285 films with a total running time of 25,600 minutes await viewers of the 24th edition of mBank New Horizons. Over 600 screenings will be held in the New Horizons Cinema, the Lower Silesian Film Center and at the Wroclaw Market Square. Plus exhibitions, VR Stage, concerts, meetings and other supporting events. A selection of films from the program will also be available online – this year’s festival will again be held in a hybrid format (July 18-28 – on-site screenings, online screenings will extend until August 4). Wroclaw will welcome more than 500 guests and visitors from around the world.
New Horizons will open with the Cannes IFF revelation Kinds of Kindness by Yorgos Lanthimos (with an acting award for Jesse Plemons). The first day will also feature Love Lies Bleeding by Rose Glass and Armand by Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel, the Cannes Camera d’Or winner. A special opening day event will be the international premiere of Jan P. Matuszyński’s Minghun, with the film’s cast, including Marcin Dorociński, in attendance. The festival will close with The Girl with the Needle, the latest film by Magnus von Horn, another hit from this year’s Cannes.
The full program is now available on our website, and ticket sales and access to online screenings will begin on July 4 at 12:00 pm (via nowehoryzonty.pl).
Cinema that leads the way. Let’s hit the road!
The rhythm of the program (and visual identity) is set by the Let’s Go section, in which we have gathered the most interesting films exploring the phenomenon of walking. So put on your comfortable shoes, because there’s a long, but oh-so-enjoyable road ahead through the diverse elements of the New Horizons program.
The Trail of the Asphodels, dir. Maxime Martinot
We have masterful retrospectives on the map, offering an in-depth look at the works of several iconic directors. We will take a closer look at the work of Yvonne Rainer – a counterculture icon, dance master, and accomplished director (we invite you to performative lectures at the Museum of Architecture, and a reconstruction of the Street Action happening); Nagisa Ōshima – rebel, erudite, one of Japan’s most prominent directors; Alain Tanner – a Swiss contester, exploring the underpinnings of social conventions (the review was created in cooperation with the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy, coordinating the Swiss-Polish Cooperation Program in Poland); and Bertrand Bonello – author of The Beast, which we will premiere at the festival, while Bonello himself will be a guest at the festival and will give a masterclass in Wroclaw. Visa is a partner of his retrospective. We will also present films by Mati Diop, who recently joined the true masters pantheon with the Golden Bear for Dahomey.
We’ll travel to the South and explore the impact of African New Waves on cinema, but we’ll also take a look at the Far North in the Oslo/Reykjavik section, prepared in cooperation with the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy, coordinating the use of Norway and EEA (European Economic Area) Funds from Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein in Poland.
We’ll cross the border between the world of cinema and art in Visual Front. We’ll get to know screen monsteresses in Third Eye (including Locarno award-winning Animal by Sofia Exarchou and Touched by Claudia Rorarius). We’ll take a long walk through the short films (the best of the season!) in the Shortlist and veer off the beaten track to the Lost Lost Lost section, exploring the most interesting titles lost in the festival circuit. We'll test the most offbeat ways to walk in Midnight Madness. Along the route, we will pass seven films from our partner festivals in the Smart7 section, and we will also stop for a long while in Romania (Romania: Mirror Games section). We will take the youngest viewers on a trek through Young Horizons. And march to the Competition section, as well as Discoveries and Waves, where real gems await you — debuts and more works by filmmakers who are on an artistic upward wave.
I Saw the TV Glow, dir. Jane Schoenbrun
There will also be an opportunity to put on your festive shoes: On July 20, we invite you to the Centennial Hall for a unique Amadeus Live event — a screening of Miloš Forman's iconic Amadeus, accompanied by live music from a 100-plus-member ensemble of the Beethoven Academy Orchestra and the Cracow Philharmonic Choir, under the baton of renowned Dutch conductor Ernst van Tiel. In collaboration with the National Forum of Music, we continue the NFM Organ Cinema series, where we especially recommend a screening of King Vidor’s classic The Big Parade.
The festival trails will be traversed together with guests, who, as every year, will flock to Wroclaw. Among them are the already mentioned Bertrand Bonello, Rose Glass (director of Love Lies Bleeding), Miguel Gomes (director of Grand Tour), Severin Fiala (co-author of The Devil’s Bath), Ellen Kuras (author of Lee), Rúnar Rúnarsson (director of When the Light Breaks), Goran Stolevski (author of Housekeeping for Beginners), Lorcan Finnegan (director of The Surfer), and Denis Côté (author of Mademoiselle Kenopsia).
New Horizons International Film Competition
The Competition is the signature section of the Wroclaw festival. Twelve titles will compete for this year’s Grand Prix, including Arcadia by Yorgos Zois, Blue Sun Palace by Constance Tsang, Explanation of Everything by Gábor Reisz, Hoard by Luna Carmoon, Ivo by Eva Trobisch, Pepe by Nelson by Carl De Los Santos Arias, September Says by Ariane Labed, Sleeping with Your Eyes Open by Nele Wohlatz, Sweet Dreams by Ena Sendijarević, Twittering Soul by Deimantas Narkevičius, Universal Language by Matthew Rankin and ZONE by Christina Friedrich.
The best film will be selected by a jury composed of Rodrigo Moreno (Grand Prix winner for The Delinquents at the 23rd NH), Anthony Lapia (honorable mention winner for After at the 23rd NH), Jan P. Matuszyński (director of Minghun and the award-winning The Last Family), Kasia Smutniak (an exceptional actress, director of Walls), and Ann Oren (author of Piaffe). The festival's viewers will also choose their favorite title in an audience vote.
