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The idea of the MIASTOmovie City and Architecture Film Festival dates back to 2013.

Back then members of the Wrocław Film Foundation – Lech Moliński and Magdalena Przewłocka started working on the idea of the event, where the film was to be a starting point for a discussion about the challenges for contemporary Wrocław. While creating the concept, they based on the initiative of the MovieWro Academy of Documentary Film that operated from 2008 to 2013 and consisted of the presentation of new documentaries and conversations with directors or experts on topics addressed on screen.

The aim of the inaugural edition was to use the potential and growing popularity of documentary cinema for a factual discussion on urban issues. We wanted to create a space for the meeting of residents with experts and city activists, and thus to translate the debate on film into actions involving city users. The film screenings took place, above all, in the New Horizons Cinema, but we also looked at the ‘House on the Water’. The festival club was located in Cocofli – very close to the cinema, and the artistic activities were located in the BWA Studio and in the vicinity of the Scena Kameralna of Polish Theatre in Wrocław.

The program consisted of 4 films:

‘This Space Available’, dir. Gwenaëlle Gobé

accompanied by the ‘Aesthetics of Public Space’ debate (moderation: Roland Zarzycki; participation: Kamila Kamińska, Aleksandra Stępień, Beata Urbanowicz)

‘Malls R Us’, dir. by Helene Klodawsky

followed by ‘Trade in the City’ debate (moderation: Michał Syska; participation: Michał Dębek, Przemysław Filar, Zbigniew Maćków)

‘Lost Rivers’, dir. by Caroline Bacle

followed by the ‘The Role of the River in the City’ debate (moderation: Monika Onyszkiewicz; participation: Rafał Eysymontt, Radosław Gawlik, Joanna Przybyszewska, Kamil Zaremba)

‘Urbanized’, dir. Gary Hustwit

followed by the ‘Beyond Revitalization’ debate (moderation: Marta Żakowska; participation: Katarzyna Kajdanek, Wojciech Kębłowski, Lech Mergler, Sebastian Wolszczak)

Moreover, Helena Mieszkowska and Michał Grzegorzek prepared the EKOrebelia action with tree planting as a protest against the mass tree felling in Wrocław, and during the festival evenings Martyna Poznańska and An On Bast performed in Cocofli.

In the autumn of the same year, thanks to the trust of the International Visegrad Fund, the new urban initiative returned. The second edition of the event was an attempt to analyse the impact of obtaining the title of European Capital of Culture on the development of cities in four Central European countries – the Czech Republic (Plzeň), Slovakia (Košice), Hungary (Pécs) and Poland (Wrocław). During the event, participants also tried to determine the role of the European Capital of Culture title in the development and creation of a long-term cultural strategy in this cities.

The programme included 6 films (‘Press Pause Play’, dir. David Dworsky, Victor Koehler; ‘Superunit’, dir. Teresa Czepiec; ‘Lunik IX’, dir. Michelle Coomber; ‘The Pruitt-Igoe Myth’, dir. Chad Freidrichs; ‘Drop City’, dir. Joan Grossmann; ‘Eye over Prague’, dir. Olga Špátová), and 3 debates after the screenings:

‘Participatory Cultural Practices’

(moderation: Michał Syska; participation: Łukasz Medeksza, Krzysztof Mieszkowski, Tadeusz Mincer, Zoltan Major)

‘Culture in a concrete city’

(moderation: Bartek Lis; participation: Iwona Borowik, Paweł Jaworski, Zbigniew Maćków, Zuzana Matkovska)

‘Spaces of Culture

(moderation: Artur Celiński; participation: Sławek “Zbiok” Czajkowski, Dorota Monkiewicz, Marcin Major, Martin Jakub)

New curators of the Artistic Scene (Anka Bieliz and Kuba Żary) have proposed the ‘Ultimate Urban Memory’, an action to rediscover the potential of Kościuszko Square, the heart of the Kościuszko Housing Quarter. Why did the lights on Kosciuszki Square – the former neon square – go out? – asked the curators, and invited IP Group and Gabukow to take action in the area.

