The Kazimierz Dolny Film Festival.

Once every year, in the town where I live the famous Cinematic Festival takes place. It lasts a whole week, and during that week experimental and artistic films are shown for free on giant screen in three parts of the town. Directors whose films are too complicated to show in cinemas can take refuge during this week. Films are shown in the local synagogue and a giant tent from 9 in the morning till midnight, and projections in the castle ruins and the market square start after dark. Many people come from all over the country and spend up to 10 hours daily watching films! There are interviews with actors, directors, artists, parties, balls, happenings, concerts, the whole town is a rather special place during this week. All hotels in town and surroundings are occupied, people sleep in tents anywhere they can. You can meet many interesting people during this time. Actually Kazimierz is a rather ‘artistic’ town, more then half of my parents friends are artists of some kind. My bests friend’s grandfather, father, and brother are all painters, my parent’s best friends are two married sculptors, almost all of our friends are painters or architects, in the town center, every third shop is an art gallery. Even so, the Film Festival is special. A good example: one morning during the festival I was driving with my dad to town, and there was a hitchhiker standing on the side of the road. We gave him a lift, and it turned out that he was a famous polish director with Oscar nominations, one of the organizers of the festival. There were no free taxies to take him from his hotel to the center!