As so many other international events, the Ale Kino! Festival in Poznan, Poland, finally decided to go for an online edition. Festival manager Jerzy Moszkowicz insisted on addressing you all personally in a festival statement.
For many years the Ale Kino! Festival guaranteed a unique celebration of cinematography, where more than 20,000 young viewers gathered with hundreds of guests from abroad. Crowds flocked into the cinemas to watch films, discuss what they had seen, expand their knowledge, and – most importantly – have fun. This year such kind of meeting is not possible.
After much discussion and deep consideration – out of concern for the safety and comfort of our viewers who are eager to participate in the festival in such large numbers, we took the difficult decision to shift to an online event. We appreciate the value that lies in watching films together in cinema theatres. However, since this is not feasible under the present circumstances, we will offer our audiences alternative access to the festival programme. We also owe it to the filmmakers who submitted their films for the festival.
All the films that we carefully selected to include in this year’s Ale Kino! Festival repertoire – nearly 120 titles from 35 countries – will be easily accessible via a special online festival player. Soon, we will provide all details on how to use this device. The new festival website will also become a forum where viewers will have a chance to ‘meet’ the filmmakers, and more. This year, thanks to the online form, we will host even more guests than usual. Regardless of where they live, the online edition of the Ale Kino! Festival will give every young audience cinema enthusiast access to the full festival catalogue. We put our hearts and efforts into the preparation of this event in a new formula, confident that Ale Kino! will uphold its interesting offer, including excellent films, active creators, devoted audiences and a unique atmosphere.
This year, only a few screenings will be organised in the local cinemas – if circumstances will allow us, naturally, taking in account all sanitary regulations. These screenings represent our deepest hope that next year the Ale Kino! Festival will bring us all back into the theatres, celebrating together.
Jerzy Moszkowicz & the Ale Kino! Festival Team
Poznań, 26.10.2020