MIASTOmovie #3 was held under the motto of ‘Reclaimed City’, and the main themes of the event organised by the Wrocław Film Foundation were the creation of the city, its renewal and transformation and the recovery of the memory of places and the architectural and social history of the metropolis.

The slogan ‘Reclaimed City’ draws attention to the “new life” of cities in the social, architectural and spatial context. It is a look at those who save cities, gentrify, segregate, become attached to the city and build a bond with it, not necessarily through a 30 year housing loan. It is a struggle for a dignified place and living conditions, a sense of responsibility and belonging, bottom-up management and community animation. It’s local and global way of thinking at the same time. It’s about finding the alternative way for living in modern cities.

This time the program consisted of as many as 9 films, accompanied by various activities:

‘Speculation Nation’, dir. Bill Brown, Sabine Gruffat (opening screening)

followed by the ‘Challenges of Modern Housing’ debate (moderation: Przemysław Chimczak; participation: Iwona Borowik, Kira Bouaoud, Dawid Cieślik, Lech Filipiak)

‘La Comuna 9: Reclaiming a City’, dir. Anna Bednarczyk, Inga Hajdarowicz

followed by a meeting with directors and character Sandra Liliana Rios, led by Kasia Piskorek

‘Am Koelnberg’, dir. Laurentia Genske, Robin Humboldt

after the screening, meeting with directors led by Lech Molinski

‘Away From All Suns’, dir. Isabella Willinger

screening accompanied by a meeting with urban planner Kuba Snopk, led by Franciszek Sterczewski

‘Grey City’, dir. Marcelo Mesquit, Gilherme Valiengo

with a lecture by Lech Molinski

‘My Brooklyn’, dir. Kelly Anderson

followed by ‘The new nobility. On gentryfication of towns and districts’ debate (moderation: Michał Syska; participation: Dorota Groyecka, Paweł Kubicki, Barbara Kwaśny, Paweł Rudnicki)

‘After the Factory’, dir. Phillip Lauri

followed by a meeting with the Łódź activist Michał Gruda, led by Lech Moliński

‘Ruin’, dir. Markus Lenz

accompanied by a meeting with the director, led by Kuba Żary

‘An Apartment in Berlin’, dir. Alice Agneskirchner

after the screening Lech Molinski led a meeting with historian Krzysztof Ruchniewicz

Apart from film and debate, art is also an integral part of MIASTOmovie. The art scene present on MIASTOmovie under the name ‘VOID’ concerned the emptiness of the city – places in Wroclaw whose shape and identity ceased to exist as a result of warfare, and after 1945 they did not manage to regain their lost meaning or develop new functions for themselves. The activities were not strictly focused either on historical plans or new architectural form. Their subject were the gaps in a state of suspension, somewhere between the ‘whole’ Breslau and ‘full’ Wrocław. The artist invited to the prologue was Marcin Fajfruk, and the project had its research continuation in subsequent postfestival months.

The function of the festival club was taken over by Szklarnia, where we invited a team of Rap Szalet, Tryptaminee, Meg Cocaine, Senthia and Jakob Eriksen.

We took the analysis of the city to the next level – in 2016 we looked at the urban identity, and thus at the identification of the residents with the space (city/district/districts), culture, but also tradition and material heritage.

We considered the concept of the city’s identity to be extremely important in the context of Wrocław holding the title of European Capital of Culture 2016.

Through film screenings, meetings, debates, artistic activities and accompanying events, we have brought the city’s personalities and peculiarities of urban centres around the world closer together, while not forgetting the interesting but complicated history of our city.

The film program consisted of 12 documentaries, including 6 full length films accompanied by various activities:

‘The Land of many Palaces’, dir. Adam James Smith, Ting Song

the meeting with the directors after the screening led by Michał Syska

‘Our City’, dir. Maria Tarantino

followed by a skype meeting with the director led by Michał Syska

‘Barbicania’, dir. Ila Beka, Louis Lemoine

the screening was followed by the ‘Architecture and Identity’ debate (moderation: Zbigniew Maćków, participation: Ewa Kuryłowicz, Barbara Pabjan, Grzegorz Piątek, Maciej Wlazło)

‘Bowlingtreff’, dir. Adrian Dorschner, Thomas Beyer

followed by a meeting with the directors and architect Wojciech Jarząbek, led by Łukasz Wojciechowski

