The On Art Cinema and Art Festival is underway in 15 Polish cities and 20 interesting locations. 70 films will be screened at the 11th the open-air event – including stories dedicated to Zbigniew Beksiński and his private video archive; a story about Richard Demarco, involved in the promotion of art from Eastern Europe for many years; and a documentary about a blind Japanese man who visits galleries and asks viewers to describe works of art.

“The essence of the Festival is the huge variety of films. We include biographies, video art, documentaries and feature films, short and long forms. The common denominator is art,” said event organiser Marcin Dumieński.

The On Art 2022 Cinema and Art Festival has an original formula: the festival films accompany summer cinemas held in many Polish cities. The Festival consists of more than 200 showings in beautiful locations, including Warsaw’s Łazienki Królewskie Park, Kopa Cwila in Warsaw’s Ursynów district, the City Gallery in Wrocław, the Royal Castle in Warsaw or Bydgoszcz’s Klub Mózg.

The festival does not focus exclusively on professional filmmakers. The organisers strive to show new films and those that have not been shown anywhere else. Both amateur filmmakers and professionals can present their works.

“Every year, we receive around 700 films, of which we have selected 70 this year. The main key is that the film should represent a high form and that it should be about art – it could be painting, street art, sculpture. The range is very wide”, said Dumienski.

The programme of the summer-long event will also include something for music lovers. As part of the On Art Dance and Music module, music-related films, music videos and music forms are screened. A large, three-day event is planned for September in Warsaw, which will focus exclusively on music films.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński