BAMcinématek presents The Waking Dreams of , the first major New York retrospective of the Polish auteur in almost two decades, Oct 15—27

Includes the NY premiere of the brand new restoration of

New restorations of The Saragossa Manuscript and , plus eight archival 35mm prints

The Wall Street Journal is the title sponsor of BAM Rose Cinemas and BAMcinématek.

Co-presented by the Polish Cultural Institute New York.

Brooklyn, NY/Sep 21, 2015—From Thursday, October 15, through Tuesday, October 27, BAMcinématek presents The Waking Dreams of Wojciech Has, the first major retrospective of the Polish master in nearly 20 years. This comprehensive series showcases all his feature films in new restorations and archival 35mm prints, offering an all-too-rare opportunity to experience these staggeringly beautiful and profound works.

The cinematic dreamscapes of Polish auteur Wojciech Has (1925—2000) are extraordinary odysseys through history, memory, and fantasy. In the metaphysical worlds Has conjures, time is a subjective experience that warps and bends to the rhythms of the subconscious. That such personal, visionary films were made under the restrictions of Communism makes them all the more remarkable. Born in Krakow to Catholic and Jewish parents, Has was a contemporary of the better-known (Ashes and Diamonds), and like him was associated with the , which used a poetic approach to skirt the dictates of Communist Bloc propaganda.

Has’ signature film, The Saragossa Manuscript (1965—Oct 17, 23 & 24), which director Martin Scorsese called “wild, hallucinatory… truly mesmerizing” is a Russian nesting doll of a movie, based on ’s eponymous novel, in which a Napoleonic-era soldier finds an enchanted book on a battlefield and falls into the cobweb of intricate, interlocking fairy tales within. This exuberant three-hour fantasy, with an electronic score by Krzysztof Penderecki, is “a collision of Chaucerian fable, Tarot imagery, and stark, corpse-strewn, anamorphic landscapes” (Michael Atkinson, The Village Voice). Shorn by a third of its length upon its US release, it became such a celebrated head movie that the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia sponsored its restoration in the late 90s—it was his favorite movie.

Before the breakthrough of Saragossa, Has made emotionally intimate, sociologically astute films in a late-neorealist style—although the dreamy imagery that would flourish in Saragossa occasionally punctuates all of them. Billy Wilder’s harrowing The Lost Weekend plays like a day in the park compared to Has’ debut feature, The Noose (1958—Oct 18), a claustrophobic, despairing portrait of a white-knuckling alcoholic fighting a losing battle with the bottle. Obsessed with memory and loss, Has contrasts a romantic idyll with its bitter postwar reprise in (Lydia Ate the Apple) (1958—Oct 18) and etches a bygone moment of pre-war life in the melancholy memoir One Room Tenants (1960—Oct 19). In Goodbye to the Past (1961—Oct 21), about a worldly actress’ return to a hometown that feels like part of a different world, and Gold

Dreams (1962—Oct 25), in which a young fugitive hides out in the vast moonscape of a frontier construction site, Has casts a dubious eye on the progress of the new .

Before his tragic death in a train mishap, Saragossa star (often described as Poland’s James Dean) did a star turn for Has in How To Be Loved (1963—showing on Oct 23 in a brand new restoration) as a coward, unworthy of his lover’s devotion yet still wretchedly sympathetic, then returned in The Codes (1966—Oct 16), an inquiry into a teenager’s wartime disappearance and “among Has' most powerful, introspective works” (Brian Baxter, BFI). The ornate historical epic The Doll (1968—Oct 20) was Has’ first eye-popping excursion into color, and he fused its gorgeous palette with the surrealist imagery of Saragossa to make his ultimate head trip: the indescribable Cannes Jury Prize winner The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973—Oct 15, 16 & 22), based on the novel by , in which the hospital of the title proves to be a rabbit hole into fantasy for a hapless visitor.

Sanatorium clashed so conspicuously with the naturalistic bent of 70s Polish cinema that Has drew a decade-long filmmaking ban, only to make a triumphant comeback with the poignant, minimalist Chekhov adaptation An Uneventful Story (1983—Oct 22), an atypical work that is one of the major discoveries of the series. Write and Fight (1985—Oct 26) explores the fever dreams of a political prisoner, while his final two films—the zombie-narrated Memoirs of a Sinner (1986—Oct 25) and The Fabulous Journey of Balthazar Kober (1988—Oct 27), a sort of Forrest Gump of the Inquisition—represent a delightful return to the sort of seriocomic, period fantasy worlds first visited in Saragossa.

For press information, please contact Hannah Thomas at 718.724.8002 / [email protected]

The Waking Dreams of Wojciech Has Schedule

Thu, Oct 15 7:30pm*: The Hourglass Sanatorium

Fri, Oct 16 7:30pm: The Codes 9:30pm: The Hourglass Sanatorium

Sat, Oct 17 7pm**: The Saragossa Manuscript

Sun, Oct 18 4:15, 8:45pm: The Noose 6:30pm: Farewells (Lydia Ate the Apple)

Mon, Oct 19 7, 9pm: One Room Tenants

Tue, Oct 20 7:30pm: The Doll

Wed, Oct 21 7:30, 9:15pm: Goodbye to the Past

Thu, Oct 22 4:30pm: The Hourglass Sanatorium 7:30pm: An Uneventful Story

Fri, Oct 23 3pm: The Saragossa Manuscript 7, 9:15pm: How To Be Loved

Sat, Oct 24 7:30pm: The Saragossa Manuscript

Sun, Oct 25 2, 6:30pm: Gold Dreams 4, 8:30pm: Memoirs of a Sinner

Mon, Oct 26 7:30pm: Write and Fight

Tue, Oct 27 7:30pm: The Fabulous Journey of Balthazar Kober

*Introduction by Columbia University film professor and author Annette Insdorf, **Introduction by filmmaker, writer, and professor at City College of New York (CUNY), Andrzej Krakowski.

Film Descriptions All films in 35mm unless otherwise noted.

The Codes (1966) 80min With Jan Kreczmar, Zbigniew Cybulski, Ignacy Gogolewski. In this hallucinatory mystery of memory and mysticism, a man (Kreczmar) who fled Poland during World War II returns to Krakow to track down his long-lost son (Cybulski) in a quest that dredges up painful family secrets. Has’ follow-up to The Saragossa Manuscript employs feverish dream imagery and an expressionistic soundtrack, resulting in a haunting investigation of wartime guilt. Fri, Oct 16 at 7:30pm

The Doll (1968) 139min With Mariusz Dmochowski, , Tadeusz Fijewski. In this visually stunning epic, based on the eponymous 19th-century tome by Boleslaw Prus, a nouveau riche merchant (Dmochowski) in is reduced to humiliation as he tries to insinuate himself into the entrenched aristocracy. This old money-new money clash plays out against a richly realized period backdrop revealed via Has’ relentlessly panning camera. Tue, Oct 20 at 7:30pm

The Fabulous Journey of Balthazar Kober (1988) 115min With Rafal Wieczynski, Michael Lonsdale, Adrianna Biedrzynska. Has’ final film is this richly imagined 16th-century odyssey. The titular alchemist (Wieczynski) travels across a plague-ridden Germany, encountering Kabbalists, the angel Gabriel, and his deceased parents (including the legendary Emmanuelle Riva as his mother) along the way. Frédérick Tristan’s picaresque novel proves perfect source material for Has’ consciousness-altering brand of cinema fantastique. Tue, Oct 27 at 7:30pm

Farewells (Lydia Ate the Apple) (1958) 97min With Maria Wachowiak, Tadeusz Janczar, . One of Has’ ripe-for-discovery early works examines life in both pre- and post-World War II Poland via the story of two unlikely lovers (Janczar and Wachowiak) wrenched apart by war. After he emerges from a concentration camp years later, the two are reunited to discover that both they and the world around them have changed. Has imbues this reflection on the passage of time with a deeply affecting sense of loss and nostalgia. Sun, Oct 18 at 6:30pm

Gold Dreams (1962) 91min With Wladyslaw Kowalski, Krzysztof Chamiec, Barbara Krafftowna.

A young man (Kowalski) consumed with guilt after an auto accident, in which he may or may not have killed a pedestrian, embarks on a tragicomic journey that leads him to a barren coal mine populated by misfits. Has (who appears in the film as a police officer) makes use of the subtly surreal settings to lend psychological depth to this social realist fable. Digibeta. Sun, Oct 25 at 2, 6:30pm

Goodbye to the Past (1961) 72min With , Wladyslaw Kowalski, Gustaw Holoubek. One of Has’ most sublime reflections on the passage of time concerns a famous actress (Wysocka) who returns to her hometown for her grandfather’s funeral. Her homecoming precipitates a journey through memory as she comes to terms with how the people, places, and traditions of her past have changed. Etched in gorgeous monochrome, this wistful mood piece is suffused with graceful melancholy. Digibeta. Wed, Oct 21 at 7:30, 9:15pm

The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973) 125min With Jan Nowicki, Tadeusz Kondrat, Irena Orska. A young man (Nowicki) visits his ailing father in a crumbling sanatorium where time collapses and death never comes. The Hourglass Sanatorium conjures a surrealist fantasia in which past and present—from the Three Wise Men to the Holocaust—collide in a mind-bending phantasmagoria. Has’ arthouse masterpiece, based on the writings of Polish author Bruno Schulz, won the Jury Prize at Cannes. New digital restoration. Thu, Oct 15 at 7:30pm Introduction by Annette Insdorf Fri, Oct 16 at 9:30pm Thu, Oct 22 at 4:30pm

How To Be Loved (1963) 97min With Barbara Krafftówna, Zbigniew Cybulski, Artur Mlodnicki. Has received international acclaim for this exploration of the psychic scars felt by Poland after World War II. On a flight from Warsaw to Paris, a renowned radio actress (Krafftówna) reflects on her recent affair with a man (Cybulski) for whom she risked everything by shielding him from the . How to Be Loved is an evocative memory piece suffused with Has’ singular blending of nostalgia and irony. New digital restoration. Fri, Oct 23 at 7, 9:15pm

Memoirs of a Sinner (1986) 114min With Piotr Bajor, Maciej Kozlowski, Janusz Michalowski. Devils, demons, and double personalities. Has’ delirious adaptation of Scottish writer James Hogg’s 1824 gothic novel recounts (from beyond the grave) the fantastical exploits of a young man (Bajor) who is constantly tempted to the dark side by his evil doppelganger. Opening with the knockout images of the undead coming to life in a fog-shrouded graveyard, Memoirs overflows with Has’ ornate, baroque-on-acid visuals. Sun, Oct 25 at 4, 8:30pm

The Noose (1958) 96min With Gustaw Holoubek, Aleksandra Slaska, Tadeusz Fijewski. A day-in-the-life of an alcoholic (Holoubek), quite literally near the end of his rope, becomes an expressionistic tour-de-force in Has’ hands. In his feature debut, the director “invests each frame with so much dread that the effect is hallucinatory… and confirms Has’ status as a neglected master” (Nick Roddick, Sight & Sound). Sun, Oct 18 at 4:15, 8:45pm

One Room Tenants (1960) 92min With Mieczyslaw Gajda, Gustaw Holoubek, Beata Tyszkiewicz. A group of students and artists living in a cramped boarding house form a snapshot of 1930s Warsaw in this rare Kafkaesque tragicomedy. Strikingly shot in deep-focus black and white, One Room Tenants

exemplifies Has’ visual trademark—beautiful, prowling camera movements—which heighten the film’s psychological impact. Digibeta. Mon, Oct 19 at 7, 9pm

The Saragossa Manuscript (1965) 182min With Zbigniew Cybulski, Iga Cembrzynska, Elzbieta Czyzewska. One of the most legendary 60s European cult films—and Has’ best-known work—is this trancey, baroque acid-trip that follows a military officer (Cybulski) on a dreamlike odyssey through Andalusia. A proclaimed favorite of both Luis Buñuel and Jerry Garcia, The Saragossa Manuscript boasts gothic visuals, a trippy story-within-a-story structure, and an experimental score by renowned composer Krzysztof Penderecki. Based on Jan Potocki’s sprawling 19th-century novel. New digital restoration. Sat, Oct 17 at 7pm Introduction by Andrzej Krakowski Fri, Oct 23 at 3pm Sat, Oct 24 at 7:30pm

An Uneventful Story (1983) 106min With Gustaw Holoubek, Hanna Mikuć, Janusz Gajos. An aging medical professor (Holoubek) reflects bitterly on his life in Has’ haunting meditation on mortality, adapted from Chekhov. Disappointed in his family and students, the man has a last chance at a human connection when a young female protégée (Mikuć) returns. Made after a 10-year hiatus in which Has was barred from filmmaking by the Communist authorities, An Uneventful Story is a cinematic memento mori reverberating with autobiographical overtones. Thu, Oct 22 at 7:30pm