‘Slums: Cities of Tomorrow’, dir. Jean-Nicolas Orhon

followed by ‘Future of Cities’ debate (moderation: Edwin Bendyk, participation: Kuba Snopek, Joanna Synowiec, Bogna Świątkowska)

‘L’Homme a la main ouverte’, dir. Grzegorz Tomczak

accompanied by a lecture by Dorota Jędruch

as well as the block of short films ‘Poland under (re)construction’

A part of the festival was also an artistic installation ‘Foreign Body’, as well as a guided tour on Popowice, which was the final of the project ‘Guides from the Surrounding Area’ for local amateur guides. After hours we spent time in Bułka z Masłem on Solny Square, where Rysy played among others bands.

The first event took place in the autumn. Additionally, MIASTOmovie was looking for a new horizon of references after the closing of the European Capital of Culture Wrocław 2016. After the analysis of the city’s identity, the leitmotif was ‘Neighbourhood’. Today, the slogans ‘local community’, ‘building good neighbourly relations’ or ‘networking within neighbourhood’ set the tone for a discussion about a modern, good city. In connection with a clear renaissance of the concept of living in a small community, we will look at various dimensions and aspects of the neighbourhood: from relations within one block of flats or tenement houses, through a community or housing cooperative or the same housing estate, to co-creating a single urban organism. From social harmony, based on personal acquaintance and direct contacts, to the oppression of the small community.

During the festival, 10 films were presented. For the first time, feature films were also included in the programme. All screenings were accompanied by additional events. This was the programme of the 2017 edition:

‘Desert Coffee’, dir. Mikael Lypinski

after the screening – meeting with the director led by Lech Moliński

‘The Tower’, dir, Karolina Breguła

after the screening of this feature film – meeting with the author moderated by Franciszek Sterczewski

‘Avangarde Kindergarden’ and ‘Szklane domy. Historia osiedli społecznych‘, dir. Olga Matuszewska

after the screening – ‘Idea of social housing estate. Yesterday, today and tomorrow’ debate (moderation: Michał Syska; participation: Iwona Borowik, Natalia Gołubowska, Olga Matuszewska, Kazimierz Śródka)

‘Barbicania’, dir. Ika Beka, Louise Lemoine

meeting with Grzegorz Piątek was led by Franciszek Sterczewski.

‘Rent Rebels’, dir. Gertrud Schulte Westenberg and Matthias Coers

followed by ‘Tenant’s Rights. Between cooperative and community’ debate (moderation: Michał Syska; participation: Seweryn Chwalek, Matthias Coers, Grischa Dallmer)

‘An Apartment in Berlin’, dir. Alice Agneskirchner

preceded by a lecture by Lech Molinski

‘Who’s there?’, dir. Karolina Breguła

as part of the festival, Strefa Kultury Wrocław produced an additional episode of a neighborhood TV series, which was shot on Ołbin, and there was a screening of the whole series and a meeting with the characters and the director. The conversation was moderated by Lech Moliński

‘Time will tell’, dir. Andreas Voigt

meeting with the director was led by Kuba Żary

‘Bloki’, dir. Konrad Królikowski

followed by a debate led by Michał Syska and attended by: Konrad Królikowski, Zbigniew Maćków, Krzysztof Ziental

As part of the art scene, the ‘Exhibition’ action, bringing closer the project by Natalia Gołubowska ‘Po sąsiedzku. Kieszeń wsparcia’. The literary scene also started to function, and it included meetings with Filip Springer, Kamil Bałuk and Stasia Budzisz-Cysewska, as well as a partner event of the festival – BAZARCH* – a book fair about the city and architecture. The music scene included a concert of traditional Ukrainian songs “Zasłyszane u Sąsiadów” performed by the Urban Singers’ Band Zdrada Osiedla.

In 2018 we dedicated MIASTOmovie to streets. The history of cities is also the history of streets. From the very beginning, all urban organisms have based their communication function on them. Even if these are canals, as in Venice, the function remains unchanged. Both the narrow medieval streets and the wide tracts from those times facilitated the spread of information. People not only moved around the streets, but also communicated with each other. Urban communities spent whole days on the streets, especially as there were often no luxuries under their own thatched roof.

