Darkness Remains Dark
Agnieszka Holland

Pera Film’s Darkness Remains Dark program celebrates the work of Agnieszka Holland, best acknowledged for her highly politicized contributions to Polish New Wave cinema, Holland ranks as one of Poland's most prominent female directors. Following her graduation from the Prague Film School in 1971, Holland served as Krzysztof Zanussi's assistant director on his 1973 film Illuminacja. Director Andrzej Wajda served as her mentor during this time. Pera Film’s Holland selection explores narratives based upon the human story of life and joy in the midst of tragedy and disaster; of the world of humanity under all the unexpected pains and pleasures of existence.

“The four films presented in Pera Film’s “Darkness Remains Dark” all entail themes such as heroism, sacrifice, suffering, and the banality of goodness crushed by an omnipresent and invisible despotism or the hand of fate. Fever (1981) set in 1905, takes place in a time of feverish revolutionary underground activity in Poland. All the characters are hard-core anarchists; desperately enamored bombers; honest but naive peasants; happy-go-lucky hooligans. None of them are good, but it is hard not to sympathize with their tragic destiny. Based upon a true story ‘Europa, Europa’ (1990) is an unusual and surprising film. It addresses how far people would go to stay alive. Caught in hostile warfare, Solomon Perel, a Jewish boy separated from his family realizes that the only way he can survive is by pretending to be a Nazi. Oscar-nominated war drama In Darkness (2012) is the true story of Leopold Socha, one of the Poles to risks his own life to save a dozen Jews. Burning Bush (2013) is a drama based on real events, focusing on the personal sacrifice of a history student in Prague, Jan Palach, who set himself on fire in protest against the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1969. It's a breakneck historical epic, political thriller, and courtroom drama all rolled into one.”
Commentary by Janusz Wróblewski

This event is organized as part of the 2014 cultural program, celebrating the 600th anniversary of Polish-Turkish diplomatic relations.