Hits from world festivals, including nearly 30 titles from Cannes
The Gala Screenings and Masters sections will feature the most significant films presented and awarded at prestigious festivals. From Cannes, we’ll have All We Imagine As Light by Payal Kapadia (Grand Prix), Grand Tour by Miguel Gomes (Best Director), The Substance by Coralie Fargeat (Best Screenplay), Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard (Jury Award and for Best Actress, which exceptionally went to the entire ensemble of leading actresses), On Becoming a Guinea Fowl by Rungano Nyoni (Director’s Award in the Un Certain Regard section), and The Second Act by Quentin Dupieux, which opened this year’s Cannes.
Emilia Pérez, dir. Jacques Audiard
Also appearing on Wroclaw screens will be Berlinale’s Golden Bear winner Dahomey by Mati Diop, Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man, starring Berlin award-winner Sebastian Stan; Thea Hvistendahl’s Handling the Undead, an award-winning Sundance New Horizon horror film; Matteo Garrone’s Me Captain, winner of as many as seven awards at the Venice IFF; or Locarno award-winner Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World by Radu Jude. An event that will certainly not go unnoticed will be the exclusive cinema screenings of Harmony Korine’s Aggro Dr1ft in Poland.
Cinema at the Market Square
Once again, we invite you to free screenings as part of the open-air Cinema at the Market Square.Every day at 10:00 pm, from July 19 to 28, in the heart of the capital of Lower Silesia, you will be able to see excellent films with the New Horizonian seal of approval. The program of this section will include both New Horizon blockbusters Slow by Marija Kavtaradze or Four Daughters by Kaouther Ben Hania, as well as cult classics Ashes and Diamonds by Andrzej Wajda (screening in cooperation with Wroclaw Feature Film Studio), Chariots of Fire by Hugh Hudson (screening in cooperation with Visa), and The Shawshank Redemption by Frank Darabont.
Chariots of Fire, dir. Hugh Hudson
Polish touches
In addition to Minghun, the program includes other Polish touches. Among them are the world premieres of Endless by Wojciech Puś, Do I Still Get on Your Nerves? (Między nami są sytuacje) by Michał Szcześniak, Challenge of the Bow (Próba łuku) by Łukasz Barczyk, and Simona Kossak by Adrian Panek. Dr. Irena Eris is the partner of the Polish film screenings.
Art Scene
Long, varied, and rich is the route through this year’s Art Scene. We’ll start with the KROKI / STEPS exhibition, to which we have the pleasure of inviting you with BWA Wrocław (co-organizer of the Art Scene), Krupa Art Foundation, and Entropia Gallery. Also on the festival map is Norman Leto, winner of the audience award for Photon at 17. NH, with his exhibition Proof of Concept in collaboration with 66P Subjective Institution of Culture. Additionally, the IP Group will prepare the Ambient Room for the eighth time. The New Horizons Cinema space will host an exhibition dedicated to the phenomenon of contemporary Polish film poster art.
The VR Stage
True to its name, “New Horizons” continues to push boundaries, and this year the VR Stage returns to the festival, showcasing outstanding projects that chart new frontiers in immersive cinema. The program features two cinematic gems awarded at last year’s Venice Film Festival in the prestigious Venice Immersive section. Celine Daemen’s meditative VR opera Songs for a Passerby won the Grand Prize, while Flow, by renowned animator Adriaan Lokman, received the Jury Prize. For screenings (and post-experience discussions), visit Club Proza at the Wroclaw Literature House.
Arsenal Festival Club
The Arsenal Festival Club is making a comeback, or rather, we are returning to the Festival Club at the Arsenal. And with our return comes good music, dancing, relaxing after a day of film watching, long conversations, nurturing old friendships, and making brand new ones – all in an iconic place with an unmistakable atmosphere. Performers will include Rysy, Frank Warzywa and Młody Buddha (get ready for karaoke), behind the console Brodka x 2k88 and Zamilska. Talking Heads will also be with us, thanks to a screening of the cult concert Stop Making Sense.
ph. Alina Metelytsia
An accessible festival
Accessibility is no longer a new horizon, but a standard that is settling in for good at the festival. We are once again organizing workshops for volunteers and staff in cooperation with the Katarynka Foundation and reintroducing four screenings that meet accessibility standards (with audio description, SDH captioning, and assistant support). That includes three free screenings as part of the Cinema at the Market Square (July 19: Past Lives, July 20: Anatomy of a Fall, July 26: Green Border), and one ticketed screening at the New Horizons Cinema (July 23: Julie Keeps Quiet).
Where to spend the night, where to satisfy your non-film appetite (including for more culture)?
Increased festival activity requires an adequate dose of calories. As always, we have prepared a list of recommended places where festival-goers can grab a bite to eat between screenings, while taking advantage of discounts and special offers. This year, our network of cooperation is expanding with places that will satisfy your hunger for culture – bookstores or museums (including the Pan Tadeusz Museum and the Museum of Architecture), where you will also enjoy festival discounts. For those looking for accommodation during the festival, we recommend looking at the list of friendly hostels and hotels that have prepared special prices for our attendees.
View our map of recommended spots
The festival in numbers
- 285 films at the festival, including 232 features and 53 shorts
- 80 – the number of countries from which films were included in the program
- 25,600 minutes – the combined running time of all films (the longest, Trenque Lauquen, lasts 262 minutes)
- More than 500 guests at the festival (including industry events attendees)
- 3 935 – the total number of cinema seats
- 184 people overseeing the organization of the festival
- 208 wonderful volunteers