Behind the Curtain is a new Central and Eastern European film and new media festival organised by Polish Expats Association which takes place during November across Birmingham.
Aiming to engage people with the wealth of cinematography from Central and Eastern Europe, films featured originate from Poland, Lithuania, Slovenia, Romania and Hungary as well as the former states of the USSR, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.
Festival highlights include screenings of two sci-fi masterpieces – Andrei Tarkovsky’s visionary 1972 film Solaris (nothing to do with George Clooney), and Ikarie XB 1, a film that heavily influenced Star Trek and 2001: A Space Odyssey. The festival also features classic films such as Blind Chance (Przypadek) – originally banned in Poland, and Hungarian box office hit Kontroll.
As well as feature films, the programme includes surreal shorts from Czech animator Jan Švankmajer, a showcase of three generations of acclaimed contemporary Polish video artists, an exhibition of beautifully designed Polish film posters, Balkan music night and film discussions.
The full programme and tickets are available at: http://behindthecurtain.eu