The film and discussion programme was divided into two parts. The competition section included:

‘BIG Time’, dir. Kaspar Astrup Schroeder

‘Whose city?’, dir. Hans-Christian Post

after the screening, Lech Moliński led the meeting with the director

‘Bauhaus Spirit’, dir. Niels Bolbrinker, Thomas Tielsch

‘City of the Sun’, dir. Rati Oneli

‘Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle’, dir. Paul Sng

after the screening – meeting with the director moderated by Michał Syska

The best film was chosen by the jury: Aleksandra Hamkało, Nadia Parfan, Juho-Pekka Tanskanen

In the thematic section STREET viewers could see such films as:

‘Citizen Jane’, dir. Matt Tyrnauer

accompanied by the discussion ‘What kind of the streets? Ideas of Jane Jacobs and Janette Sadik-Khan in the context of Wrocław’ (moderation: Jakub Nowotarski, participation: Grzegorz Piątek, Tomasz Stefanicki, Aleksandra Zienkiewicz)

‘Istanbul Echoes’, dir. Giulia Frati

‘Waiting for Barcelona’, dir. Juho-Pekka Tanskanen

followed by a discussion with the director and Aleksandra Lipczak, led by Kuba Żary

‘Pixadores’, dir. Amir Escandari

with a previous lecture by Lech Molinski

‘Brasilia: Life After Design’, dir. Bart Simpson

finalized with Michał Wiśniewski’s lecture ‘Nowa Huta – towards a steel utopia’

‘The Florida Project’, dir. Sean Baker

followed by the lecture ‘The threads’ by Aleksandra Czupkiewicz and Łukasz Wojciechowski

MIASTOmovie has also brought a number of non-film events. One of the important threads were meetings and presentations of art works, research projects, analyses and diagnoses entitled STREETdata, held at Recepcja at 46 Ruska Street. During the day it was a space for open discussion only to be turned into a party area by night, where a vouging show took place. An extensive programme of walks was also organised, as part of which we visited the downtown Kleczków estate and two intersecting Kraszewskiego and Zegadłowicz streets. We also took a look at neighbouring Ołbin, where a fascinating musical walk with historian Łukasz Migniewicz along one of the longest streets of Śródmieście – Nowowiejska Street took place. The film, and more specifically the set of winners of the Urban View competition at the Poznan Short Waves Festival, gave us an opportunity to get to know the streets of Szczepin consisting of blocks of flats to the west of the city centre. The set of walks has been closed with a trip on the Grunwald area, which allowed us to get to know various street concepts, appearing over the years.

During the MIASTOmovie there was also the second Bazarch in Wrocław – a book fair on architecture and the city, organised by the Centre for Architecture. Book sales were accompanied by meetings with experts, including a meeting with Beata Chomątowska, author of ‘Betonia. Home for Everyone’, with whom Franciszek Sterczewski talked.

The seventh edition of MIASTOmovie was a moment to look at the topic of public architecture. Schools, offices, churches, hospitals and other public buildings were in the centre of our interest. We were wondering what their nature is, what they are like, how they ‘live’ on every day basis, serving and standing open for city dwellers. What do we see when thinking ‘public architecture’? A Renaissance building, a two-storey old mansion or a minimalist glass block? What resources do we have to manage in this area today? What contribution to the development of public architecture was made by the Third Republic of Poland, whose thirtieth anniversary was in 2019? What kind of objects appeared in our space after ‘89, what do they bring with them? And finally – what does ‘public architecture’ really mean to us – a complex of buildings ‘to do important things in’ or a space to spend time together with others?

