience on a journey into a world where silence does not mean emptiness. At Kino Vesmir, visitors will also be able to attend the opening of a photography exhibition by Jerzy Wypych.