About

Spektrum is an international film festival that showcases both feature-length and short films. Since its inception, this event has been a gathering place for people who love and celebrate cinema. The year 2024 marks not only the 10th anniversary of the festival but also the first Polish-Czech edition, drawing from the cross-border character so typical of Lower Silesia.

The 10th edition of Spektrum will take place between October 11 and 13 in Trutnov, Czech Republic, and from October 22 to 27 in Świdnica, Poland.

Idea

Don’t assume

We, the viewers—of films and the world—tend to judge. Something must be either good or bad. We like to assume that something is sweet or salty even before we taste it. We often limit ourselves to familiar ways of perceiving reality, images, and cinema. We impose templates and take shortcuts.

But what if we gave ourselves the freedom to rediscover the world—beyond the patterns? What if we were more curious in interpreting what we see? What would change if we stopped assuming and started discovering?

The theme of this year’s Spektrum festival—”Don’t assume”—and its program encourage courage, curiosity, creating our own worlds, and rejecting the reality shaped by mainstream media.

Let’s not assume, but create our own worlds and leave room for the worlds of others. I invite you to rediscover the world through films. Spektrum doesn’t assume; Spektrum discovers.

“Don’t assume!”

Stop watching. Start seeing

— Paweł Kosuń
Artistic Director of the Festival

Previous editions

Spektrum is, above all, a brilliant interpersonal experience – I have never met so many friendly and open-minded people anywhere. Spektrum is a festival without pathos, created by people who love what they do, and this energy is transferred to the event.

Miłosz Sakowski

Take a few people with open heads, with imaginations exceeding the norms […] And take a city with a metaphysical soul. […] With wise and modern authorities. Take a cinema room, projector and movies. Now mix it all together, add heartiness, hospitality and lack of haughtiness. Here is a fulfilled recipe for Spektrum, Świdnica Film Festival. I know because I was a guest there.

Jan Jakub Kolski

Great program and honest audience. An intimate festival at its best!

Agnieszka Woszczyńska

Spektrum is primarily people who love cinema. I felt at home during the festival. Very good organization, very good movies and a picturesque city. It is worth being there, it is worth spending the extended November weekend at Spektrum.

Grażyna Błęcka-Kolska

Świdnica

Świdnica is a city whose attractions exceed its scale, and with a pleasant and intimate atmosphere, it is able to give a relief to anyone who suffered from fatigue with the big city rush.

Świdnica, located only 50 km from Wrocław, stands out from similar cities with a rich offer of cultural events, but also historic architecture, a bustling Market Square and close proximity to picturesque touristic sites. It is an ideal place to spend free time, as well as a brilliant stopping point on the travel route.

Tourists from all over the world, visiting Lower Silesia, always go to the 17th-century Church of Peace, which is the seat of the Evangelical-Augsburg parish, but also – thanks to the efforts of Bożena Pytel and Fr. Bishop Waldemar Pytel – a cultural center. In 2001 the building was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and its spaces are where meetings, discussions and unforgettable concerts are held, with the Bach Festival at the forefront.

Trutnov

Świdnica and Trutnov are 65 kilometers apart. In October, they will be connected by cinema through the collaboration of the Wrocław Film Foundation, Świdnica Cultural Center, and UFFO – Společenské centrum Trutnovska.

The first written mention of the town dates back to 1260 when it was founded as the settlement of Úpa (named after the river). It received its current name, Trutnov, no later than the early 14th century. Today, it is the second-largest city in the Hradec Králové region, with a population of around 30,000..

In Trutnov, festival screenings will take place at the Vesmír cinema, which first opened over 100 years ago—on March 1, 1929. The venue has undergone renovations in recent years, and Spektrum will be one of the first festival events to inaugurate its activities in this new chapter.