Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends, we are about to begin the 8th Film and Art Festival Two Riversides. We will open on a very strong note: a Palme d’Or, “Winter Sleep” directed by Turkish artist Nuri Bilge Ceylan, one of the leading film artists today. His film is a story about the difficult coexistance of different worlds: tradition and modernity, prosperity and poverty, erudition and wisdom. This is what characterises this year’s Two Riversides.

Author, poet, and realist – Jan Troell is one of Sweden’s most prominent directors, alongside Bo Winderberg and Ingmar Bergman. The filmmaker accepted our invitation to this year’s Two Riversides.

Pirjo Honkasalo leaves no doubt about who is responsible for the success of her films – usually, she is not only the director, but also the screenwriter, cinematographer, and the editor. As part of Pirjo’s retrospective at Two Riversides we will see five films by this Finnish author.

This year we will not be lacking in short films at Two Riversides. In Kazimierz you will have the chance to see screenings of the newest professional productions of under 60 minutes, which are unlikely to be widely distributed. For many of these films this will be a premiere show.

Five films presented in the main competition of the 67th Cannes Festival, including Palme d’Or winner “Winter Sleep,” will be presented at the 8th Film and Art Festival Two Riversides. They will be presented as part of the “World Under Canvas” section.