Kraków: The city of pigeons and festivals
Any weekend is good for a trip to the magical city of Kraków, but the upcoming one may be even better as you will have a chance to rub shoulders with George W. Bush or Kenneth Branagh. The American president will be there for a meeting, while the renowned actor and director will be there to promote his documentary, which qualified for the 43rd edition of the Kraków Film Festival, beginning on May 28. Leni Riefenstahl, the German film director famous for her amazing Nazi documentaries, unfortunately canceled her participation at the very last moment, but her latest nature film, called Underwater World, will still be screened in Kraków outside the festival.
The Kraków Film Festival has been organized since 1961, and is one of the oldest cinematic events in Europe. Its focus lies mainly on documentaries, shorts and animated productions, which are still rather scarcely represented in the domestic film industry. This year the jury choose 57 productions for the international competition and 40 for the best Polish film category from the more than 1,500 total films submitted for the festival, with a majority of entries surprisingly enough coming from Russia. All the films that qualified will compete for the Dragon (best international film) and Lajkonik (best Polish film) awards during five days of screenings, which take place at the Kijów and Mikro cinemas in Kraków.
As for this year's highlights, the special Dragon of Dragons 2003 award will go to the Quay Brothers (Crocodile Street and Institute Benjamenta) who will also attend the festivities, during which a retrospective of their animated movies will be shown outside the festival's screenings. Apart from the Quay Brothers' bonus, there will be lots of film-related attractions for the real film freaks. Kijów cinema will host an exhibition of film-set drawings, which are still not very common in Poland, and a review of the most interesting recent music videos from around the world.
As usual there will be special screenings of shorts, experimental and animated productions made by students of the renowned Polish film schools - future successors of Wajda, Polański or Marczewski. For more information on tickets and a detailed screening program, go to www.cracowfilmfestival.pl or send an e-mail to festival@apollo.pl. Even if film is not your main area of interest, you can still go there to enjoy the variety of bars, cafes, delicious and inexpensive restaurants and friendly art galleries - the reasons why everybody loves Kraków.
Where to stay:
Hotel Rezydent, ul. Grodzka 9, tel. (12) 429-5495, fax (12) 429-5576. Lovely rooms with frescoed walls, wonderful staff and a perfect location just off the Rynek. Single E80, double E120.
Hotel Elektor, u. Szpitalna 12, tel. (12) 421-8025, fax (12) 421-8689, e-mail: elektor@bci.krakow.pl. Annex rooms are down another street and a bit garage-like, but much cheaper than the main hotel. A very efficient and helpful staff. Single E110-E140, double E155-E235.
Copernicus, ul. Kanoniczna 16, tel. (12) 424-34400 fax (12) 424-34401, e-mail: copernicus@hotel.com.pl. Set in a 14th-century building with some of the rooms having 16th-century frescoes! Single zł. 650, double zł. 750-zł. 850.
Holiday Inn, ul. Wielopole 4, tel. (12) 619-0000, fax (12) 619-0100. Single E142-E202, double E164-E234.
Where to eat:
Restaurants:
Padva, ul. Św. Anny 3, tel. (12) 292-0272. Located next to Galeria Centrum in the university area, it has decent Italian food, with a slightly OTT decor.
Cherubino, ul. Św. Tomasza 15, tel. (12) 429-4007. Wonderful Italian pizzas and an arty setting.
Chłopskie Jadło, ul. Św. Agnieszki 1, tel. (12) 421-8520. Big portions of heavy, classic Polish food at affordable prices. Delicious.
Metropolitan, ul. Sławkowska 3, tel. (12) 421-9803. A favorite of the expat and business crowd with a creative continental menu.
Cafes & bars:
Szara Kamienica, Rynek Główny 6, tel. (12) 421-6669. Gorgeous chocolate cake and chocolate mousse and interesting wine choices.
Singer, ul. Estery 20, tel. (12) 292-0622. Its aesthetic of antique furniture, candlelight, grandmother's rugs on the walls and great-grandmother's wallpaper has been widely imitated by other Kazimierz artist-intellectual fixtures.
Le Fumoir, ul Sławkowska 26, tel. (12) 429-5428. A 1920s-style piano bar with a fine selection of liquors and a variety of cigars.
Camelot, ul. Św. Tomasza 17 (12) 421-0123. Very artistic and very
popular.
