Renowned director Agnieszka Smoczyńska will visit the University of Aberdeen to host a masterclass for students and for a special public screening of her film The Silent Twins as part of the Tofifest International Film Festival.
Nominated for the ‘Un Certain Regard’ prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Smoczyńska is a director and writer, known for The Lure (2015), Fugue (2018) and Aria diva (2007). Her bold, genre-defying storytelling, pushes the boundaries of contemporary cinema.
Smoczyńska’s appearance in the Granite City forms part of a weekend of Polish Cinema in the eighth edition of the Polish-Scottish Mini Festival organised by the Polish Association Aberdeen.
On February 28 she will deliver a masterclass for students interested in filmmaking in the School of Language, Literature, Film, and Visual Culture and also the School of Divinity, History, Philosophy, and Art History.
The masterclass and screening are being supported and co-organised by the University’s Elphinstone Institute, the Film and Visual Culture Department, and the George Washington Wilson Centre for Art and Visual Culture.
Agnieszka Smoczyńska
Dr Alejandra Rodríguez-Remedi, lecturer in Film and Visual Culture, said: “This is a unique opportunity for our students and members of the community to be inspired by the creative power of Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s work and gain first-hand insights into her filmmaking practice’.
Film lecturer Dr Calum Waddell added: “Agnieszka Smoczyńska has shown herself to be a transgressive and unique modern filmmaking voice and her presence in Aberdeen offers such a boost to our student community’.
Nicolas Le Bigre, lecturer in Ethnology and Folklore, said: “The Elphinstone Institute is honoured to continue to facilitate intercultural exchange at the University, supporting our friends in Aberdeen’s Polish community with this year’s Polish-Scottish Mini Festival and the Weekend of Polish Cinema’.
Co-director of the George Washington Wilson Centre for Art and Visual Culture, Dr Bárbara Barreiro Léon, said: “This exciting event is a rare opportunity to celebrate her visionary filmmaking, ignite dynamic conversations on visual culture, and showcase the Centre’s commitment to global film and artistic innovation’.
This year’s screening and masterclass follow on from Oscar-nominated writer-director Jan Komasa’s visit last year, part of a burgeoning relationship between the University, the Tofifest International Film Festival, and Polish Association Aberdeen. Reflecting on this, Dr Rodríguez-Remedi says ‘we hope there will be many more Polish filmmakers coming to ignite our thoughts and imaginations’.
Mateusz Łagoda, President of Polish Association Aberdeen, added: “The University has been a brilliant supporter of the Polish-Scottish Mini Festival, which is a great opportunity to build bridges between different communities and to celebrate our diversity’.
The screening of The Silent Twins is on Friday, 28 February, 6pm, in King’s College, room KCF7. The event is free and no booking is necessary. Full details available here: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/elphinstone/news-events/events/22166/