I’m afraid there’s some bad news about the British premiere of Andrzej Wajda’s Katyń at BFI Southbank on April 22 – the screening’s still going ahead, but Wajda himself won’t be attending, as he’s been prevented from travelling due to ill health.
The organisers hope there’ll be a replacement in the form of someone connected with the production, but have yet to announce who it is (I’ll post it here as soon as I find out). In the meantime, they’ve reduced the ticket price, and partial refunds for existing ticketholders are available via the box office. Wajda won’t be attending the Censorship as a Creative Force debate at the Barbican on April 25th for the same reason, but they’re replacing him with the equally qualified Agnieszka Holland.
On a happier note, it’s been confirmed the upcoming BFI Southbank screenings of Wajda’s Ashes and Diamonds (Popiół i diament) on May 8 and 11 will be from a new 35mm print. In the run-up to the BFI season, I’ll be publishing a lot of Wajda-related material here, including detailed reviews of most of the major work. Also, the interview that Kamila Kuc and I conducted with Wajda should appear in the next Sight & Sound, out in early May.
The various Wajda events are part of London’s 6th Polish Film Festival, for which the Quay Brothers created a brand new trailer that had its world premiere on Thursday, after which it was published online – you can see it here.