The programme includes the following films:

Granny and Le Corbusier’, dir. Marjolaine Normier

followed by the discussion ‘Marseille Unit and WuWA. When private becomes public’ (moderation: Grzegorz Piątek, participation: Grażyna Hryncewicz-Lamber, Agnieszka Przewirska)

‘Columbus’, dir. Cogonade

before the film, Kaja Klimek gave a lecture on ‘Sensing the architecture in Columbus, Indiana’

‘Kevin Roche. The Quiet Architect’, dir. Mark Noonan

followed by the discussion ‘The Architecture of the Performance and the Architecture of Functions’ (moderation: Jakub Głaz; participation: Mikołaj Mundzik, Mikołaj Smoleński)

‘Mendelsohn’s Incessant Visions’, dir. Duki Dror

accompanied by a lecture by Tomasz Mikołajczak ‘Mendelsohn in Breslau’

‘The Paris Opera’, dir. Jean-Stephane Bron

followed by the discussion ‘Wrocław art spaces after 2020’ (moderation: Max Cegielski; participation: Przemysław Filar, Anna Mituś, Agata Saraczyńska)

Apart from film and discussion part the festival was full of other events.

In cooperation with the National Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning as many as 5 walks took place:

Institution of Culture: Capitol Musical Theatre (guided by: Konrad Imiela)

The department store: Renoma (guided by: Marta Miniewicz)

University: Building C-13 of Wrocław University of Technology (guided by: Bogusław Wowrzeczka)

Office: Siechnice Town Hall (guided by: Zbigniew Maćków)

Temple: St. Stanislaw Kostka Church (guided by: Łukasz Wojciechowski)

There was also a discussion on ‘Three decades of the Third Republic of Poland. Good or bad time for Lower Silesian monuments?’, Film Aperitivo in Cocofli and DJ sets in the festival club in Recepcja

MIASTOmovie has proved to be a wandering project almost from the very beginning.

MIASTOmovie has proved to be a wandering project almost from the very beginning. The need to talk about the city and the changes taking place in Poland in this aspect are universal. The first screenings outside of Wrocław took place in Poznań only a year after the initiative was established.

The MIASTOmovie Festival has been successfully established in the capital of Wielkopolska thanks to the cooperation with the Ulepsz Poznań Association. The first edition took place between 28th and 31st of May 2015 in Kino Muza. We showed three films (‘Global Shopping Village’; ‘This Space Available’; ‘Lost Rivers’), all of which were accompanied by debates related to the presented films, as well as the opening of a neon sign over Cocorico Cafe&Restaurant and a picnic and flea market on the Warta River.

The event found a permanent place in Poznań, subsequent editions were held regularly every year. In the years 2016-2018, the haven for the projection was the Wine Cellar under the Black Cat, where in the garden of the venue films about the city and architecture were presented, accompanied by lectures, debates with the participation of experts, and sometimes meetings with the authors of the presented titles. In 2019, MIASTOmovie was again hosted by the Muza Cinema, where a three-day film review took place, along with discussions.

In 2019 we also decided to respond positively to the invitation of the Centre for Studies about the City of Gliwice and the local Amok Cinema. The event was held as part of the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of Karl Schabik becoming the cities building advisor and architect. Thanks to film screenings, meetings, conversations and accompanying events, we brought closer the urban personalities and peculiarities of urban centres around the world, not forgetting about the interesting, although complicated history of the city of Gliwice. The event lasted from 7th to 12th of May and we showed 5 films combined with experts meetings and discussions.

In December of the same year we came to Łódź. During the weekend of 7-8th of December in the Łódź Chamber of Architects 4 films were shown together with 4 meetings after the screenings.

The program included documentaries which allowed us to take up various issues that needed to be talked about and discussed with the participation of various groups. The film set included a title about everyday cycling life on the example of the Netherlands (‘Why We Cycle’); a portrait of Bjarke Ingels and an observation of his office (‘BIG Time’); a story about the housing crisis in the United Kingdom (‘Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle’) and a documentary about urban disputes in Berlin from the 1990s (‘Whose city?’). The event was co-financed by the City of Łódź.

We also happened to be hosted in various Polish cities on single screenings. Mostly in Warsaw, where we co-organized a few screenings and where we launched the tournee of ‘Citizen Jane’, which was created together with the Centrum Architektury Foundation as part of the premiere of the Polish translation of Jane Jacobs’ book ‘Vital Little Plans. The Short Works of Jane Jacobs’. The tournee has reached Kraków as well. Moreover, so far we have visited: Gdańsk, Gdynia, Katowice, Koszalin, Szczecin, Zielona Góra.