1-10 NOVEMBER 2013
Screening of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Decalogue
The first part of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s masterpiece television drama series, Decalogue, was screened on Tuesday November 5, 2013 at the packed Pavlos Zannas theater in the framework of the 54th Thessaloniki International Film Festival. TIFF director Dimitri Eipides and the head of the Thessaloniki Cinιmathθque Argyro Mesimeri attended the screening. After all the films of the series have been screened, the Decalogue will become part of the permanent collection of the Thessaloniki Cinιmathθque, a valuable gift from the Festival to the city’s film lovers.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Eipides said: “Welcome to today’s screening of the Decalogue, which is one of the highlights of this year’s festival. The films of the series are all cinema classics. The Decalogue is the most acclaimed work of Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski, who unfortunately died young at the age of 55. I think you will agree with me that the films are all masterpieces and I hope you will watch the rest of them in the upcoming screenings. It took a lot of effort to acquire the Decalogue, which will remain in Thessaloniki as part of the city’s Film Library. So we will have the opportunity of future viewings.”
Ms Mesimeri observed: “We would like to thank festival director Dimitri Eipides. The acquisition of The Decalogue is a very important event. It is solid proof of how much Mr Eipides cares for the Thessaloniki Cinιmathθque; it also proves that what we started one year ago was just the beginning. We will continue adding more films to our archive, which will be accessible to all.”
Ms Mesimeri then briefly talked about the filmmaker and the place the Decalogue has in his work: “With the Decalogue, Kieslowski manages to overcome the cinema-TV dichotomy. The Decalogue proves that moral questions can find a place in television and that cinema matters only to the extent that its ideas are able to awaken and raise the awareness of audiences. The series focuses on the gaze, the heartbreaking losses, the humility of consciousness. With tender irony, it follows its desperate protagonists, all of them ill at ease, spirits struggling with futility as they live in a nightmarish world. For Kieslowski, the Law kills instead of revitalizing, and Morality hurts.”
All the films of the series will be screened during the 54th TIFF. The last screening will take place on Saturday, November 9 (13.00, Pavlos Zannas)
The screenings of the Decalogue are part of the 54th TIFF Special Screenings - Open Horizons section, one of the actions of this year’s Festival financed by the European Union - European Regional Development Fund, in the framework of the Regional Programme for Central Macedonia - 2007-2013.