Write and Fight (1985) 113min With Wojciech Wysocki, Gustaw Holoubek, Janusz Michalowski. An anticlerical Polish journalist (Wysocki) is thrown into a Russian prison cell alongside a safecracker and a monk charged with murder in Has’ World War I-set seriocomedy. As he begins work on a novel, the writer is afflicted with typhoid—and fantasy and reality begin to intertwine in a haze of fever-dream visuals. Mon, Oct 26 at 7:30pm

About BAMcinématek The four-screen BAM Rose Cinemas (BRC) opened in 1998 to offer Brooklyn audiences alternative and independent films that might not play in the borough otherwise, making BAM the only performing arts center in the country with two mainstage theaters and a multiplex cinema. In July 1999, beginning with a series celebrating the work of Spike Lee, BAMcinématek was born as Brooklyn’s only daily, year-round repertory film program. BAMcinématek presents new and rarely seen contemporary films, classics, work by local artists, and festivals of films from around the world, often with special appearances by directors, actors, and other guests. BAMcinématek has not only presented major retrospectives by major filmmakers such as Michelangelo Antonioni, Manoel de Oliveira, Shohei Imamura, Vincente Minnelli (winning a National Film Critics’ Circle Award prize for the retrospective), Kaneto Shindo, Luchino Visconti, and William Friedkin, but it has also introduced New York audiences to contemporary artists such as Pedro Costa and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. In addition, BAMcinématek programmed the first US retrospectives of directors Arnaud Desplechin, Nicolas Winding Refn, Hong Sang-soo, and Andrzej Zulawski. From 2006 to 2008, BAMcinématek partnered with the Sundance Institute and in June 2009 launched BAMcinemaFest, a 16-day festival of new independent films and repertory favorites with 15 NY feature film premieres; the seventh annual BAMcinemaFest ran from June 17—28, 2015.

Credits

The Wall Street Journal is the title sponsor of BAM Rose Cinemas and BAMcinématek.

Steinberg Screen at the BAM Harvey Theater is made possible by The Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust.

Pepsi is the official beverage of BAM. Delta Air Lines is the Official Airline of BAMcinemaFest.

Brooklyn Brewery is the preferred beer of BAMcinématek.

BAM Rose Cinemas are named in recognition of a major gift in honor of Jonathan F.P. and Diana Calthorpe Rose. BAM Rose Cinemas would also like to acknowledge the generous support of The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, The Estate of Richard B. Fisher, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Brooklyn Delegation of the New York City Council, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, Bloomberg, and Time Warner Inc. Additional support for BAMcinématek is provided by The Grodzins Fund, The Liman Foundation, the Julian Price Family Foundation, and Summit Rock Advisors.

Special thanks to Bartek Remisko & Marzena Dawidziuk/Polish Cultural Institute New York; Izabela Wyciszkiewicz/ Filmoteka Narodowa; Haden Guest & David Pendleton/Harvard Film Archive.

General Information

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, and BAMcafé are located in the Peter Jay Sharp building at 30 Lafayette Avenue (between St Felix Street and Ashland Place) in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. BAM Harvey Theater is located two blocks from the main building at 651 Fulton Street (between Ashland and Rockwell Places). Both locations house Greenlight Bookstore at BAM kiosks. BAM Fisher, located at 321 Ashland Place, is the newest addition to the BAM campus and houses the Judith and Alan Fishman Space and Rita K. Hillman Studio. BAM Rose Cinemas is Brooklyn’s only movie house dedicated to first-run independent and foreign film and repertory programming. BAMcafé, operated by Great Performances, offers a bar menu and dinner entrées prior to BAM Howard Gilman Opera House evening performances. BAMcafé also features an eclectic mix of spoken word and live music for BAMcafé Live on Friday and Saturday nights with a bar menu available starting at 6pm.

Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5, Q, B to Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center (2, 3, 4, 5 to Nevins St for Harvey Theater) D, N, R to Pacific Street; G to Fulton Street; C to Lafayette Avenue Train: Long Island Railroad to Atlantic Terminal – Barclays Center Bus: B25, B26, B41, B45, B52, B63, B67 all stop within three blocks of BAM Car: Commercial parking lots are located adjacent to BAM

For ticket information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit BAM.org.