Cinematic Reflection: Play Poland 2014

The irony of Anna and Wilhelm Sasnal's It Looks Pretty from a Distance, a meditative highlight of the fourth Play Poland festival, is that the environment in which its actions unfold is far from appealing in any conventional sense. Clear streams are shown to girdle lush green landscapes, but both are littered with rusting metal, crumbling brickwork, dilapidated shacks, bear traps and beer-swilling human life. The movie's title refers to the sinister impulses that lie dormant within monotonous day-to-day activity, but at few points will viewers find themselves drawn to the stark, gritty world inhabited by its characters. From the outset, the directors walk us through a lawless frontier of tragic, tarnished beauty.

A certain bleak sensibility has come to define a large portion of contemporary Polish cinema. This seems unlikely to have bolstered the country's tourism industry, but growing numbers of international movie audiences are finding it irresistible, probably for the same reasons that Scandinavian imports are currently proving worldwide hits. Both film industries reflect familiar Hollywood narratives using cracked mirrors, presenting us with work at once comforting and disconcertingly alien. Most UK audiences will have had first-hand experience of the kind of grey cityscape that features so prominently in Grzegorz Jaroszuk's Kebab and Horoscope, but the eccentrics grown from the cracks in its concrete exhibit an otherworldly, deadpan quirkiness. To see such child-like innocents thrive within a blandly adult world of overcast rooftops and carpet retailers is a jarring experience that could rightly be described as Kafkaesque. Blemished as the country's industrial and agricultural locales appear, they're imbued with an utterly alluring sense of character.

Demand for vibrant cinema has proven so strong that this year will see Play Poland take place within seven UK cities (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberfeldy, London, Birmingham, Sunderland and Belfast) and eventually set up shop in Norway, Canada and the USA, nations whose growing Eastern European expat communities are prominent and valued presences. The festival offers the opportunity for homesick Poles to reconnect with their native culture, and for their neighbours to engage with them both in thoughtful discussion and the pursuit of an honest laugh. Additionally, as with all film festivals worth their salt mines, its audiences will be given the chance to embark on dialogues with filmmakers themselves. A Q&A session with Maciej Pieprzyca, director of Life Feels Good, a bold, controversial and multiple award-winning study of cerebral palsy, looks set to be a particular highlight of the event's UK stretch.

Perhaps most anticipated, however, are screenings of Wojteck, the Bear that Went to War, a film which tells the story of the General Anders' Army mascot who, like many other Polish soldiers, settled in Scotland after years spent travelling the world. The animal's unlikely tale has already captured the world's imagination and it's thanks to the efforts of the Wojtek Memorial Trust that a tribute to the ursine icon is due to be erected in the capital's Princes Street Gardens.

The Festival's press release is knowingly hubristic in suggesting Play Poland has the power to achieve the stature of the Edinburgh Fringe, but there's no denying that patron Richard DeMarco has a proven track record for backing successes. The Traverse Theatre founder has here placed his name alongside a host of culturally significant talents, legendary Polish graphic designer Andrzej Pągowski among them. If Play Poland's focus is more specific than that of the Fringe, it's certainly just as accessible and extensive in its efforts to reach out to audiences.