POLISH FILM DAYS 2026 – JOURNEYS THROUGH POLISH CULTURE – WITH JAPAN, INDIA AND MOROCCO ON THE HORIZON
From 4 - 11 October 2026 Fredrikstad will once again become the center of Polish culture in Norway. For the thirteenth time the Polish Film Days festival will take place here, and 16 October the events will move to Oslo, where for the tenth time the grand finale of the festival will take place at the Cosmopolite Scene club.
Magdalena Tutka
“This year the theme is musical and cinematic journeys: journeys through time and space, but also journeys inward. During the festival we will together discover more charms of what is most beautiful on the border between Poland and Norway, this time with Japan, India and Morocco on the horizon” - says festival director Dr. Magdalena Tutka, inviting people to this year’s events.
This year the festival will open with an extraordinary photographic exhibition dedicated to the memory of Polish traveler Aleksander Doba, which can be viewed in the foyer of Fredrikstad Cinema from 4 to 11 October. It is a unique collection of archival photographs commemorating one of Doba’s most difficult expeditions from 2000 – his solo kayak voyage from Police to Narvik. The exhibition becomes a symbolic preview of the entire programme, in which conversations, music and film will become the vehicles of symbolic journeys.
Festival programme 10 October
It promises to be extremely interesting. For the thirteenth consecutive year the organizers have provided free admission to all events in Fredrikstad. At 12:30 there will be a bilingual meeting with traveller and photographer Joanna Murzydło titled “A Journey into the Unknown as a Return”, organised in cooperation with Women’s Village – Women’s Community and hosted by Angelika Pietrzak and Anna Biełuń. During the conversation there will be talk about distant Japan, but also about various aspects of travelling in general. Then, at 14:00, the audience will see a classic of Polish cinema – Andrzej Wajda’s film “The Maids of Wilko” (with English subtitles), delving into the intimate world of the youth of the main character Wiktor Ruben (Daniel Olbrychski).
At 16:30 there will be the ceremonial opening of the festival in the cinema foyer, after which at 17:00 the space will be filled with mini-concerts from the “Musical Journeys” series. Performers will include Trio+, the duo Magdalena Tutka & Szymon Wojnarowicz, and MICHAŁ BARAŃSKI & SHACHAR ELNATAN with the programme MASOVIAN MANTRA, which uniquely blends Polish folk with Indian music. At 20:00 the second Polish-Norwegian meeting moderated by Women’s Village – Women’s Community will take place – a conversation with practical emotional intelligence specialist Monika Grobelna titled “Closeness Without Abandoning Yourself”, serving as an introduction to the next screening and a moment to reflect on the meaning and transformations of closeness during emigration. The day will conclude at 20:45 with a screening of Joachim Trier’s latest film “Sentimental Value” (prod. Norway, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, English subtitles), Oscar-winning, with music by Polish composer and pianist Hania Rani.
Second day of the festival
11 October, is a cultural offering for the whole family, also with free admission. The film afternoon will begin at 12:30 with the animation „The Boy at the Edge of the World” (dir. Grzegorz Wacławek, Marta Szymańska, Polish dubbing, English subtitles). Between 14:00 and 16:00 the cinema foyer will be filled with the bustle of family fun during the workshop „My Journey to the World of Film”. At 17:00 there will be the festival’s ceremonial closing in Fredrikstad combined with a meeting with the audience in cooperation with Women’s Community. The culmination of the programme in Fredrikstad will be a screening of the largest Polish film production, namely the film „Chopin, Chopin!” directed by Michał Kwieciński (prod. Poland 2025) at 18:00.
Polish Film Days does not end in Fredrikstad
The festival spreads further, reaching Oslo. 16 October the Cosmopolite Scene in Oslo will resound with an exceptional combination of jazz and world music during the final concert of Adam Pierończyk feat. Majid Bekkas & DJ Eprom. On stage will appear Adam Pierończyk (saxophones, electronics), Majid Bekkas from Morocco (vocals, kalimba, guembri) and DJ Eprom (turntables, scratching). The concert will begin at 20:00 (doors open at 19:00), and before the performance the audience will see the multimedia photographic show by Dawid Wojtyła and Andrzej Hutniczak „Presence – foreigners in Polish folk costumes”, provided by 9 Forces Foundation. This is the only ticketed event of the festival, and tickets are available on the Cosmopolite Scene website.
HISTORY OF THE FESTIVAL
This is a rare phenomenon on the Norwegian cultural market, that the organizers invite people to all festival events by distributing tickets free of charge, like gifts. The Polish Film Days festival, organized in cooperation with Fredrikstad Cinema, has managed to maintain this principle throughout all thirteen editions. It is proof of the great motivation of the co-organizers to deepen intercultural dialogue in Norwegian society. From the very beginning the festival has enjoyed great interest from both Polish- and Norwegian-speaking audiences. These were rich festival years, in which more than 250 events have already been realised. More than 20,000 spectators have passed through the Polish Film Days venues in Fredrikstad and Oslo, over 80 invited artists and special guests, annually dozens of volunteers from 12 different countries and a number of engaged partners from Poland and Norway.
For the thirteenth time the only such celebration of Polish culture in Norway - POLISH FILM DAYS! WE CORDIALLY INVITE YOU to a film weekend at Fredrikstad Cinema 10 - 11 October, an exhibition dedicated to the memory of the traveller Aleksander Doba in the cinema foyer 04 - 11 October and the festival finale performed by the trio Adam Pierończyk feat. Majid Bekkas & DJ Eprom at Cosmopolite Scene in Oslo 16 October.
More info at:
https://www.polskefilmdager.org/polski-2026/program
and
https://www.facebook.com/polskefilmdager
and
instagram.com/polishfilmdaysfestival
Organizer of Polish Film Days:
International Creativity Workshop AS
Festival partners:
Fredrikstad Kino and Cosmopolite Scene Foundation in Oslo
Co-financing institutions:
Norwegian Arts Council, Fritt Ord Foundation, Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Oslo
Media patrons: Radio Wataha, Twoja Norwegia, Together Norge
Poster: Jagoda Ryba
Events on Facebook:
Polish Film Days / Filmweekend / Film weekend / Cinema weekend:
https://www.facebook.com/events/2260258248040919
Adam Pierończyk feat. Majid Bekkas & DJ Eprom:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1085022090755929
Reports from Polish Film Days:
Edition 12, year 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FZZKH2ZfgQ&t
Edition 11, year 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwPnS821A_8&t
More about the genesis of the festival:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVyxiOnbzGw&t=304s
Dr Magdalena Tutka
Director and producer of Polish Film Days
