Jerzy SkolimowskiToday we announce Outsiders and Exiles: The Films of Jerzy Skolimowski, a season that offers a rare opportunity to see the work of one of the world’s most remarkable filmmakers, whose career has spanned more than six decades. The season, which is curated by Michael Brooke, takes place at BFI Southbank from 27 March to 29 April, and is presented in partnership with the Kinoteka Polish Film Festival, which is organised by the Polish Cultural Institute and supported by the Polish Film Institute.
Outsiders and Exiles will include a special event, In Conversation with Jerzy Skolimowski, on 28 March at BFI Southbank. This event, hosted by Michael Brooke, will allow audiences to hear about what drives his creative passion and the working process that has resulted in his great international success, culminating in his recent Academy Award nomination for EO (2022), which is in cinemas UK-wide now, courtesy of BFI distribution. There will also be a season introduction on 4 April from curator Michael Brooke, along with guest speakers, in which they will explore Skolimowski’s long and varied career.
Defying neat categorisation, Skolimowski has created a dynamic, provocative and acclaimed body of work that audiences will be able to discover on the big screen at BFI Southbank, while selected titles will also be released on BFI Player and on BFI Blu-ray, including feature debut Identification Marks: None (1964) and the film that sent its director into a lengthy exile, Hands Up! (1967/1981).
As long ago as 1968, Sight and Sound dubbed Jerzy Skolimowski “probably the most explosive and original filmmaker in Eastern Europe”, a claim which remains valid today, thanks to a career that’s been as wayward and inventive as any individual film. Broadly falling into three phases, Skolimowski’s career started in the 1960s, when he was described as a one-man Polish New Wave; a lengthy period of enforced exile in Britain and the US followed; and finally, a return to Poland and triumphant proof that he has lost none of the electrifying vigour that had so memorably charged his earlier work.
Films screening in the season
- Identification Marks: None
- Walkover
- Hands Up!
- Barrier
- Le Départ
- Dialogue 20-40-60
- Deep End
- The Shout
- Moonlighting
- The Lightship
- Four Nights with Anna
- Essential Killing
- 11 Minutes
- EO
Films available to BFI Player subscribers are EO, Deep End, Le Départ, Moonlighting, Essential Killing, 11 Minutes (all 3 April), Hands Up!, Identification Marks: None (both 3 July) and The Shout (available now, rental only).
EO is in cinemas now, and will be available on BFI DVD and Blu-ray from 3 April; Identification Marks: None and Hands Up! will be available on a 2-disc BFI Blu-ray from 24 April.
Kinoteka 2023 takes place 9 March to 27 April across venues in London.
